Creamy Boursin Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli tastes fantastic with tender broccoli and chicken with an easy Boursin sauce in 30 minutes.
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Boursin Paste is a fantastic simple entree recipe for a special meal or quick weeknight dinner. Ready in only 30 minutes using simple ingredients.
Most Boursin recipes will base their great flavor on the Boursin cheese, which melts smoothly and creates a beautiful sauce.
There is no single inspiration recipe for this dish. It comes from restaurant experiences and several online sources.
Check these similar recipes, like Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole, Chicken Baked Ziti, Baked Chicken Spaghetti, and Smoked Sausage Pasta. Serve with Yeast Dinner Rolls or Honey Wheat Rolls and Flourless Chocolate Cake for a great ending.
🥣Ingredients
- Chicken—Skinless boneless chicken breast or thighs
- Onion
- Pantry ingredients—Olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper
- Pasta—almost any pasta will work. Penne or other smaller pasta is a good choice.
- Broccoli florets—frozen or fresh
Boursin Sauce Ingredients
- Boursin cheese—garlic and herb
- Parmesan cheese—grated
- Cream or Half and Half
- Butter—optional
- Garlic—optional, crushed
👨🍳How to Make Boursin Chicken with Broccoli and Pasta
- Trim chicken breast and cut into 1-inch cubes. Mince the onion.
- Cook chicken to 165° with olive oil in a large pan adding the onion after 3-4 minutes—about 10 minutes total.
- Cook pasta according to package directions and cook the broccoli florets in the microwave.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and make the Boursin cheese sauce by cooking crushed garlic in butter. Add half and half, garlic/herb Boursin cheese, and grated Parmesan.
- Continue to mix the sauce until smooth—about 5-6 minutes. Add the chicken and cooked broccoli to the sauce.
- Serve over the cooked pasta and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
🧀What is Boursin Cheese?
Boursin cheese is a version of Gournay cheese, a French creamy soft cheese in various flavors. It is similar to cream cheese and is classicly garlic and herb flavors. But it melts into a sauce and provides a wonderfully unique buttery taste.
In America, you will usually find in the deli department in small boxes.
✔️Tips to get it right every time
- The chicken breasts are optional. You can use chicken thighs but cook to 185° for tenderness. To use rotisserie chicken, substitute 3-4 cups of shredded chicken and cook for 5 minutes with the onion.
- To use frozen broccoli, follow the package instructions. To use fresh broccoli, clean, trim, and microwave with a few tablespoons of water in a covered bowl for 3-4 minutes.
- The half-and-half is a compromise for a better creamy taste, but heavy cream or chicken broth may be used. The half-and-half contributes 630 calories to the full recipe. Heavy cream would be 821 calories, but chicken broth will only be 22 calories.
- The last thing to get right for the best results is to get your timing right. Try to get the pasta done just as the sauce with chicken and broccoli is done. My pasta took 7 minutes, the broccoli was 6 minutes, and the sauce took about 7-8 minutes. Start the sauce, drop the pasta in the boiling water, then turn on the microwave for the broccoli. Perfect timing.
⬇️How to make this a "for two" friendly recipe
This is an easy recipe to cut in half. The full recipe makes about eight servings, so that a half recipe would be "for two" and a set of leftovers.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the servings from 8 to 4. Going lower will work, but you start getting more unused ingredients.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
❓FAQs
I don't feel there is a good substitute due to the unique flavor, but some choices include flavored cream cheese, goat cheese, feta, farmer's cheese, or gorgonzola.
Storage of leftovers
Good refrigerated for 4 days and frozen airtight for 2-3 months.
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Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
It is hard to go wrong with this lineup of ingredients.
Trim 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds) and cut into 1-inch cubes.
Mince 1 small or ½ medium onion. Over medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil to a large pan. When shimmering, add chicken. Give the chicken a nice sprinkle of salt and black pepper. After 3-4 minutes, add the onion.
Cook until chicken is at least 165°—about 10 minutes in total. Cook ¾ pound of pasta according to package directions. Cook 12 oz. (4 cups) of broccoli florets. You can use fresh or frozen and cook as you wish. I used frozen and microwaved.
Remove chicken from pan. Over medium heat, optionally add 1 tablespoon butter and when hot, add 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 2 cups half-and-half. Add two 5.2 oz packages of garlic/herb Boursin cheese and ½ cup grated Parmesan.
Break apart the Boursin. Continue to mix until smooth—about 5-6 minutes. Add the chicken and cooked broccoli.
Mix well and pour over the cooked pasta. Mix some in the serving dish and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
📖 Recipe
Boursin Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 2 Skinless boneless chicken breasts - about 1 ½ pounds
- 1 onion - small or ½ medium
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ¾ pound dry pasta
- 12 oz broccoli florets - that is one bag frozen, about 4 cups
Sauce
- 1-2 cloves garlic - optional, crushed
- 1 tablespoon butter - optional
- 2 cups half and half
- 10.4 oz Boursin garlic and herb - 2 packages
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese - plus a little to sprinkle at the end
Instructions
- Trim 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds) and cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Mince 1 small or ½ medium onion. Over medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil to a large pan. When shimmering, add chicken. Give the chicken a nice sprinkle of salt and black pepper. After 3-4 minutes, add the onion.
- Cook until chicken is at least 165°—about 10 minutes in total. Cook ¾ pound of pasta according to package directions. Cook 12 oz. (4 cups) of broccoli florets. You can use fresh or frozen broccoli and cook as you wish. I used frozen and microwaved.
- Remove chicken from pan. Over medium heat, optionally add 1 tablespoon butter and when hot, add 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 2 cups half-and-half. Add two 5.2 oz packages of garlic/herb Boursin cheese and ½ cup grated Parmesan.
- Break apart the Boursin. Continue to mix until smooth—about 5-6 minutes. Add the chicken and cooked broccoli.
- Mix well and pour over the cooked pasta. Mix some in the serving dish and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- This recipe is easy to cut in half if you don't want the leftovers.
- Use fresh or frozen broccoli.
- The half-and-half is a compromise. You can use heavy cream or chicken broth if you want. Caloric variation is discussed in the post.
- Use the chicken you choose, but I suggest skinless boneless chicken breasts cooked to 165°. You can use thighs and cook to about 185°.
- Good refrigerated for 4 days and frozen airtight for 3 months.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published August 15, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
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