Johnny Carino’s Gorgonzola Chicken is tender chicken with creamy Gorgonzola cheese and mushroom sauce served over pasta. You can make it at home with this easy copycat recipe.
Gorgonzola Chicken Recipe
Johnny Carino’s Gorgonzola Chicken has been one of my most requested recipes in recent memory. When we went to the restaurant to do research for the recipe, it had just been removed from the menu. The folks at Johnny Carino’s were kind enough to prepare the dish anyway!
So you might ask yourself what is this Gorgonzola Chicken? It is a rich pasta dish with chicken, and a cream sauce made with Gorgonzola cheese and mushrooms. It’s topped with fresh chopped tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.
Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
Gorgonzola sauce is actually a classic Italian sauce that many people have enjoyed. Thanks to the people at Johnny Carino’s, this sauce has been introduced to so many of us.
If you are looking for a sauce that is creamy like an Alfredo sauce this may be a wonderful sauce for you. This pasta sauce made with Gorgonzola cheese has a sophistication that is perfect for when you want something more.
Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breast
- Vegetable oil
- Pasta
- Half and half
- Gorgonzola cheese
- White button mushrooms
- Shredded Parmesan cheese
- Tomatoes
Johnny Carino’s typically uses penne pasta but I like to use a fettuccine because I think it holds the sauce better.
How to Make Chicken Gorgonzola Pasta
Making pasta with chicken gorgonzola cream sauce is easy! Here are the basic recipe steps:
- Cook the chicken in a skillet until done then slice the chicken into strips.
- Sauté the mushrooms until soft and browned.
- Cook pasta according to the package instructions.
- Prepare the gorgonzola cream sauce.
- Stir the sautéed mushrooms into the sauce.
- Divide the pasta onto plates and top each with chicken, sauce, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.
While this dish may not still be on the menu at most Johnny Carino’s you can make this flavorful pasta for dinner. Serve it with freshly baked breadsticks and a simple garden salad.
Love Johnny Carino’s food? Try these copycat recipes!
Popular Pasta Recipes
- Baked Ziti
- Chicken and Shrimp Alfredo
- Chicken Tortellini Alfredo
- Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo
- One Pot Italian Pasta
- Pasta con Broccoli Recipe
- Penne Alla Vodka
- Spaghetti Casserole
- Steak Alfredo
Check out more of my easy pasta recipes and the best copycat restaurant recipes here on CopyKat!
Johnny Carino’s Gorgonzola Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound dry pasta
- 2 cups half and half
- 4 ounces crumbly Gorgonzola cheese
- 8 ounces white button mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped red tomatoes
Instructions
- Pound chicken breasts until they are 1/2 inch thick.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Sear chicken in a hot skillet with two tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat.
- Cook on each side for about 4 to 5 minutes or until completely cooked.
- Remove chicken breasts from the heat and let them rest for several minutes before slicing.
- Slice the chicken into 1/4-inch slices.
- You may need to add a tablespoon or two of oil or butter to the skillet to sauté the mushrooms.
- Sauté the mushrooms on medium-high heat until they are browned. Sprinkle the mushrooms with about ½ teaspoon of salt while they are browning.
- Cook pasta according to the package instructions.
- Prepare the sauce by combining half and half and Gorgonzola cheese in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir while the sauce is heating. The sauce should thicken slightly.
- Add the sautéed mushrooms to the sauce and stir to combine well.
- To serve, divide the pasta equally onto 4 plates and top each with chicken.
- Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and pasta.
- Sprinkle chopped tomatoes and shredded Parmesan on top.
10at6
Add pan toasted walnuts and sundried tomatoes. Make the sauce in the same skillet
Lilian
I added garlic after frying the chicken then added chicken broth to scrape everything from the bottom of my cast iron! Peeeeerfect!!!!
Pepe
It’s missing the bacon and sun-dried tomatoes. At least the one I’ve had at Carino’s in Houston and Baton Rouge locations have this.
Cortney
I was just viewing their site and it seems each location is different, so far I only found a location of theirs in Montana that still serves the gorgonzola, so sad. Anyways, caused me to do some searching online for a copycat recipe and found this, I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT! I am so excited, just added stuff on the grocery list for it! Already thinking about how delicious it will be! XD
Cortney
So just made it, I LOVE IT! <3 Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Vanessa
Making this for my bfs birthday! Cant wait to try it. Thank you for putting this recipe up!:)
Angela
I used Penne Rigate pasta, since the ‘ridges’ and the ‘tube’ of the pasta held the sauce very well. I didn’t miss adding salt, since parmesan cheese is already salty. I did however, add a ‘scant’ sprinkle of garlic powder into the sauce. (Pepper was NOT missed in this dish.) I topped this dish off with a bit of finely chopped Italian parsley (sprinkled over the chopped tomatoes and the grated parmesan cheese.) I doubled the recipe, since I served it at a small dinner party. Everyone raved about it, and I loved it, as well.
Stephanie Manley
I am glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe a great deal. I appreciate your refinements for your dinner party. I am happy to hear everyone enjoyed the dish.
Not happening
Sorry but there is no way in HELL I would make a recipe, an ITALIAN recipe at that, that did not mention salt, pepper or garlic in the sauce. There is at least salt in it, just the cheese does not cut it. BLAND is what you’ll get and that is not a description I want my food tasting like. Fail. Try again
stephaniemanley
I am pretty certain you won’t respond, but I can’t tell if you made the recipe and thought it was horrific, or if you didn’t like how the recipe was written. I appreciate your passion, but I am curious as if you even made the recipe.
Susane rohner
Your recipe sounds delicious, also, the “add ins” suggested by other people. Why do some people have to go out of their way to say something nasty, Not Happening, I’m talking to you! You don’t like the ingredients, move on by!! Don’t make it. Don’t use this site. Why be nasty?
Stephanie
I think people do this online because they feel they are powerful when they do this online. I have my doubts if the folks have even prepared the recipe.
Angelina
TO: “Not Happening”: You’re obviously one of those readers who’ll criticize a recipe even before trying it. If you actually knew anything about Italian cooking, you’d already know that Gorgonzola contains a LOT of flavor, so you might not (even) need to add additional salt, pepper, and garlic. You should definitely make the recipe before you criticize it! Shame on you, as you’ve now demonstrated that you don’t really know as much about Italian cooking as you’d like us to believe that you do.
Blair
It’s a very nice recipe. I used Trader Joe’s gorgonzola and easily crumbled it up to make a nice smooth sauce. I also used brown rice pasta and found that the texture was very good for this recipe.
Jheiden
This was awesome. I will be doubling the recipe next time so I can have leftovers. Also, we added onions, sweet red pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, and white wine to the sauce. Delicious.
Guillermo
Three words: delicious, delicious, delicious. Definitely making this again. One suggestion: you can use more cream to make more sauce and soak it up with some nice toasted bread. Hmmmm!
Maria
I didn’t have gorgonzola, but I used blue cheese, it was a little milder, but I enjoyed it just the same. Thanks!
Debbie
Guess what I am making tonight?????