Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo with Grilled Chicken

Make this popular Olive Garden dish at home! With some tips and shortcuts, this tortelloni dish can come together quickly in your own kitchen.

My copycat Olive Garden Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo with Grilled Chicken tastes just like the restaurant version. With a few shortcuts, it makes a quick and easy weeknight dinner for two. But honestly, I always serve this with lots of breadsticks and even more salad – it’s an Olive Garden Copycat recipe, after all! With all of that, it feeds my family if 4, quite easily. It can also easily be doubled to feed more people though, or for larger portions.

Ingredients

The recipe is comprised of three main parts, which cook separately, but quickly. There’s the tortelloni or tortellini (whichever you can find fresh), pan-seared or grilled chicken cutlets, and Alfredo sauce. The sauce can be store-bought or you can make your own from this recipe with butter, flour, milk, heavy cream, and cheese.

Are Tortelloni And Tortellini The Same?

The main difference between tortelloni and tortellini is the size. Tortelloni are a little larger than tortellini, but either can be used in this recipe. 

The important part is that they are fresh and not dried or frozen. Fresh pasta, like tortelloni, can be found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store where ravioli and sometimes ricotta cheese are sold.

What Kind Of Chicken Should I Use?

We’re using chicken cutlets for this recipe. These are skinless, boneless chicken breasts that have been sliced thin or pounded. They can be found with the regular chicken breasts at the meat counter or aisle in most grocery stores. 

If you don’t see packaged cutlets, you can cut chicken breasts in half at home, by first butterflying them and then continuing the butterfly cut straight through so that you have two thin pieces of chicken.

In addition to those three main ingredients, there is also asiago cheese, mozzarella cheese, and some breadcrumbs for topping. You could substitute Parmesan cheese for the asiago and an Italian cheese blend for the mozzarella if needed.

How To Make Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo With Chicken

Getting this dish together is really about the timing. You have three components going on (the pasta, the chicken, and the sauce), so knowing what to do when is key to reducing the stress and making it go smoothly for you.

To begin, get a big pot of water on the stove over high heat. You’ll need that to cook the pasta. If you’re making your own homemade Alfredo sauce, I’d do that before getting the water onto the stove. If you’re using store-bought sauce, or sauce that you made previously, you can start with getting the water heating.

While the water is heating, rub both sides of the chicken cutlets with salt and Italian seasoning. Then in a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add the chicken and cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the cutlet registers 160°F. Once the chicken is golden brown on both sides and at the proper temperature, transfer the chicken to a cutting board to rest while you prepare the other ingredients. Another option is to actually grill the chicken breasts, but I find that since I have the stove on already, it’s easier to prepare everything in the kitchen. 

By now, your water should be boiling. Cook your fresh tortelloni according to package directions. Drain the pasta and then return it to same saucepan it was cooked in. Add the Alfredo sauce and asiago cheese, and gently stir to combine. The residual heat from the pan and pasta will warm the sauce and melt the cheese.

Next, preheat the oven to broil on high and transfer the tortelloni pasta to a small baking dish, but leave some of the sauce behind in the pot since we’ll need it in a minute. Top the pasta with mozzarella and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Slice chicken into ¼-inch strips and place them on top. 

Drizzle that bit of Alfredo that was left in the pot over chicken. Broil this for about 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and the breadcrumbs are lightly toasted.

This is best when it’s served fresh out of the oven. I like to top it with fresh chopped parsley, and of course, serve it with salad and breadsticks.