Copycat Olive Garden Chicken And Shrimp Carbonara Recipe
Chicken and shrimp carbonara is a filling, hearty meal, says food blogger & photographer Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table. It's the kind of meal you'd serve to a person you are trying to woo, or to a bunch of hungry friends, or even one that you'd like to dig into after a day of skiing down some slopes or taking part in some other hearty outdoor adventure. This copycat Olive Garden chicken and shrimp carbonara recipe is an especially rich pasta, topped with sautéed seasoned chicken and juicy shrimp, tossed in a creamy sauce with bacon and roasted red peppers.
Interspersed with plump chicken breasts, breaded and pan-fried, a generous serving of plump shrimp, and a rich carbonara sauce tinged with bacon and strips of roasted red peppers, this is a pasta dish that doesn't kid around. Served atop a bed of spaghetti pasta and sprinkled with parmesan cheese and chopped parsley, Copycat Olive Garden chicken and shrimp carbonara is a delicious plate of comfort food that you'll want to make in your own home kitchen as soon as possible.
Gather the ingredients for chicken and shrimp carbonara
The ingredient list here is a bit elaborate, but trust us when we say the final dish is well worth the time it might take to assemble it. For the proteins, you will need skinless, boneless chicken breasts, along with large shrimp that have been both peeled and deveined, and some bacon slices. As for the carbs, we like spaghetti or other narrow pasta for serving with the dish.
For the marinade, you will need extra virgin olive oil, hot water, Italian seasoning, and garlic. To bread the chicken and for thickening the sauce, grab some all-purpose flour, bread crumbs, eggs, oil, salt, and pepper.
And finally, to make the carbonara sauce, you'll also need butter, a red bell pepper, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, and some flat-leaf Italian parsley.
Prepare the marinade for the chicken and shrimp
In a large bowl or casserole dish, combine the oil, hot water, Italian seasoning, and 3 minced garlic cloves. Whisk it all together to combine into a marinade. Add the chicken breasts and shrimp and let them soak in the marinade in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. The hot water helps the flavors permeate into the chicken and shrimp more quickly, cutting down on the time spent hanging out in the fridge.
While the chicken and shrimp are marinating, cook the spaghetti according to package instructions (this usually requires 7 to 10 minutes for dry pasta or 2 to 3 minutes for fresh pasta). Drain and stir the pasta with a bit of olive oil to avoid the noodles sticking together.
Bread and fry the chicken
Once the chicken has finished marinating, bread and cook the boneless skinless chicken breasts. First, in a large plate or shallow bowl, combine flour, bread crumbs, salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Whisk this dry mixture until it is well blended. In another bowl, whisk 2 eggs until the yolks are incorporated with the whites. Dip the chicken breasts in the breading mixture first, then the egg, and then back into the breading. Lay the fully breaded pieces out on a rack to dry a bit before cooking.
Preheat a large Dutch oven or pan to medium heat. Add four tablespoons of oil, then add chicken breasts to the pan and saute for 7 minutes per side. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and return them to the baking sheet, setting them aside. You may have to fry in batches, depending on the size of your pan. When you are done cooking, be sure to check the doneness level of your chicken for safety's sake. Cooked chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 F, ideally measured with a meat thermometer placed in the middle of the thickest part of the chicken breast.
Cook the shrimp and bacon
Using the same pan that you used for the chicken, you can now cook the shrimp and bacon. Add shrimp and saute for 3 minutes on one side, then turn them over and saute for an additional 2 minutes, until shrimp is pink on both sides. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp, unless you really want that rubbery shrimp experience. As soon as it's done, remove shrimp from the pan and set aside.
To prepare the sauce, set the pan to medium heat. Add butter and allow it to melt. Then, add in the diced bacon and 1 minced garlic clove. Saute this bacon and garlic mixture for 2 minutes, stirring as needed, until bacon bits are browned and crispy. Remove a tablespoon of the bacon bits from the pan and set aside.
Prepare the carbonara sauce
To the remaining bacon and garlic in the pan, add red bell pepper strips. Saute for 3 minutes, until pepper is just beginning to soften. Then, add the cream and parmesan cheese into the pan as well. Stir until the cheese has fully melted. Season with ½ teaspoon black pepper. Remove the carbonara sauce mix from heat.
To the pan with the sauce, add in 1 beaten egg, whisking quickly to emulsify the egg throughout. Don't worry about any raw egg dangers, as the heat of the sauce will thoroughly cook the egg as you incorporate it with the other ingredients. Add the chicken and shrimp, and cover with sauce.
If you haven't done so yet, this would be a good time to cook your spaghetti. We recommend cooking it to an al dente texture.
Serve Olive Garden chicken and shrimp carbonara with spaghetti
When serving, place the hot, cooked spaghetti on a relatively large serving platter. Top it with the chicken and shrimp in carbonara sauce. Spoon the sauce generously over the chicken breasts, then top it with reserved bacon bits, additional grated parmesan cheese and parsley, and serve. Alternatively, you can also add the pasta directly to the pan and mix everything together there for a slightly more rustic presentation.
Each serving should have a nice mound of spaghetti, a breaded and fried chicken breast, a few pieces of juicy shrimp, browned bacon bits and plenty of rich, gooey sauce. Leftover chicken and shrimp carbonara will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 4 days.
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped and divided
- 1 box spaghetti or other narrow pasta
- 4 tablespoons canola or olive oil
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, for coating
- ½ cup bread crumbs, for coating
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, or as needed
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 3 eggs, beaten and divided
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 bacon slices, diced
- ½ red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- ¼ cup freshly chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
- In a large bowl, combine oil, hot water, Italian seasoning, and 3 minced garlic cloves. Add chicken and shrimp and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and stir with a bit of olive oil to avoid sticking.
- Once the chicken has finished marinating, bread and cook the chicken. In a large plate or shallow bowl, combine flour, bread crumbs, salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Whisk until it is well blended. In another bowl, whisk 2 eggs. Dip chicken breasts in dry breading, then egg, and then back into the breading. Lay breaded chicken on a rack to dry.
- Preheat a large Dutch oven or pan to medium heat. Add 4 tablespoons of oil, then add chicken breasts to the pan and saute for 7 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan and return to baking sheet. You may have to fry in batches.
- To the same pan, add shrimp and saute for 3 minutes on one side, then turn over and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Prepare the sauce. Preheat a large pan to medium heat. Add butter and melt. And diced bacon and 1 minced garlic clove. Saute for 2 minutes, stirring as needed, until bacon bits are browned and crispy. Remove a tablespoon of the bacon bits from the pan and set aside.
- To the remaining bacon and garlic in the pan, add sliced red bell pepper. Saute for 3 minutes, until pepper is beginning to soften. Add cream and parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted. Season with ½ teaspoon black pepper. Remove from heat.
- To the sauce, add in 1 beaten egg, whisking quickly to emulsify the egg throughout. Add the chicken and shrimp and cover with sauce.
- When serving, place hot, precooked pasta on a large serving platter. Top with chicken and shrimp in carbonara sauce. Spoon sauce over the chicken breasts, top with reserved bacon bits, additional grated parmesan cheese and parsley if desired, and serve.
- Leftover chicken and shrimp carbonara will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 4 days.
| Calories per Serving | 1,829 |
| Total Fat | 113.4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 40.0 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.7 g |
| Cholesterol | 518.0 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 113.0 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5.5 g |
| Total Sugars | 6.8 g |
| Sodium | 1,572.7 mg |
| Protein | 86.2 g |
