This Olive Garden Chicken Scampi copycat is made with a creamy garlic white wine sauce, vibrant bell peppers and juicy breaded chicken.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like canola, avocado or grapeseed oil.
- Chicken tenders – boneless skinless chicken thighs or turkey would also work.
- Flour – all-purpose flour is best but you could also try using whole wheat or gluten-free flour.
- Italian seasoning – make your own using a blend of basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme and garlic powder.
- Angel hair pasta – scampi s traditionally served over angel hair pasta but you can use any pasta of your choice.
- Red, yellow and green peppers – feel free to use whatever colour bell peppers you have on hand.
- Red onion – white onion, yellow onion or shallots would also be good here.
- Butter – olive oil would also work.
- Garlic – I prefer fresh minced garlic, but jarred minced garlic would work in a pinch.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth or stock have a similar flavour.
- Dry white wine – use any white wine of your choice or substitute for an equal amount of broth or stock.
- Heavy cream – half and half or whole milk can be used, but the sauce won’t be as creamy.
- Parmesan cheese – nutritional yeast is a great substitute for parmesan.
- Parsley – for garnish
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
How to make Olive Garden chicken scampi
- Toss the chicken in the flour and Italian seasoning.
- Cook the chicken.
- Sauté the peppers and onion.
- Make the creamy sauce.
- Mix together the noodles, chicken, veggies and sauce.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and dig in!
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!
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However, you could include a serving of salad or soup and a basket of soft breadsticks for the full Olive Garden experience at home! You could even make a copycat version of the Olive Garden salad and dressing recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chicken scampi is a simple but delicious chicken and pasta recipe with a creamy and buttery sauce. It’s typically served over angel hair pasta with breaded chicken. This recipe is a copycat version of the famous Olive Garden dish!
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.
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!
Storing and reheating
Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight glass containers.
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 over top and stir halfway through reheating.
Freezing the chicken
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 copycat recipes
- Zuppa Toscana {Olive Garden Copycat}
- Applebee's Quesadilla Burger
- Panda Express Orange Chicken
- Chili's Texas Cheese Fries
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.
Olive Garden Chicken Scampi {Copycat}
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!
Casey Wagner says
Hello!
I was hoping you could help me out. So the recipe says 6 ck tenders yet in the comments it say it serves 6. But the plating shows 2 ck tenders per plate.
Please help 🙂
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Casey – this was just a styling choice with the photo. Each bowl of pasta will get one tender.
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!