One of the easiest, healthiest Restaurant Style dishes you can make at home is my Chicken Primavera in a Garlic Aioli Sauce.
You can easily change up the ingredients depending upon the seasonal fresh vegetables in your grocery store or what you have on hand. This delicious saute dish can be served over your favorite pasta or grain.
The finished dish is very easy to make and something you can have on your table in less than 30 minutes. The garden-fresh vegetables lightly sauteed with olive oil and garlic along with the chicken tenders will make a fresh and delicious dinner.
What Ingredients do I need to make Chicken Primavera?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Chicken Primavera. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Can I make Pasta Primavera with something besides chicken?
You sure can. Not only can you change the vegetables around to what you like or what you have on hand, but you can also do the same with the protein. If you’re not fond of chicken then try these substitutes.
- Shrimp
- Salmon (or fish of your choice)
- Tofu
- White Beans
What can I use instead of Pasta in my Primavera?
- Rice
- Farro or your favorite grain
- Or additional fresh or frozen vegetables
Creating delicious dishes in your home doesn’t have to be difficult. Have fun experimenting with ingredients and spices. The more fun you have in the kitchen, the more time you’ll want to spend creating deliciousness. And having complete control over what goes in the food you eat as well as saving money cooking at home is definitely a win-win!
How do I make Chicken Primavera?
The first step is dredging the chicken tenders in flour seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.
- Place a large saute pan over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chicken to the pan and saute for 2 minutes, turn the chicken and continue cooking.
- After turning the chicken add the mushrooms, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic to the pan and saute for 2 -3 minutes. Stir as needed
- Add broccoli, carrots, and green beans. Season with garlic, and onion powder. Continue cooking the vegetables and chicken for another 1-2 minutes, stirring as needed.
- Add the tomatoes, basil, and parsley (reserve a little of the basil and parsley to garnish the dish when serving)
- Add a splash of wine or stock to deglaze the pan and get all the tasty bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the cooked pasta, and grated Romano cheese to the pan and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Can I use cream to make Chicken Primavera?
Yes, you can. The Americanized version often contains heavy cream. If you like pasta dishes with cream sauce my Fettucine Alfredo and Tortelinni and Brocolli are sure to please.
Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for another minute or two. You can add a little chicken stock or olive oil if the pasta seems to dry.
Garnish with parsley, basil, grated Romano cheese, and black pepper and enjoy this delicious restaurant-style dish packed with garden-fresh vegetables.
Recipe FAQ’s:
Primavera translates to spring, alluding to the fresh and light ingredients in this dish. Made with seasonal fresh vegetables, pasta and occasionally chicken or seafood, this light dish is enjoyed in the warmer months in Italy.
Traditionally it is not, but the American version is often made using cream and grated romano cheese to make it a richer version of the classic dish.
Seasonal fresh vegetables are used when making pasta primavera, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add your favorites to the dish. I like to use 6-10 different vegetables when I make this dish.
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Chicken Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken tenders or protein of your choice
- ½ cup flour seasoned with seas salt and black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil more as needed
- 2 cup mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup zucchini quartered and sliced
- 1 cup yellow squash quartered and sliced
- ½ cup onions diced
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1½ cup broccoli florets blanched
- 1 cup carrots sliced and blanched
- 1 cup green beans blanched
- 1 ounce white wine or rose wine to deglaze the pan
- 1 cup grape tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon basil finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Italian Parsley finely chopped
- ½ pound cavatappi of your favorite pasta or grain
- ½ cup chicken stock more or less as desired
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese more or less as desired
Instructions
- Cook your pasta per instructions on box, rinse, cool and set aside until needed
- Mix the flour with sea salt and black pepper.
- Dredge the chicken tenders in the seasoned flour
- Place a large saute pan over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chicken to the pan and saute for 2 minutes, turn the chicken and continue cooking.
- After turning the chicken add the mushrooms, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic to the pan and saute for 2 -3 minutes. Stir as needed
- Add the broccoli, carrots, and green beans. Season with garlic, and onion powder. Continue cooking the vegetables and chicken for another 1-2 minutes, stirring as needed.
- Add the tomatoes, basil, and parsley (reserve a little of the basil and parsley to garnish the dish when serving)
- Add a splash of wine or stock to deglaze the pan and get all the tasty bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the cooked pasta, chicken stock and grated Romano cheese to the pan and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for another minute or two. You can add a little chicken stock or olive oil if the pasta seems to dry.
- Garnish with parsley, basil, grated Romano cheese, and black pepper and enjoy this delicious restaurant-style dish packed with garden-fresh vegetables.
Gill
Hi
If using salmon does this need the flour coating also would I still use chicken stock??
Chef Dennis Littley
You can dredge the salmon in flour if you want a little crust to the salmon, but you don’t have to use flour at this point. You can season the salmon before cooking, that will add flavor. As for the chicken stock, you can use it or vegetable stock, I use chicken stock in a lot of seafood dishes as I find it adds more flavor, and you really can’t notice the chicken flavor.
Ruthie
What do you do with the seasoned flour in this recipe?
Chef Dennis Littley
us the flour to dredge the chicken before sauteing it. Sorry for the confusion.
Mary Frances
This looks so yummy Dennis!! The video was very helpful 🙂
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m glad you liked it Mary Frances!
Liz
Sounds nice – thank you.
Chef Dennis Littley
you’re very welcome Liz and thanks for stopping by!