Grilled chicken chopped and tossed with bow tie pasta, bacon, peas, and a deliciously creamy cheese sauce…doesn’t that sound so good? Just wait until you taste it! If you are looking for delicious comfort food, you have to try this Chicken Carbonara recipe!
The secret ingredient that makes this recipe so rich and flavorful…
The secret ingredient in this Chicken Carbonara: Laughing Cow cheese wedges! Ever since I experimented with Laughing Cow cheese in the Cheesy Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts recipe and had great results, I have been inspired to add it to other recipes. Laughing Cow is not paying me to tell you that or to add their cheese to my recipes…I just like them!
There are lots of Laughing Cow cheese flavors. The flavor I used in this recipe is Creamy Swiss Light. Each wedge is just 1 WW SP, and you only need two for this recipe. Isn’t that great!? WW members love Laughing Cow cheese, because it tastes fantastic, and it goes great with zero point foods and low point snacks. Plus, the adorable little wedges give you perfect portion control every single time.
What to do with the extra Laughing Cow cheese wedges.
There are 8 cheese wedges in a package, so unless you are making this recipe 4 times (which, honestly, once you taste this, you may WANT to do that) you will have a few extra. These cheese wedges can be spread on veggies like carrots, celery, cucumbers, and bell peppers. They are also great on sandwiches in place of mayonnaise, or on a bagel in place of cream cheese. The Laughing Cow website has tons of other snack ideas you can try here.
(photo credit: Laughing Cow website)
Creamy, cheesy sauce in Chicken Carbonara.
The cheesy creamy mixture in this recipe is simple to make with fat-free half-and-half, light Laughing Cow cheese wedges, Parmesan cheese, and chicken broth. The sautéed onion and garlic, peas and parsley give it a little extra flavor, and, of course, you can’t make delicious Chicken Carbonara without bacon! Trust me, you will not feel like you are skimping on this recipe!
This recipe makes five servings, and each serving is 6 WW FreeStyle Smart Points each. My family was so pleased with this dinner. I hope yours will be too!
Here is what you need:
3 strips Oscar Mayer fully cooked bacon
1-1/2 cups bow tie pasta
1 tablespoon light butter
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons diced onion
2 creamy light Laughing Cow cheese wedges
1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
1 cup fat-free chicken broth
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons parsley, optional
Here is what you do:
Cook bacon according to the directions on the package.
Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.
In a large skillet set to medium heat, melt butter. Cook chicken in butter 5-6 minutes, or until fully cooked, more or less time depending on the thickness of the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer chicken to a plate. Once cooled, chop chicken into 1-inch by 1-inch pieces.
Using the same skillet in which you cooked the chicken, add oil, garlic, and onion and sauté until onions are crisp-tender, about 1-2 minutes.
Whisk in cheese wedges, half-and-half, and chicken broth. Allow to cook until the cheese wedges have melted.
Drain cooked pasta. Add Parmesan cheese, pasta, and peas to the sauce mixture.
In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water. Combine cornstarch mixture with the sauce mixture and allow to cook 2-3 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
Crumble bacon. Toss bacon and chicken in with the pasta/sauce. Top with parsley.
Makes 5 servings.
One serving is a generous 1 cup.
One serving is 7 Green, 6 Blue, and 6 Purple points.
Skinny Chicken Carbonara
Ingredients
- 3 strips Oscar Mayer fully cooked bacon
- 1-1/2 cups bow tie pasta
- 1 tablespoon light butter
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons diced onion
- 2 creamy light Laughing Cow cheese wedges
- 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
- 1 cup fat-free chicken broth
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons parsley, optional
Instructions
- Cook bacon according to the directions on the package.
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.
- In a large skillet set to medium heat, melt butter. Cook chicken in butter 5-6 minutes on both sides, or until fully cooked, more or less time depending on the thickness of the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer chicken to a plate. Once cooled, chop chicken into 1-inch by 1-inch pieces.
- Using the same skillet in which you cooked the chicken, add oil, garlic, and onion and sauté until onions are crisp-tender, about 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in cheese wedges, half-and-half, and chicken broth. Allow to cook until the cheese wedges have melted.
- Drain cooked pasta. Add pasta, Parmesan cheese, and peas to the sauce mixture.
- In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water. Combine cornstarch mixture with the sauce mixture and allow to cook 2-3 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
- Crumble bacon. Toss bacon and chicken in with the pasta/sauce. Top with parsley.
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Cyndy says
Hmm… looks good, but the recipe says serving size is generous one cup and serves 5. However the nutrition information says 3/4 cup is a serving size, and it serves 4. Which is correct?
Alisha Hughes says
Thanks for catching that! This recipe makes 5 servings that are 1 generous cup each. I made it a couple of different ways and tweaked the recipe after the first time I made it, but forgot to change it in all the places of this post. Sorry about that.
Tammy says
please explain how you get 6 smart points, when I add to recipe builder I get 11 spts for 5 servings
Alisha Hughes says
Hi Tammy, My recipe builder still says 6 SP. There are a few reasons why you might get a different number. You may have accidentally entered in the wrong amount of something (putting in 2 cups instead of 1, for instance), you may have entered in a full-fat version of an ingredient rather than the “fat-free” version, you may have accidentally entered an ingredient in twice, or you may have entered in different bacon (they aren’t all the same, although you would think they might be). Hope that helps! Thanks! 🙂
Cyndy says
Just to clarify, is the one and a half cups bowtie pasta the pre-cooked measure or after it’s cooked? thanks.
Alisha Hughes says
Pre-cooked.
Cyndy says
Oh, nice! I do the old Smart Points, but I think I can use this, just adding the points for the chicken. It looks very good, and I have saved it.