For me, Chicken Kiev has two key components – the garlic butter and the crispy breaded chicken. Here we’re stirring a simple garlic butter sauce through pasta, then topping it with golden, crisp and juicy sliced chicken. Sound good? Follow me…
Crispy Chicken
I’ve wanted to put out a crispy chicken pasta recipe for quite some time now, and this Chicken Kiev pasta is the perfect excuse. We’ll talk about the garlic butter sauce in just a sec, but first, let’s talk about the chicken.
What cut of chicken to use?
Here we’ll be using boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You could in theory use thighs, but breast is traditionally used in Chicken Kiev because it’s easy to stuff. The main thing is using boneless meat, because chicken bones in pasta are far from ideal! I also recommend slicing the breasts through the centre, just so you end up with 4 even-sized, thinner breasts. This not only means they’ll cook quicker, but they’ll also cook more evenly.
Panko Breadcrumbs
Using Panko breadcrumbs is key to getting the chicken ultra-crispy. Panko breadcrumbs are awesome because they’re big and airy, so they crisp up really well. You’ll find Panko in the Asian section at most supermarkets. Process shots: add chicken to chopping board (photo 1), slice in half through the centre (photo 2), dredge through seasoned flour (photo 3), then egg (photo 4), then seasoned Panko (photo 5).
Crispy Fried Chicken
Once you’ve breaded the chicken we’re going to shallow fry it. You don’t need much oil because the chicken will be quite thin; just enough to comfortably cover the base of the pan. Once golden, crispy and cooked through the centre, place on a wire rack to drain off oil and discard the oil from the pan. Process shots: in batches add chicken to hot oil (photo 1), fry (photo 2), place on wire rack (photo 3).
Garlic Butter Pasta
Alrighty, chicken done and dusted, let’s talk pasta.
Garlic Butter Sauce Ingredients
Garlic – Must be fresh and finely diced. Keep a keen eye on it as it fries to ensure it doesn’t brown, otherwise, it’ll turn bitter. Butter – Salted or unsalted, just be conscious of seasoning if you’re using salted. Parsley – A classic addition to garlic butter. Again, must be fresh! Parmesan – Not so much of a classic ingredient in garlic butter, but it certainly is with pasta and pasta sauces in general. This gives the garlic sauce a punch of flavour.
Starchy Pasta Water
One final key ingredient in the sauce is the water your pasta is cooked in. This is an important ingredient as it helps create an emulsion with the butter. If you just toss the pasta in butter, it’s going to dry up and go greasy. The starch in the pasta water helps create a slightly creamy sauce. Process shots: melt butter (photo 1), fry garlic (photo 2), whisk in pasta water and parsley (photo 3), add parmesan (photo 4), stir until melted (photo 5), add pasta (photo 6).
What kind of pasta to use?
I love using spaghetti, but in reality you can use any long cut pasta. The longer noodles allow for the silky buttery sauce to wrap around them more easily. They also make a nice ‘bed’ to rest the sliced chicken on top.
Can I bake the chicken instead of frying it?
I recommend frying for optimum crispiness, but you can bake instead of fry if you’d prefer (more on this in the recipe card notes below).
Can I make this ahead of time?
I don’t recommend making this ahead of time. Mainly because buttery pasta recipes never reheat well, but also because the chicken will lose crispness.
Serving Chicken Kiev Pasta
When it comes to serving, I like to serve individual portions of garlic butter pasta with a sliced crispy chicken breast each. From there, I usually top with leftover parsley and parmesan. I also like to serve with a lemon wedge, just to give people the option if they want it. The lemon juice will cut through the richness of the sauce; the flavour of lemon also goes perfectly with garlic, butter, parsley and chicken! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this Chicken Kiev pasta shall we?!
How to make Chicken Kiev Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)
After another Chicken Kiev recipe? Check out my Mini Chicken Kiev Balls! Looking for more similar recipes? Check out these beauties:
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