Creamy Restaurant-Style Chicken Alfredo Recipe for Singles

Why You’ll Love This this Creamy Restaurant-Style Chicken Alfredo

This single-serving chicken alfredo gives you all that rich, creamy restaurant flavor without having to order takeout or deal with a mountain of leftovers.

The garlic-infused cream sauce clings perfectly to tender chicken medallions, crispy asparagus, and meaty mushrooms, creating those satisfying bites that make you close your eyes and do a little happy dance.

Plus, you get to use the same skillet for everything, which means less cleanup and more time to actually enjoy your masterpiece.

Ingredients List

You’ll need just a handful of simple ingredients to create this restaurant-quality dish that serves one perfectly.

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into medallions
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter (sweet cream and salted)
• 1 1/2 ounces shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 garlic clove, minced (large or small to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 slender stalks asparagus (cut in diagonal bite-size pieces)
• 2 white button mushrooms, thickly sliced

Now, let’s talk about the health side of things because I know you’re wondering:

• This recipe is pretty indulgent with the butter, cream, and cheese, but you’re getting quality protein from the chicken and fiber from those gorgeous vegetables
• The asparagus brings vitamins K and folate to the party, while mushrooms add selenium and B vitamins
• If you want to lighten things up a bit, you could swap half the heavy cream for milk, though the sauce won’t be quite as luxuriously thick
• The portion size keeps things reasonable since it’s designed for one person, which honestly helps with portion control better than making a giant batch and telling yourself you’ll save the rest for later

Step by Step Directions

Have all ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking since this recipe moves quickly.

• Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat and sauté chicken medallions until lightly browned, then remove and set aside.
• Add 1/2 tablespoon butter to the same skillet and melt, then quickly add mushrooms and asparagus and sauté for 5-7 minutes until asparagus is tender-crisp.
• Remove vegetables and place with the cooked chicken in a dish.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet, add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
• Add heavy whipping cream and whisk vigorously to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, then bring to a boil.
• Add parmesan cheese and whisk until it starts to melt and incorporate into the sauce.
• Return chicken, vegetables, and any accumulated juices to the skillet.
• Stir everything together with a spoon until heated through and well combined, then add pepper to taste.
• Serve immediately while hot.

For even better heat distribution and temperature control, consider upgrading to premium copper cookware which provides superior cooking performance for delicate cream-based sauces.

Substitutions and Variations

• Herb it up – Fresh basil, thyme, or parsley stirred in at the end brings color and brightness to all that creamy goodness.

Dried herbs work too, just add them with the garlic.

• Go wine-crazy – A splash of white wine with the cream creates a more complex sauce, though you’ll need to let it simmer a minute to cook off the alcohol.

Additional Things to Serve With This Dish

This dish practically begs for some good carbs to soak up all that creamy sauce.

• Pasta is the obvious choice – Fettuccine, linguine, or penne all work beautifully, and honestly, who doesn’t love twirling alfredo-coated noodles around their fork?
• Rice keeps it simple – Plain white rice, wild rice, or even cauliflower rice if you’re going the low-carb route, they all do a stellar job of catching every drop of that silky sauce.
• Crusty bread for the win – A warm dinner roll, garlic bread, or just a hunk of sourdough gives you something to mop up the plate with, because leaving sauce behind is basically a crime.
• Keep the veggies coming – Since this recipe already includes asparagus and mushrooms, you could double down with a simple side salad, roasted broccoli, or steamed green beans to balance out all that richness.
• Potato options – Mashed potatoes, roasted baby potatoes, or even crispy hash browns create a comfort food dream team with the creamy chicken.

Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)

Getting this dish right comes down to a few key moves that’ll make the difference between restaurant-quality alfredo and something that tastes like it came from a jar.

• Don’t rush the chicken – Those medallions need actual browning, not just a sad pale sear, so resist the urge to flip them every thirty seconds like an impatient pancake flipper.
• Save that fond – All those brown bits stuck to the bottom of your pan after cooking the chicken, that’s liquid gold right there, so when you add the cream, whisk like your dinner depends on it to scrape up every flavorful morsel.
• Temperature control is everything – Keep your heat at medium throughout because alfredo sauce has zero patience for high heat, it’ll break faster than a promise on New Year’s Eve.
• Fresh parmesan makes or breaks it – I know the pre-shredded stuff is convenient, but freshly grated parmesan melts so much smoother and doesn’t have those anti-caking agents fighting against your silky sauce dreams.
• Timing is your friend – Have everything prepped and ready to go before you start cooking because this recipe moves fast, and nobody wants to be frantically mincing garlic while their chicken turns into shoe leather.
• Don’t let it sit – Alfredo sauce waits for no one, so serve it immediately while it’s still glossy and perfect, because reheated alfredo is like yesterday’s newspaper, technically still functional but missing all the magic.

Nutritional Facts

This single-serving chicken alfredo packs a satisfying nutritional profile that balances indulgence with substantial protein and essential nutrients.

• Calories: Approximately 650-700 calories per serving
• Protein: 45-50 grams from the chicken breast and parmesan cheese
• Fat: 48-52 grams, primarily from heavy cream, butter, and cheese
• Carbohydrates: 8-10 grams, mostly from the vegetables and minimal lactose
• Fiber: 2-3 grams from asparagus and mushrooms
• Calcium: 25-30% of daily value from parmesan cheese and heavy cream
• Iron: 15-18% of daily value, mainly from the chicken
• Vitamin K: Significant amount from asparagus (supports bone health)
• Phosphorus: 35-40% of daily value from dairy and chicken
• Selenium: 60-65% of daily value from chicken breast
• Saturated Fat: 28-30 grams (about 140% of recommended daily intake)
• Cholesterol: 180-200 mg from chicken, cream, and cheese
• Sodium: 800-900 mg, depending on salt content in butter and cheese

Fun “Did You Know?”

While chicken alfredo feels like a modern comfort food staple, the dish actually represents a fascinating collision of Italian tradition and American innovation.

I find it amazing that Alfredo di Lelio created the original fettuccine Alfredo in Rome during the 1900s using only butter, Parmesan, and pasta—no cream whatsoever!

American restaurants later added heavy cream to make the sauce richer and more stable.

The chicken? That’s purely an American addition.

What you’re enjoying today is fundamentally Italian technique meets American abundance, creating something entirely new that’s become more popular here than in Italy itself.