This is one of the very first recipes I attempted. I’m not a fan of chicken broccoli ziti in alfredo sauce so I decided to work out a version that just used garlic and oil. It’s definitely evolved over the years into the current version, but this chicken broccoli ziti with garlic and oil recipe makes the top of the list of most asked for dishes in my house. It’s also my go to recipe when I’m having guests over that are picky eaters. There’s really nothing in this to complain about!
What makes this chicken broccoli ziti with garlic and oil recipe stand out?
There are a few things that really make this a stand out dish in my opinion, but the number one thing is that I dredge the chicken in flour and salt before I fry it. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, “dredging” is simply tossing your meat into some flour before cooking it. It doesn’t really make a batter on it per se, but it allows the chicken to brown up and get a touch crispy, which adds some nice texture and a little extra flavor to the dish. It also gives an opportunity to easily add seasoning! When making this dish I put one cup of all purpose flour in a bowl then add one teaspoon of kosher salt and a few twists of the old pepper grinder!
Recipe Road #3
This recipe is the third stepping stone in our Recipe Road series designed to teach anyone how to cook and build their skills in the kitchen. We chose this recipe to be next based on the fact that continues the skills learned in previous lesson’s while also adding a few new ones! In this lesson we’ll continue focusing on our knife skills while also learning about dredging chicken in flour, cooking the perfect pasta, and using the double boiler!
First things first. Let’s get out all or our equipment and supplies. For this recipe, you will need the following: A 6qt sauce pot for boiling pasta, a 2qt double boiler, a cutting board, an 8″ chefs knife, a large skillet, one bowl and one plate.
The order in which you work is very important for this meal as you want everything to be done but also still hot at the end so do your best to work in the order I’ve detailed in the recipe.
Take your time to cut the chicken into even equally sized pieces about 1/8″ thick. Also, take your time cutting the broccoli, cut away as much of the stalk as possible, leaving only the flower or “floret” on top.
If you’ve never used a double boiler before then this is an easy one to get the hang of it. Pour about an inch of water into the bottom of the pan, and put the broccoli in the upper section. Place on a burner and turn it to medium high. Just bring it to a low boil (barely boiling) place the cover on and cook until the broccoli is soft to the poke of a fork.
Broccoli goes from not done to overdone very quickly so keep a close eye on it. The color of the broccoli will give you a good indicator of where it’s at. It will start changing as it warms up, the more done it gets the brighter green it will turn. Once it’s done, the color will start to go the other way and turn darker. You want to take the broccoli off the heat right at the sweet spot where it’s at it’s brightest green and fork soft. When you hit this point remove the broccoli from the double boiler and place in a heat safe bowl. Do not cover it.
Key Idea– Timing is Everything! Proper preparation and order of operations is the key to success! We want to get everything done about the same time so the meal we worked so hard on is nice and hot and ready to serve for our guests!
Ok, let’s get to Cooking!
Some tips and tricks to make this recipe go nice and easy!
- Read all the instructions and get everything you need before you start.
- Cut as much stalk away from the broccoli as you can leaving just the floret.
- Completely coat the chicken pieces in the flour dredge and the set aside on plate. Putting them on a plate instead of directly into the pan lets all of the excess flour fall off on the plate instead of in your pan.
- Cook the chicken in batches, being sure not to overcrowd the pan. Use a high quality neutral cooking oil. Avocado oil is always my preference here but olive oil would also be a good choice.
- Prepare everything before you start cooking as you will be cooking everything at the same time and won’t have time to prep while cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a fast, easy meal to make?
Yes! This is an amazing meal you can make in under 30 minutes!
Can I make this meal the day before?
You can but it’s best the day of. It’s pretty quick to prepare so I don’t really recommend cooking it the day before.
What should I serve with this?
This is a great stand alone meal, so no sides are required. If you want a little something extra I would recommend a nice Italian bread with butter, or even some garlic bread.
Chicken Broccoli Ziti with Garlic and Oil
Description
Perfect al dente pasta, beautiful flour dredged chicken, and bright delicious broccoli florets, tossed in a light sauce of oil, garlic and butter.
Full Ingredients
Instructions
Prep Instructions
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Prep the Broccoli and Garlic
Wash the broccoli under cool water to remove any dirt, bacteria and pesticides. Then cut the stalk away with a sharp chef's knife. Cut away as much stalk as you can up under the tops of the "trees" so that the broccoli almost wants to fall apart but doesn't. Set the broccoli aside.
Cut each end off the garlic cloves and them down the middle the long way. Peel away the skin from each half. Lay the blade of your chef's knife flat on top of each piece (one at a time) and give it a good SMASH with the heel of your palm. Then chop it finely across the direction that it split. Set aside.
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Prep the Chicken
If you're a chicken washer, then go ahead and wash your chicken. I prefer not to wash, but to each their own! Remove and gross chewy bits from the chicken, membrane, fat, tendons, it's all got to go. Then cut the chicken into 1' strips the long way and then slice those strips into 1/8" thick pieces across. You should end up with pieces of chicken approximately 1" x 1" square and 1/8" thick. For all of my metric friends out there, that's about 25mm x 25mm square and 3mm thick.
Take a small bowl and whisk 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper together in it.
Add 3-4 pieces of chicken at a time into the bowl and flip them around in the mixture until they have a light even coating on them and then place them on a plate. Repeat until all of the chicken is coated.
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Prep the Pasta
While you're preparing the chicken and the broccoli, you should get your water boiling for the pasta!
Cooking Instructions
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Preheat
Preheat your skillet over medium heat.
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Cooking the Broccoli
Add 1" of water to the double boiler, add the broccoli to the upper section and turn the burner on medium high. Bring to a low boil for 10-12 minutes. This timeline is an approximation. Broccoli goes from not done to overdone very quickly so keep a close eye on it. The color of the broccoli will give you a good indicator of where it's at. It will start changing as it warms up, the more done it gets the brighter green it will turn. Once it's done, the color will start to go the other way and turn darker. You want to take the broccoli off the heat right at the sweet spot where it's at it's brightest green and fork soft. When you hit this point remove the broccoli from the double boiler and place in a heat safe bowl. Do not cover it.
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Cook the Pasta
Follow the instruction on the package to cook the pasta to "al dente". For those of you that have heard the term al dente before but don't know what it means, it's an Italian saying, meaning "to the tooth" and describes pasta that is cooked until firm but chewy, NOT soft and mushy. That's what we're looking for, firm chewy pasta!
When the pasta is done to your satisfaction, immediately drain the water and return it to the same pot you cooked it in. Add 1 stick of butter cut up into 4 pieces and allow the hot pasta to melt the butter.
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Cook the Chicken
While the pasta and broccoli are cooking let's get the chicken cooked! Add 3-4 TBS of oil to your preheated skillet and then cook the chicken in batches, careful to not overcrowd the pan. After you add the chicken to your pan don't touch it until you see it start to turn white up over the edges. Once you see that it's time to flip. Your chicken should have a nice golden brown color too it. If you're not getting golden brown turn the heat up a bit. If it's brown brown turn it down! When your last batch is done, add all of the chicken back into the pan and then add the garlic. Let it cook, stirring frequently until fragrant ~60s. Add a splash of marsala wine to deglaze the pan and we're done!
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Combine Everything Together
Add the chicken to the pot with the pasta in it directly from the skillet making sure to pour all of the oil from the skillet in as well. Mix well. Add in the rest of the oil you have left over. Add the broccoli last and stir gently so you don't cause the broccoli to disintegrate. That's it!
Serve while it's still nice and hot with a slice of bread and butter and maybe a little parmesan cheese on top!
Equipment
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Nutrition Facts
Servings 4
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 955.01kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 20.65g32%
- Saturated Fat 2.56g13%
- Cholesterol 72.56mg25%
- Sodium 919.97mg39%
- Potassium 2165.15mg62%
- Total Carbohydrate 140.01g47%
- Dietary Fiber 16.39g66%
- Sugars 11.46g
- Protein 55.01g111%
- Vitamin A 2880.28 IU
- Vitamin C 408.85 mg
- Calcium 282.68 mg
- Iron 6.74 mg
- Vitamin E 6.37 mg
- Vitamin K 476.07 mcg
- Thiamin 0.75 mg
- Riboflavin 0.87 mg
- Niacin 18.54 mg
- Vitamin B6 1.85 mg
- Folate 369.7 mcg
- Vitamin B12 0.23 mcg
- Pantothenic Acid 4.87 mg
- Phosphorus 790.03 mg
- Magnesium 202.78 mg
- Zinc 4.46 mg
- Selenium 129.75 mcg
- Copper 0.79 mg
- Manganese 2.27 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
