Master one of Olive Garden’s most beloved dishes right in your kitchen! Our copycat Chicken Scampi recipe perfectly recreates the restaurant’s tender chicken, colorful peppers, and signature white wine sauce you can’t resist. Best of all? Our version costs a fraction of the restaurant price and serves your whole family.
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Table of Contents
What Makes the Olive Garden Chicken Scampi Pasta So Good?
Chicken scampi is similar to shrimp scampi, except it’s more kid-friendly and economical. You can use chicken tenders, typically less expensive and sure to please the entire family.
The recipe uses many of the same flavor components as the original shrimp scampi, meaning you can enjoy sauteed veggies and delicious sauce with your juicy chicken.
It’s the perfect way to upgrade plain-old chicken tenders or breasts into an exquisite, memorable meal! Try this recipe to make your weeknights more exciting.
Why This Copycat Recipe Works
- Restaurant-quality results at home
- It uses the exact same fresh vegetables as Olive Garden
- Recreates their signature sauce technique
- More generous portion size than the restaurant
- Customizable spice levels
- A perfect balance of garlic and wine
Chicken Scampi Ingredients
This copycat Olive Garden chicken scampi recipe uses fresh ingredients, combining the wonderful flavors of peppers and red onions. Here’s what you will need:
- Chicken Tenders or Chicken Breasts – this is the main protein, tenders provide a better texture than chicken breasts
- All-purpose flour – Creates signature light breading
- Milk – Helps breading adhere
- Salt & Pepper – Enhance the overall flavors
- Red, Green & Orange Bell Peppers – Provides color and flavor
- Red Onion – Adds sweetness and texture
- Garlic – Essential flavor base
- Pasta – Spaghetti or Fettuccini
- White Wine – Creates classic scampi flavor
- Heavy Cream – Provides richness and body
- Italian Seasonings – Authentic herb blend
How to Make Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
- Bread the chicken first. Dredge the chicken tenders in flour, milk, salt, and pepper. Let them rest while you prepare the pasta and vegetables.
- Prepare the pasta according to the package instructions.
- While the pasta is boiling, saute the peppers, onions, and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Remove the veggies from the skillet and add the chicken.
- Cook the chicken until browned on both sides and done. Once the chicken is ready, remove the tenders from the skillet.
- Prepare the wine sauce for the peppers and chicken in the same skillet.
- Add the pasta and veggies back into the sauce and stir to combine.
- Serve the pasta with chicken tenders on top. If desired, sprinkle parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley over the dish.
Please scroll down to the recipe card to see my video on creating this dish!
Professional Tips for Perfect Results
Chicken Preparation
- Tenderizing:
- Pound to even thickness
- Pat dry before dredging
- Season flour well
- Breading Technique:
- Use one hand for wet, one for dry
- Let breading rest for 5 minutes
- Don’t overcrowd the pan
Sauce Secrets
- Wine Selection:
- Use drinking-quality wine
- Avoid cooking wine
- Chardonnay preferred
- Cream Integration:
- Add slowly while stirring
- Keep heat medium-low
- Watch for proper thickness
Perfect Sides for Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
The classic way to serve Chicken Scampi is over pasta. Angel hair pasta or another thin pasta is ideal.
Of course, there is no rule saying that you can’t enjoy this dish alone. If you are going this route, either garlic bread or homemade Olive Garden breadsticks is the perfect way to sop up all that delicious sauce!
No matter how you serve your Chicken Scampi, consider adding caprese bruschetta or Marinated Mozzarella Salad as a starter or side.
Storing Chicken Scampi
Olive Garden Scampi sauce leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about five days. Reheat gently over low heat. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of wine or milk.
The cream, lemon juice, and wine in the recipe make it difficult to freeze the Chicken Scampi without losing quality.
How To Reheat Homemade Chicken Scampi
I suggest reheating this dish on the stovetop. Ideally, reheat gently over low to medium heat. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of wine or milk.
Cover the pan to prevent moisture loss! Flip the chicken occasionally and remove it from the heat once the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
You can reheat pasta in the microwave if you made pasta and stored it separately. Otherwise, it might turn soggy if you reheat it with the chicken and sauce.
Do you like the Olive Garden restaurant? Try these Olive Garden copycat recipes
- Olive Garden Fettuccine Recipe
- Olive Garden Ziti al Forno
- Italian Mozzarella Sticks
- Crispy Ravioli
- Oven Baked Pasta Olive Garden
- Olive Garden Dishes
Delicious Italian Recipes for You to Make
- Pizza Hut Pastas – Cavatini
- Make Italian Sausage
- Red Lobster Seafood Pasta
- Risotto Recipe – Instant Pot
- Italian Rice Balls with Meat
- Eggs Pasta
- Chicken Limone
- Carrabba’s Dipping Sauce
Be sure to check out more of my Olive Garden copycat recipes and the best homemade Italian food.
Did you make and love this recipe? Please review it below and share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt + extra divided use
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 1 pound chicken tenders
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided use
- 1/2 green bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 orange bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 pound pasta prepared according to package directions
Instructions
- Set up a breading station: Place the flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the pepper into a shallow dish and mix well with a fork. Place the milk into another shallow dish. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet.
- Dredge the chicken in the flour, dip it into the milk, and then dredge again in the flour. Place the breaded chicken on the wire rack to rest for 10 minutes before cooking.
- While the chicken is resting, place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers, onions, and garlic and season with a light sprinkling of salt. Sauté until the peppers begin to brown. Remove the vegetables from skillet.
- Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the hot skillet. Add the chicken and cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side until the chicken has browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
- Deglaze the skillet with the white wine, using a spoon to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Allow the wine to reduce by two-thirds.
- Add the Italian seasoning and the heavy cream, and mix well.
- Return the vegetables to the skillet along with the cooked pasta and stir. Plate the pasta and sauce, placing a few pieces of cooked chicken on each plate.
Video
Notes
- If you do not drink wine, you may substitute it with low sodium chicken broth.
- When choosing wine for this recipe, I would choose an inexpensive Chardonnay or another dry white wine. Pick something that is drinkable.
- Another substitute idea would be to use dry sherry when a recipe calls for white wine. You don’t have to worry about sherry going bad, in a couple of days. This stays good for a couple of months.
- You can make this a meatless dish by leaving out the chicken and replacing it with some mushrooms instead. Either way, this is going to be delicious.
Nutrition
Chicken Scampi Olive Garden Recipe FAQs
What Does Scampi-Style Mean?
Scampi style has come to mean any dish that combines butter, garlic, and an acidic ingredient such as wine or citrus juice. You can find a wide range of scampi-style dishes, including shrimp, scallops, squid, beef, and chicken.
What Is Scampi Sauce Made Of?
First, in Italian, scampi is plural for scampo, a type of shellfish commonly called a Dublin Bay Prawn or Norway Lobster in English.
A traditional scampi sauce in Italy is straightforward. Prawns are sauteed in butter and garlic, maybe with a squeeze of lemon or a splash of white wine to help balance the richness and provide a bit of brightness. Many cooks add their twist to scampi recipes, such as cream, vegetables, and herbs.
What Kind of Wine Do I Use for Scampi?
You don’t need to spend a fortune on wine to cook scampi, but you should avoid cheap cooking wines.
Use a dry, crisp white wine such as a Sauvignon Blanc or a Chardonnay. A very dry Riesling or a Pinot Grigio is also an option. A good rule of thumb to help when choosing wines for cooking is to use whichever type you will serve alongside the dish.
How Do You Thicken Scampi Sauce?
Scampi sauce is not supposed to be overly thick, but if you feel yours is on the runny side, you can use a couple of methods to correct the problem.
The best way to thicken the sauce is by turning down the heat and simmering the cream for a few minutes longer before returning the chicken to the pan.
For a faster option, dissolve a teaspoon of cornstarch in an equal amount of water to make a slurry. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and simmer until thickened.
How Many Calories Are in Olive Garden’s Chicken Scampi?
According to Olive Garden’s nutritional menu, an order of Chicken Scampi has 1260 calories, with over half coming from fat. The copycat Olive Garden Chicken Scampi recipe contains slightly fewer calories.
Hi,
Can you substitute white wine with a non-alcoholic item? In my family alcohol is off limits. Thanks in return.
Chicken stock/broth is always a good subsitute.
I’ve made this several times already and it’s really good. Thank you for the recipe
Sounds great – and not too difficult. Chicken scampi is my favorite dish at Olive Garden – It’s absolutely delicious!. Every time I go there I think I’ll try something else, but when it’s time to order I just can’t pass it up. Thanks for the recipe.
This look yummy!
Sounds Easy Enough for an experienced cook like me! Thank you for sharing
Stephanie,
I saw a recipe of yours for cabbage and sliced sausage and thought I copied the recipe but it did not
come through. Would you please send it to me. Thanking you in advance for your help.
Ann
Not sure what recipe this was for, can you share more about this?
This taste exactly like Olive Garden!!! If it doesn’t you did something wrong!
When I was cooking the sauce, it did not thicken as mentioned in a previous comment. Even with a liquid sauce, I did not think this came at all close to Olive Garden.
Recently went to OG and had their lite fare Shrimp Scampi on angel hair pasta. Made with creamy garlic sauce. Do you have a recipe for this my husband loved it
I do not have this recipe. I appreciate the request. I will add it to my list.
I did not understand how to make the sauce and not have it a liquid. The recipe was not very clear at this part.
I am not sure that I follow your question, the sauce will thicken as you cook it and the water evaporates.
love the great sauce reviews. Going to try this week. If the sauce is even half what OG is i may never go back to OG. They stopped serving the lunch size and the chicken scampi is now $15. Please, it’s a few pcs. of chicken and pasta (angel hair).Last few times i ordered scampi they did not even have onions on them. thank you so much.
I am a Olive Garden fan one of my favorite restaurants and the chicken scampi is my favorite dish. When surfing the internet I came across Stephanie I love this recreation of this dish. My husband was like honey this taste better than the restaurants it has more sauce and that’s a plus. Sometimes our dish don’t have enough sauce. Good job thumbs up.
I plan on trying this tomorrow for dinner. I will season the flour with salt, pepper and garlic powder. I will also add fresh parsley and basil. Simply because I can! Our garden is overflowing. The recipe sound delicious. Thanks for sharing.
your “print recipe” button doesn’t work
I agree as well.. print don’t work as well as recipe hard to find!!!!!!
Copy and paste into your email..then you can print it from there…or when you copy it and you get share, choose your printer and that should work too!
This is what I order almost every time I’ve gone to the Olive Garden. When I’ve ordered something else I always wish I’d stuck with the chicken scampi. But what you put as pasta in the recipe should read angel hair pasta. That’s the way my OG always serves it. That’s what got me to order it as I love angel hair pasta.
Thank you for the heads up. I think it depends on who is cooking back in the kitchen as to what pasta you get.
As a former employee, chicken or shrimp scampi from the OG are always served on angel hair (capalini), unless you request otherwise.
Yes never had OG chicken scampi (my always OG go to meal) with anything but angel hair pasta AND the chicken is not breaded
Always served with angel hair unless otherwise requested. And ALL og chicken is lightly breaded unless it’s gluten free.
Had OG’s new lite fare Shrimp Scampi recently. Grandson and I loved it. Do you have a recipe for it?
The original menu item also contained “roasted garlic” although every Olive Garden where I had this dish served it with abut a dozen full garlic cloves that had been sautéd about as long as the peppers and onion. Roasted garlic is so much better in this recipe
I bet it tastes better with roasted garlic. Roasted garlic makes most things better.
I cannot believe how spot on this was. I have cooked this many times before seeing your video, but I just always sautéed my chicken, but never with the flour and milk dip. And my family loved it before, but now——-they can’t get enough. OMG!!! Thank you so much, you are the greatest.
I am really glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Recipe sounds wonderful. My question is: Can you tell me what brand frying pan you use? I have had awful luck trying to fry anything with the pans I have. Do you use a non-stick pan? Thanks so much for your time.
Marilyn
I generally use an iron skillet to cook meat. It performs the best. I try to stay away from non-stick as much as possible. I hope this helps.
Stephanie,
Such a great recipe, thank you! Your chicken preparation is spot on to OG’s. I’ve tried to make this a dozen times or so, and your chicken method comes the closest and was wonderful by itself.
Thank you for also mentioning to add salt to the peppers. I’ve forgotten that on my previous attempts and blah! I also find that adding salt to any saute mixture with garlic pulls out the garlic flavor without having to add so much garlic to keep Dracula away. I forget this often, but thanks for the reminder.
Great dish, thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I love how this tastes. It is really important when sauteeing vegetables to add a little bit of salt, it always helps to pull out the water so the vegetables cook better.
Hi Stephanie thank you so much for this delicious recipe.. I have made this at least four times, and it comes out wonderful every time..when the nearest Olive Garden is 21/2 hrs away, these recipes and videos are a real treat. Thank you