Description
If you’re looking for comfort food, nothing beats a creamy bowl of chicken alfredo twirled through pasta. This here is the best chicken alfredo you will ever eat. My husband devours the stuff, and it’s a great meal to serve company. Low carb, THM S
This chicken alfredo can even be made ahead – it reheats well! (I haven’t tried freezing it.)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds, 8 ounces frozen chicken tenderloins, thawed (you can get this size bag from Aldi)
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
SAUCE
- 2 1/2 cups plain unsweetened almond milk (not vanilla)
- 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese (I used the green can kind)
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup oat fiber
- 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon jarred minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- Salt (to taste) – see note in instructions below
Instructions
Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces – a kitchen scissors works great for this, but you could also use a sharp knife and a cutting board. Keep the “juice” from the chicken bag – you’ll need it later! (If you use fresh chicken and it doesn’t produce enough juice while cooking, you may need to add a little water to thin out the sauce later.)
Melt the butter in a 5.5 quart Dutch oven (or any large pot with a heavy bottom) on the stovetop. After the butter melts, sizzles, and goes quiet again, add the chicken and the juice from the bag. Cook the chicken over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s fully cooked and the juices run clear. Turn the burner off when the chicken is cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking, blend all the sauce ingredients together – except for the xanthan gum – in a high powered blender until smooth. When everything is smooth, turn the blender on to low speed and drizzle the xanthan gum in through the hole in the lid a little at a time. Add salt to taste. I used 2 1/2 teaspoons, but my mom (who is used to cooking with less salt) said she used 1 teaspoon for 1 1/2 batches of sauce and it was plenty. Cover the hole and blend on high for a few seconds.
Pour the sauce over the cooked chicken in the Dutch oven and turn the burner back on. Bring the alfredo to a boil, then turn the heat down to low or medium low to simmer (uncovered) for about 10 minutes until the sauce is thick, stirring occasionally.
Adjust as desired. The alfredo may seem a little thin but it really thickens up as it cools on your plate. Serve over (or tossed through) your low carb noodles of choice – spiralized and sautéed zucchini or yellow squash, baked spaghetti squash, roasted broccoli, Dreamfields spaghetti, etc. A Caesar salad sans croutons makes a nice side dish.
Zoodles: Two medium yellow summer squash or zucchini make enough noodles for about three people (they really cook down). Sauté spiralized squash in butter in a pan on the stovetop – just until tender. Season generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. A spaghetti server works great to stir and serve. You can combine squash noodles with cooked Dreamfields noodles for better nutrition from the zoodles with the taste of Dreamfields pasta. Toss the alfredo with the noodles or serve on top.
Notes
Feel free to adjust the salt level depending on whether or not your chicken is brined. My bag of frozen chicken tenders from Aldi was.
I don’t recommend making this in the Instant Pot – I tried and it just sticks and burns.
Dreamfields pasta: Dreamfields is a personal choice item on the THM plan. Don’t use it more than once a week and stick to the serving size on the box. You can find more info on the THM Food Analyzer app. If you’re following a strictly low carb or keto lifestyle, veggie noodles may be a better option for you.
Oat fiber: This is a really fine, dry, low carb flour that I like to use for thickening soups and gravies. I don’t know of any great substitutes, but some people use psyllium husk flakes in its place. Oat fiber can usually only be found online. Use gluten free oat fiber for a gluten free option. Oat fiber and oat flour are different and are not interchangeable.
Xanthan gum: You can probably use glucomannan in its place, although I sometimes find it to be more slimy.
Allergy info: For a gluten free alfredo, use gluten free oat fiber and a gluten free noodle option. This alfredo is egg free. To make it nut free I would replace the almond milk with a combination of water and heavy cream/half and half. Allergy and nutrition info for alfredo only – not noodles.
This recipe has replaced the original chicken alfredo recipe published to my website in March 2016. (You can still find that recipe on page 68 of my first cookbook, Necessary Food.) This one has been updated with some improved culinary know how and better flavors – and a nice easy bag of Aldi chicken tenders.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: THM S, low carb, gluten free
