Chicken Bellagio - Cheesecake Factory Copycat

Chicken Bellagio - A popular Cheesecake Factory chicken and pasta dish made with crispy pan fried chicken, spaghetti coated in Parmesan cream sauce served with side of crisp arugula salad.

Friends, doesn't this sound like you reading the Cheese Cake factory menu and about to order a 30+ dollar dinner for Valentine's day?

Well, good news!! Now, you can make same Chicken Bellagio and Pasta dinner for your loved one at home and that too way under budget and low-carb as well!! drum-rolls!!!

Sounds like somebody keeping New Year promise pretty well ;)

When I first looked at this dish in Cheesecake Factory menu, I felt like I'm in Vegas.... in hotel Bellagio! I have a strong feeling that it's name is inspired from Bellagio! Most likely it means - A grand Vegas-style chicken dinner.

I must say chefs at Cheesecake Factory have really made this recipe grand. I mean, look at the crispy pan-fried moist all-white-meat chicken, then pasta coated in creamy rich parmesan cream sauce and peppery arugula to make a complete delicious meal. Sounds pretty grand! Isn't it?

My First Veggie-Pasta Recipe

I think... I'm very late in bringing Zoodle a.k.a veggie-spiralized-pasta to my blog. I had spiralizer in mind for long time to cut-out carbs from our diet. Also of course to share my all new exciting recipe adventures with you. Honestly, it was also important to bring Vishal on-board before I start making zoodle with everything. :-) He is ready, finally!

So get ready for a lot more low-carb pasta-inspirations this year!

What all have I changed to keep it lite and low-carb?

Only carb in recipe are from: bread crumbs worth two slices of bread and lite dusting of all purpose flour.

I changed the regular wheat spaghetti in recipe with low-carb yellow squash and carrot pasta. Just spiralized and sauted in pan until crisp tender. The sweetness of veggie-pasta paired very well with creamy sauce and makes this otherwise filling dish very lite and guilt-free. 

I used all white-meat chicken. Breading and cooking in pan keeps chicken moist and juicy. No one can tell it is white-meat which tends get dry very fast  

Also, I did not add prosciutto in this recipe. First  because it saves few unnecessary calories..... Chicken Bellagio is mainly a chicken and pasta dish and chicken is enough to make it star of any dinner. Second, we don't eat pork in my family. So prosciutto was out of question.

What will make it true Copycat?

Honestly, my version of Chicken Bellagio tastes even better that the original. However, here are few things you can add to make it a true copycat :

1. Replace veggie-noodles with wheat/semolina pasta.
2. Add prosciutto or ham.
3. Add additional butter (1-2 tbsp) while mixing the sauce with pasta. (in step-7)
4. Add more Parmesan in sauce.

How is this Budget Friendly?

I'm not a strict budget blogger but I'm sure you agree, cooking at home does save a lot of money. Honestly, It never hurts to be little money savvy. Isn't it?

As far as I remember, whenever I try a new restaurant favorite at home.. There are mainly two reasons:
1) Being foodie, I'm impressed with dish and obsessed with recreating same flavors at home.
2) Loving the idea of enjoying it as or when I want to.. at home and still save ton of money and time.

I mean, Chicken Bellagio dinner for 4 in Cheesecake Factory will cost 60+ dollars. At home, less than 25!! (flour and oil on the house) Sounds awesome to me...

...and most important reason is million-dollar smile on faces of loved ones.
(Somehow I can tell, whenever I get a restaurant copycat right at home, Vishal is on-board to eat healthier. Mission accomplished ;)

Make Ahead?

Oh yes! In my opinion, every recipe has room to make and prep ahead and Chicken Bellagio is no different. So here is what I do to get it on dinner table under 20 minutes:

1. Make Parmesan cream sauce up to 2 days in advance. It gets thick but does not go bad. Keep some chicken stock handy to thin-it-out to gravy consistency.
2. Squash or other veggie can be spiralized and stored in airtight container at least a night in advance.
3. Only thing left is chicken. I always buy chicken butterflied and pounded butter is really nice that day. Even though I prefer to cook the chicken just before serving.....
It can be cooked a day in advance and then warmed up in oven or in pan until it gets crispy. If you have all these ready, Chicken Bellagio dinner will be on table under 15 minutes.

If cooking chicken and boiling wheat pasta fresh, then 25-30 minutes. Seriously, wait for order in Cheesecake Factory is more than 30 minutes!

Oh, but they do serve yumm bread while you wait. So bring some to serve on the side. I hope you have great day.

PS: I have been not well from past week so showing up after a week-long break. I missed you all SO much. I'm really happy to be back and sharing life with you all.

Enjoy your day lovely friends. -Savita xx