Craving hit me for something restaurant-style but I really did not feel like spending forty dollars on dinner for the whole family. My husband keeps talking about the Chicken Bellagio from Cheesecake Factory every time we drive past one, so I figured why not actually try to make it at home. I honestly was not sure how close I could get to the real thing without some fancy equipment or a culinary degree, but it came out genuinely impressive and my husband said it tasted almost identical. Put the full steps together here if anyone's curious: [https://www.amgroyal.com/copycat-chicken-bellagio-cheesecake-factory](https://www.amgroyal.com/copycat-chicken-bellagio-cheesecake-factory)  
  
Here's what I used:  
  
CHICKEN:  
1 pound thin spaghetti  
4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless  
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt  
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper  
1/4 cup flour  
2 large eggs  
1 cup breadcrumbs  
3 tablespoons vegetable oil  
  
PARMESAN CREAM SAUCE:  
4 tablespoons unsalted butter  
4 tablespoons flour  
1 cup heavy cream  
6 ounces shaved parmesan  
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt  
1/8 teaspoon white pepper  
  
BASIL OIL:  
1 cup fresh basil leaves  
1/2 cup olive oil  
  
TO FINISH THE DISH:  
1/2 cup basil oil  
1/2 cup chicken broth  
2 tablespoons unsalted butter  
2 ounces shaved Parmesan  
1 lemon, cut into wedges  
4 slices prosciutto (optional, see notes)  
arugula leaves (optional, see notes)  
  
Here's how it went:  
  
1. Cook the pasta to one minute shy of the package directions and set it aside. That extra minute matters later when you toss it back in the pan.  
2. Place the chicken between two pieces of saran wrap and pound it down to about 3/4-inch thickness. I used the bottom of a heavy skillet because I could not find my mallet and it worked totally fine.  
3. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge it in flour, then beaten eggs, then breadcrumbs. The order really does matter here so don't skip around.  
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat and cook the chicken 5 to 7 minutes per side until it's golden brown and cooked through. This is where that crispy breaded chicken texture really comes together and it smelled incredible.  
5. Remove the chicken and wipe out the skillet, leaving it for the rest of the dish.  
6. For the Parmesan cream sauce, melt the butter in the same pan over medium heat, whisk in the flour and let it cook for 30 seconds, then slowly pour in the cream while whisking the whole time. Add the Parmesan, salt, and white pepper and whisk until it thickens up. Remove from heat.  
7. For the basil oil, blanch the fresh basil for one minute in boiling water then immediately move it to a bowl of ice water. Squeeze it dry and blend it with the olive oil in a small food processor until smooth.  
8. Back in the skillet, combine 1/2 cup of the basil oil with the chicken broth and butter over medium heat, then toss the pasta in along with the shaved Parmesan until everything is coated. This is basically a creamy pesto pasta situation and it is really good.  
9. Plate the pasta, lay the chicken on top, drizzle on the cream sauce and a little more basil oil, and squeeze a lemon wedge over everything. Add prosciutto and arugula if you want to go all out.  
  
A few things I noticed:  
  
The basil oil is genuinely a game changer and I have been putting it on everything since. Fair warning, it's hard to stop at just a drizzle.  
  
I skipped the prosciutto and arugula to keep it budget-friendly for a regular weeknight dinner and honestly it still felt like a treat. I would probably add them if I was making it for guests though.  
  
The cream sauce thickened up faster than I expected so keep a close eye on it and pull it off the heat as soon as it looks right. Mine got a little too thick the first time and I had to thin it with a splash of cream.  
  
Leftovers reheated surprisingly well the next day with a little splash of broth in the pan to loosen up the pasta. The chicken stayed pretty crispy too which I was not expecting.  
  
Has anyone tried swapping the spaghetti for a different pasta shape with something like this? I keep wondering if a wider noodle would hold onto the basil oil even better.

Copycat Cheesecake Factory Chicken Bellagio Easy Weeknight Dinner