This Olive Garden Chicken Scampi copycat is made with a delicious creamy garlic white wine sauce served with bell peppers, breaded chicken and red onion.
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Ingredients in this pasta
You don't need a ton of ingredients on hand to make this Olive Garden fave! Here's what you need:
- chicken tenders
- flour
- Italian seasoning
- angel hair pasta
- red, yellow and green pepper
- red onion
- butter
- garlic
- chicken broth
- dry white wine
- heavy cream
- parmesan cheese
- parsley
How to make chicken scampi
Here's how to make this Olive Garden pasta:
- Mix flour and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Toss chicken tenders in mixture, then season with salt & pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet and saute chicken until fully cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Without wiping pan clean, add bell peppers and onion to skillet, sauteeing until tender-crisp. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, cook pasta.
- Make the sauce by melting butter and sauteeing garlic until fragrant. Stir in chicken broth, white wine and heavy cream, bringing to a boil. Stir in parmesan cheese and whisk until fully blended.
- Add pasta and veggies to skillet with sauce and gently toss to combine. Serve with chicken tenders overtop.
- Garnish with parsley and more parmesan, then serve and enjoy!
Ingredient substitutions
- olive oil – you can substitute the olive oil with any neutral cooking oil, such as canola, avocado, or vegetable oil
- chicken tenders – Although breast meat is the leanest choice, boneless skinless chicken thighs or even turkey may be substituted
- flour – this is used to create the sauce. All-purpose flour is what I use, but whole wheat or gluten free all purpose flour will also work
- Italian seasoning – I use a store-bought all-purpose, Italian seasoning blend. You could also make your own blend using spices and herbs of your choice
- pasta – Scampi is typically served over angel hair pasta, but you can substitute with any pasta of your choice
- sweet bell peppers – For a nice pop of color, I use a mixture of red, yellow and green peppers. If you only have one color on hand, that is fine too
- red onion – feel free to use white or yellow onion, or even shallot would be a good replacement
- chicken broth – vegetable stock or broth are good substitutes for chicken broth
- dry white wine – use any white wine of your choice. If you want to avoid the alcohol, you can substitute it with an equal amount of broth or stock
- heavy cream – good substitutes for heavy cream are half & half, or whole milk. However, the creamy sauce will not be as rich and indulgent.
What is scampi sauce made of?
Scampi sauce is a deliciously rich, garlic butter sauce that is most often served with shrimp over pasta. The sauce for this dish also includes white wine and heavy cream.
Calories in this recipe vs Olive Garden
The fact is, where butter and pasta are involved, the calories can add up quickly. The best way to fully enjoy the meal is to exercise portion control. Or, eat as much as you would like and work it off later.
One serving of my copycat chicken scampi has 513 calories. In comparison, according to the nutritional information on the restaurant's website, one serving of their dish has 1260 calories!
What to serve on the side
With lean protein, fresh vegetables, dairy products and carbohydrates on the plate, this meal covers the basic food groups pretty well!
However, you could include a serving of salad or soup and a basket of soft breadsticks. After all, this is what they serve at Olive Garden! 😉
To completely recreate the restaurant's dining experience, you could even make a copycat version of the Olive Garden salad and dressing recipe.
Storing and reheating
If you have any leftovers, be sure to store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will keep well there for a few days, but they should be thrown out after 5 days.
The best way to reheat scampi is in a skillet on the stove top. To avoid overheating the sauce, which can cause it to separate, use medium heat. Stir occasionally and cook until the dish warms through and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.
You can also microwave it for 1-2 minutes – just make sure to sprinkle some water overtop and stir halfway through reheating.
Freezing this dish
Dishes with cream in them are not very freezer-friendly because they tend to separate as they thaw out. Although the sauce will typically recombine as it reheats, it will change the texture, making the sauce somewhat grainy and unpleasant. I don't recommend freezing this particular dish.
That said, you can freeze the cooked chicken tenders for a future date. Just make sure to eat them up within 30 days and reheat them in the oven before serving.
More restaurant copycats
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing the leftovers
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen
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Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 chicken tenders
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- Salt & pepper
- 1 lb angel hair pasta
- 1 each red, yellow and green pepper, sliced
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- Parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Mix flour and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Toss chicken tenders in mixture, then season with salt & pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat and saute chicken for 3-4 minutes each side until fully cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Without wiping pan clean, add bell peppers and onion to skillet, seasoning with salt & pepper and sauteeing for 4-5 minutes until tender-crisp. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in a pot of boiling water on the stove then drain and set aside.
- Melt butter in skillet, then saute garlic for 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in chicken broth, white wine and heavy cream, bringing to a boil. Stir in parmesan cheese and whisk until fully blended.
- Add pasta and veggies to skillet with sauce and gently toss to combine. Serve with chicken tenders overtop and garnish with fresh parsley and more parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Sandra says
This looks delicious – and not too difficult to put together. The recipe calls for 5 tenders but serves 6 people (and it looks like your servings have 2 tenders per bowl) – typo? I just spotted fillets on the Superstore flyer for this week – I’ve never bought them before – I bet this would make a great meal prep dish for the week!
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry about that Sandra, yes it is a typo. I’ve corrected the recipe now, thanks for the heads up!