Olive Garden Chicken Scampi Pasta (Copycat)

Olive Garden Chicken Scampi Pasta copycat made with a creamy garlic white wine sauce with lemon, bell peppers and onions.

We love Olive Garden pasta dishes including Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno (Copycat) and chicken dishes like Olive Garden Chicken Piccata (Copycat) served with their classic salad topped with Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing (Copycat).

Creamy chicken pasta are surefire winners in our house. This creamy, garlicky, lemony white wine sauce with Parmesan cheese is basically heaven on earth. It would taste delicious with shrimp, pork, or even beef medallions.

What is in chicken scampi?

Similar to shrimp scampi, chicken scampi is a dish classically made with garlic, butter, and white wine. This chicken scampi has heavy cream and parmesan cheese added to the sauce to create a rich, creamy main dish.

Best Pasta For Scampi Pasta:

For an authentic copycat, I stuck with angel hair pasta, but I tend to find it is simply too thin, cooks too quickly, and won’t hold up to other vegetables and chicken well, breaking too easily.

For creamy pasta recipes, I tend to stick to spaghetti or thin spaghetti, which is still relatively thin while staying strong enough not to break apart when tossing the creamy sauce with the noodles.

A roux is just the base of the creamy sauce. This mixture of butter and flour thickens sauces.

How to make a creamy roux sauce:

To start the roux, use even parts of butter and flour melted and whisked together.
Cook the flour just long enough for it to turn a creamy beige color (20-30 seconds) to ensure no raw flour taste.
Add room temperature or warm liquids, SLOWLY.
Whisk quickly while adding the liquids and maintain a creamy texture. Too much at once can break the sauce.
Reduce on a medium-low or medium heat.
Finish with cream; don’t boil the cream down.

Also, remember, when you’re cooking with lemon and Parmesan cheese, they are best added at the end of the cooking time. They are fresh and bright flavors. You can also finish the recipe with more lemon juice or lemon wedges in addition to the remaining parmesan cheese.

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Can you meal prep this chicken?

The problem with meal-prepping pasta with creamy sauces is that the pasta will continue to soak up the sauce once it is cooled.

Sometimes, if I am really craving a dish, I will keep the sauce separate. Then just before serving add a splash of milk or water and stir with a fork before warming up the sauce just to make it a little thinner.

To make the dish easier to eat during lunch, I usually chop the chicken before putting it in containers. This allows me to eat it with just a fork at work or school.

Looking for more Copycat Italian Recipes?

Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a cast iron skillet on medium high heat and cook the bell peppers and onions for 2-3 minutes or until slightly softened.
Remove the vegetables and add in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
Once melted add in two tablespoons of flour and garlic.
Whisk well until the flour has had a chance to "cook" for about 20 seconds.
Add in the red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, wine and chicken broth, then let reduce on medium heat for 18-20 minutes.
While the sauce is reducing cook the pasta one minute shy of the instructions, do not rinse.
In a second pan add 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat.
Coat the chicken tenderloins in the salt and pepper before tossing in the remaining flour.
Add in the chicken, cooking for 3-4 minutes on each side.
Remove the chicken from the heat while the sauce finishes reducing.
When the sauce is reduced by half add in the heavy cream and whisk well until you have a nice thick sauce.
Add in the lemon juice and half the parmesan cheese and whisk.
Toss with the pasta, bell peppers and onions.
Top with the chicken and Parmesan and serve.

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