Mom’s Chicken Fettuccine (From Aimee Gibbs)
This Chicken Fettuccine recipe comes to us from a Southern Plate family member, Aimee Gibbs, and it’s a wonderful twist on the classic dish. It has a creamy, buttery sauce and the warm crunch of pecans… mmmmmm! It definitely has a soft spot in the bellies of my family, and I hope it finds one in yours too!
Rich, Creamy, & Comforting Chicken Fettuccine
One of my dear Southern Plate readers, Aimee, shared this recipe with me, and the story behind it moved me deeply. She grew up eating her mama’s chicken fettuccine, carried the recipe with her through college and law school, and when her mom went through cancer treatments, a heaping bowl of this pasta was what fed her soul.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Mom’s Chicken Fettucini
- Ready In: 40 minutes
- Serves: 4
- Calories: 509 cal
- Main Ingredients: 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 8 ounces mushrooms, 3 Bunches green onions, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 10 ounces fettucini, For the Sauce
- Why You'll Love It: This delightful twist on standard chicken fettucini (complete with a creamy buttery sauce and the warm crunch of pecans…mmmmmm!) has a softspot in the bellies of my family and I hope it finds one in yours too.
This is exactly the kind of dish that earns a permanent spot in your recipe box. It’s rich, comforting, and the kind of meal that fills a room with warmth before it even hits the table. It’s perfect for holidays, family visits, or any time you want to make someone feel truly cared for.
The flavors are classic and crowd-pleasing, with tender chicken and a creamy sauce that coats every strand of fettuccine just right. It makes plenty to go around, and if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, they’re somehow even better the next day!
Ingredients
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Mushrooms
- Green onions
- Seasoning (salt, pepper, & garlic powder)
- Fettucini
- Butter
- Egg yolk
- Half & half
- Parsley
- Parmesan cheese
- Chopped pecans
What other veggies go well with chicken fettuccine?
Not a mushroom fan? No problem. Swap them out with other vegetables like tender asparagus, sweet bell peppers, or even roasted zucchini, which would be just lovely in this dish. Sautéed spinach, steamed broccoli, or sun-dried tomatoes are also wonderful choices to make it your own!
How to Make Mom’s Chicken Fettuccine
1. Sauté the Chicken
First things first, melt a good bit of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
When it’s nice and hot, add your chicken and sauté until cooked through. Scoop it out of the skillet and set it aside.
Pro tip: Sauté the chicken until it’s just cooked through. It’ll cook a bit more when it’s added back to the pan later, and this two-step process ensures it doesn’t dry out and toughen.
2. Sauté the Vegetables
In that same pan, toss in your mushrooms and green onions. Season ’em up with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then sauté until the vegetables are nice and tender.
Now, go on and add that cooked chicken back into the pan with the vegetables. Cover it up, turn off the heat, and set it aside while you get to making the sauce.
3. Make the Sauce
In a saucepan, melt your butter and whisk in the egg yolk, half & half, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Heat it all up real slow and gentle-like, stirring now and then.
Pro tip: To prevent the egg from scrambling, whisk the yolk into the cold half & half before heating. This will help stop the egg from scrambling.
Once it’s simmering, stir in the Parmesan cheese. Keep on stirring until that sauce is just as thick and creamy as you’d like.
4. Bring It All Together
Stir in the chopped pecans, then add the chicken and vegetable mixture from the other pan. Stir everything together until every last bit of chicken and veggie is coated in that creamy, dreamy sauce.
5. Serve & Enjoy
Now, pour that creamy sauce all over a warm bed of fettuccine noodles and give it a good toss to coat every single strand.
Serve it up right away and enjoy the warmth and comfort of this delicious meal!
How to Store Chicken Fettuccine
Store this delicious chicken fettuccine in an airtight container in the fridge, where it’ll be good for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, you can pop it in the microwave or warm it up on the stove. If you choose the stovetop, add a splash of chicken broth or milk to get that creamy goodness back.
If you want to save some for later, you can freeze this dish for up to 2 months. Just let it thaw in the fridge overnight before you reheat it!
If you liked this pasta, you’ll love…
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size cubes
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 3 Bunches green onions chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 10 ounces fettucini
For the Sauce
- ½ cup butter
- 1 Egg yolk
- ⅔ cup half & half
- 2 tablespoons parsley
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 ounces pecans chopped
Instructions
- Sauté chicken in butter. Remove from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, sauté mushrooms, onions, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add the chicken back to the pan. Cover and set aside.
- For the sauce, slowly bring to a low boil butter, egg yolk, half & half, parsley, salt, pepper & garlic. Then add Parmesan cheese. Stir till thickened.
- Add pecans, stir. Then add chicken mixture and stir again.
- Pour over cooked fettuccine noodles, coat noodles. Serve and enjoy!
Sounds great! I look forward to trying it out. Would love to have also seen a photo of the finished dish (Christy has me spoiled!!) :o)
This sounds terrific-takes me back to childhood.
I also wanted you to warn your readers about container sizes for recipes. I recently made your vanilla wafer cake twice. One box of vanilla wafers was 16 ounces, and the next time the box was only 12 ounces. It took me awhile to realize why the second cake wasn’t quite right. All of us need to be careful in shopping to see that we use the proper measurements since the manufacturers are changing the size of packaging.
Thanks for giving us all this reminder. Many manufacturers are shrinking the contents of their packages while keeping the package size the same. What, they think we won’t notice? This goes all the way to tissue and toilet paper. Then they have the audacity to raise the price at the same time!
Oh this recipe looks fabulous! And tonight me and the youngest son are on our own, we don’t have to worry about the resident mushroom hater as he’s out of town for the weekend. Perfect timing and I can’t wait to taste it. Thank you so much for sharing it with us Aimee. And I wish your mother many years of love and laughter.
LOL! My younger brother gags at the mention of mushrooms so when he’s home we make it without the mushrooms, pull out his servings, then add mushrooms in the rest for everyone else! I hope you and your son enjoy it no matter how you make it!
Thanks Aimee for a great recipe. My sister is just about ready to start her chemo for ovarian cancer. It’s great to know this disease is being kicked in it’s keester!!.
Aimee, thanks for sharing your story & recipe…both heartwarming indeed. I love that’s it’s not your typical fettuccine & it has pecans…very creative!!!! Also love anything that has an entire stick of butter…very in keeping with where Christy went this week ~giggles~
This sounds delicious! I love the idea of pecans in the saice. I’ll be making this soon!
Denise in Dallas
Sounds delicious and it is always heartwarming to hear of families who survived a difficult time. I hope Aimee and her mom are cooking together for many more years.