Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
A flavorful chicken scampi recipe to serve over pasta for an easy and quick weeknight dinner. This Olive Garden copycat recipe is delicious with a fraction of the price.
Servings: 5 Servings
Calories: 762kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pound chicken tenders
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt or to your liking
- ½ teaspoon black pepper or to your liking
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 1 small red onion thinly sliced
- ½ red bell pepper thinly sliced
- ½ green bell pepper thinly sliced
- ½ orange bell pepper thinly sliced
- 11/2 Tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 ½ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 pound angel hair pasta cooked
For garnish:
- Red pepper flakes
- Chopped parsley
- Grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning and mix well.
- Season chicken on each side with the salt mixture.
- Add any remaining seasoning to the flour in a shallow dish or container and mix well.
- Dredge chicken on both sides in the flour shaking off excess flour and set aside. You’ll most likely have leftover flour do not toss that yet.
- In a large skillet over medium heat add 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon butter.
- Add peppers and onions and cook for about 3 minutes or until lightly softened.
- Remove vegetables and set aside.
- In the same skillet add the remaining oil and another tablespoon of butter.
- Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side. Cook in batches if necessary. Do not overcrowd the pan.
- Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
- If your pan is super hot remove from heat for a minute to cool it off a bit.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add the remaining butter and wait for it to melt.
- When butter melts, add garlic and saute for about 20-30 seconds.
- Add 3 tablespoons of the remaining leftover flour mixture ( from step4) to the pan and cook until no longer white.
- Pour chicken broth and deglaze the pan by scrapping anything out of the bottom and sides of the pan with a spatula.
- Pour the heavy cream and stir using a whisk until no lumps exist in the sauce.
- Cook the sauce for about 2-3 minutes or until thickened.
- Slowly stir in lemon juice, taste to adjust seasoning.
- Place cooked pasta in a large bowl or pot then pour sauces and vegetable over.
- Toss spaghetti lightly with sauce and vegetables.
- Serve pasta in plates topped with chicken.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese, parsley or red pepper flakes if desired.
Notes
- Chicken tenderloins are best for this recipe as they are forgiving and less likely to be overcooked.
- For a more lemony flavor add in some lemon zest. If you do not like lemon omit the lemon juice.
- If you feel your sauce is too think feel free to add more liquid ( broth, heavy cream, milk or even water) ¼ cup at a time.
- For more tips and notes check the post above.
- Please check the nutrition disclaimer policy.
Nutrition
Calories: 762kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 140mg | Sodium: 1138mg | Potassium: 900mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1476IU | Vitamin C: 47mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 3mg