Everybody likes a little simple comfort food, right?
I don’t know about you all, but there are some days where all I want is a cheesy pasta dish. That special day just so happened to be last weekend. While browsing Facebook for new recipes to try out, I didn’t make it too far after spotting Tasty’s post on delicious and easy to make pasta dishes.
If you’re anywhere on social media looking for recipes, I promise you–you’ve heard of Tasty. I admit I don’t often try out recipes from that site, but this one was definitely an exception.
Let’s talk about this Chicken Bacon Broccoli Alfredo. Yes, it is as good as that title sounds alone.
I do like to keep things as healthy as they can possibly be, but let’s be honest, there’s only so many substitutions you can make with a meal that has bacon in its title.
Before we get started…
For this review, I have some suggestions on alternative ingredients as well as instructions to REALLY create a super cheesy dish.
To start, one not so major swap I made with ingredients is the pasta. Rather than using regular spaghetti, I used whole wheat spaghetti.
What I’d really like to talk about is essentially advice for anyone trying out new recipes: read the reviews/comments. I’m glad I took extra time to read what I found on this recipe. I knew going in that I wanted a pasta dish that would have a creamy cheese sauce. After reading the list of ingredients and the comments, I know my suspicions were correct. Based on the given recipe, the cheese sauce would be more runny. If we’re getting technical, that doesn’t qualify as an alfredo sauce, which should be thick and creamy. Sorry, Tasty.
In order to get the consistency I wanted for the sauce, I ended up making a roux, just as one of the commentators advised. Mind you, I’ve never made a roux before, but that day seemed as good as any to try. I’m happy with that decision because it certainly helped produce the cheesy sauce I was after for this pasta. Because I did that, I also did not pay attention to the cheese and milk ingredients on the recipe, especially the meausrements. I followed the recipe for the roux and hoped it would all come together. Luckily, it did!
Grey’s Grade: 4.5/5
Before we get any more cheesy, let’s talk about the flavor and what we actually thought of the recipe. My rating of this does include the changes I made, so please keep that in mind.
With the changes that I made, this pasta dish absolutely satisfied the need for a simple and comforting meal. The main changes that I made helped create a better consistency for the cheese sauce, but overall the flavors were delightful. Since I was making a roux for the first time, my recommendation to myself for the next time would be to cook the garlic and broccoli first to infuse the flavors, and then set them aside. Once the roux is ready for the remaining ingredients, the broccoli can be added back in.
The reason that I gave this recipe a 4.5, is because it required modification. If I attempted to make this a year ago, I know I wouldn’t have made the roux, and I wouldn’t have been happy with a runny cheese sauce. I’ve learned when picking a recipe off Tasty’s website, that I need to really think of the composition of ingredients and how they come together. That’s the beauty of cooking and baking, right? We learn with each new recipe we test.
Despite having to make changes, don’t let this stop you from trying this recipe! You won’t regret it!
Check Out My Other Reviews
As always…
Happy nomming!
– Grey
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