Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic
Farfalle with chicken and roasted garlic is a copycat Cheesecake Factory pasta recipe that is unbelievably tasty. Made with crispy bacon, tender chicken, sweet roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, peas, and a light creamy sauce. It's perfect for when you want to treat yourself to a delicious splurge!
If you love pasta and chicken recipes, also try our lemon chicken pasta and our chicken pesto pasta.
Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic
The cutest little bow-tie pasta all dressed up in a luscious cream sauce with all sorts of flavors marrying together perfectly. This is date night, restaurant-quality pasta that you can love without having to walk out your front door.
Every bite is a wonderful surprise where you could find a crispy piece of bacon, a sweet roasted garlic clove, tiny peas, a tart sliver of sun-dried tomatoes, a chewy little mushroom, or a tender bit of chicken.
The flavors work fantastically well together – as you may know, if you've eaten the famous Cheesecake Factory version.
Make this copycat Cheesecake Factory pasta
Don't let the eight steps throw you off. Most of the steps involve cooking something then taking it out of the pan to make room for cooking something else. This is a good recipe to prep as you go. For example, dice the chicken while the bacon is cooking and mince the onion and slice the mushrooms while the chicken is cooking.
- The first step is to roast the garlic. Cut off the tops, drizzle them with some oil, then wrap them up in an aluminum foil package and put it into your oven. When it's ready, squeeze the cloves from their skins.
- Cook the pasta. You know how to do this: boil it in well-salted water then drain it, add it back to the pot, then toss it with olive oil.
- Cook the bacon until crispy.
- Cook the chicken until tender and fully cooked.
- Saute the onion and mushrooms.
- Deglaze the pan with wine and add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes and the roasted garlic and mash the garlic into the sauce.
- Make a cornstarch slurry with milk and let it thicken the sauce and give it extra flavor with parmesan cheese.
- Now mix the cooked meat and veggies and pasta into the sauce and dinner is ready!
The full recipe is in the recipe card below.
Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, they do! While this pasta tastes the best when it's freshly made, it's still delicious eaten as leftovers. It will keep well for 3-4 days in a covered container in your fridge.
Roasted garlic is very different than raw or sauteed garlic. Its sweet mellow flavor works wonderfully in this recipe.
A dry white wine such as sauvignon blanc or pinot gris works best.
Add some sides!
You can easily scoop a big pile of this ridiculously delicious farfalle with chicken and roasted garlic onto a plate and call it dinner. But if you're in the mood for more, try serving it with these:
- Garlic toast – because a piece of toasted garlicky bread loves pasta!
- Or try our bacon kale caesar salad with spicy cashew croutons.
- Or keep it light and simple with a green salad tossed in our Italian salad dressing.
Popular pasta and chicken recipes
Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic
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Ingredients
- 3 heads garlic
- 8 ounces farfalle, bow tie pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 strips bacon, chopped
- 2 medium boneless chicken breasts, diced
- Ā½ teaspoon EACH: sea salt and pepper
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 5 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup dry white wine, can sub chicken stock
- Ā½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil, see notes
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup milk
- Ā¾ cup shredded parmesan
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a piece of aluminum foil withĀ parchment paper.Ā Remove the papery skin from the head of garlic, making sure to keep the cloves intact. Cut Ā¼ inch off the top of each head of garlic so that all of the cloves are exposed. Place the head of garlic into the parchment paper and drizzle the top with a little oil. Wrap the aluminum foil package up tightly and place it into a baking dish. Roast the garlic for 45 minutes, or until it is soft and turns golden.Ā3 heads garlic
- While the garlic is roasting, begin cooking the rest of the meal. Put a large pot of well-salted pasta on to boil. Cook the farfalle for 8 minutes. Drain the pasta then add it back into the pot and toss it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.8 ounces farfalle
- Cook the bacon until crispy then remove it from the pan.6 strips bacon
- If there is less than 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan, add a splash of olive oil. Add the chicken, season it with salt and pepper, and cook it until it is starting to brown and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and put it with the bacon.2 medium boneless chicken breasts, Ā½ teaspoon EACH: sea salt and pepper
- Add the onion and mushrooms to the pan and cook until the onion begins to caramelize about 7-8 minutes. Transfer the veggies to the bowl with the chicken.1 medium onion, 5 ounces mushrooms
- Add the wine and sundried tomatoes to the pan and bring them to a boil. Continue to boil the wine until it reduces by half, about 5 minutes. Add half of the roasted garlic and mash it into the sauce. (choose the larger cloves to mash.)1 cup dry white wine, Ā½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Put the cornstarch into a measuring cup and mix in a little of the milk. Stir in the rest of the milk then pour it into the pan. Add the parmesan cheese and the remaining whole roasted garlic and stir until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 cup milk, Ā¾ cup shredded parmesan
- Add the crispy bacon, chicken, and vegetables to the pan. Add the peas, stir well, and let the sauce reheat. Finally, add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix it into the sauce.1 cup frozen peas
Yumm, this looks amazingly delicious. I just had a go at roasted garlic and must say they are pretty darn good. I’ll be trying this!
This was so delicious! It felt like a lot of steps making it my first time, but I’m sure knowing what I’m doing next time will feel like a breeze. Such a tasty meal š