Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pumpkin Alfredo

A creamy and healthier alfredo sauce made with pumpkin instead of flour, with tender chicken breast pieces and broccoli. Perfect with any pasta.

Oh, hayyyy carb lovers. Welcome to my world of chocolate and cakes and brownies and blondies and pancakes……. and pastaaaahhh. All lower in fat than normal stuff. Ok. Most lower in fat than normal.

After making that ever.so.creamy Lightened Up Chicken Carbonara, I was craving more good-for-me-stuff….. like I crave donuts and french toast.

Something to cure our school holiday rainy-day-blues. And this was it.

Total.comfort.food.

As usual, my cravings never head in the direction of healthy. Or low fat. Oh you know, like carrot sticks and celery stalks (which, by the way, end up with peanut butter smeared all over them. Just saying.)

I always end up craving buttery, oilyand creamy anything. Sweet and savoury.

But I just can’t do that to ma’self.

And this is a recipe I’ve used since my daughter was making me crave bad things while I was pregnant with her.

She’s the fussiest eater on the planet ladies and gentlemen, and she absolutely loves this. So it’s safe to say kids will devour this bowl full of pumpkin epicness.

No flour is needed for this. No béchamel nada. Because the pumpkin provides all the starch to thicken this beautifully and creamily without any addition of anything else.

And when I read that back, I’ll be all, ‘Karina, what the hell are you talking about?’

It’s ok. The carbs are making me do it.

The soft chicken pieces in this perfect, comfort meal makes this super filling, you may need to unbutton a couple of buttons on your bell bottom jeans and the boots with the furrrr.

So creamy, full of beautiful moth watering flavours, with the perfect cheese touch from the parmesan, turns this into a bowl of pumpkin and pasta addiction. Like, you’ll be wanting more even though no more will fit anywhere, even after you’ve unbuttoned everything, type of thing.

Like, the next day you’ll be eating this for breakfast after dreaming about it all night. That type of addiction. And I know I’m not the only one.

Yeah. I know you. And that’s totally ok. Because your secrets are safe with me.

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pumpkin Alfredo

A creamy and healthier alfredo sauce made with pumpkin instead of flour, with tender chicken breast pieces and broccoli. Perfect with any pasta.

Weight Watchers: 11pp per serve

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Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 x 500g | 1lbs packet penne pasta (or any pasta)
• 1 cup reserved pasta water
• 2 tablespoons light butter of choice
• 1 onion , sliced thinly
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed or minced
• 500 g | lbs skinless chicken breast tenders , cubed
• 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (canned or fresh, steamed until soft)
• 2 cups skim | low fat milk
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon vegetable stock powder
• Salt to season

Instructions

• Boil pasta in a large pot of salted water according to packet directions, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the water for later use.
• Heat a large pan over medium heat and add butter. As soon as it starts to fry and sizzle, add onion and cook until transparent. Add the garlic, and fry until garlic becomes fragrant (about a minute). Add the chicken and stir it through the onion and garlic. Cook until chicken changes in colour. Add the pumpkin and milk, continuously stirring until it combines and begins to simmer and thicken. Add the broccoli and parmesan cheese, stock powder and salt. Mix well and cook until chicken has cooked through and broccoli is cooked to your liking. Pour the reserved pasta water into the pan in 1/4 cup increments, stirring between each addition, until you gain the consistency you like. (If you need too, add a little extra milk for a thinner sauce).
• Gently stir the pasta through the sauce and serve with extra parmesan cheese!

Nutrition

Calories: 502kcal | Carbohydrates: 66.2g | Protein: 32.4g | Fat: 4.5g | Fiber: 1.6g