Copycat Cheesecake Factory Chicken Bellagio Recipe

There are pasta lovers and then there are people who eat it as often as possible, daydream about it at every other meal, and dream about it at night. Mashed recipe developer Patterson Watkins fits into the latter camp, saying, "I eat pasta, like, all the time. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how many days out of the week I consume pasta — enough to make any Nonna proud." For an important birthday, she even made a pilgrimage to Bologna, voted food capital of the world by Condé Nast Traveller readers in 2022, and arguably the best place to eat pasta in Italy. She refers to her love of pasta as an obsession, and it pays off in her recreation of the Cheesecake Factory's chicken Bellagio. 

"What caught my eye with this dish is that trio of main components: creamy-lemony-pesto pasta, crispy chicken cutlets, and thin, salty slices of prosciutto," she explains, calling it "a mouthwatering combination for any pasta fan." She got straight to work breaking down the components of this iconic dish. "I paid close attention to the menu description, sourced out some good recon on Reddit, and watched way too many reels of people eating it," she says. "I think I got it pinned; the flavors, the textures, and the look-and-feel." Any Cheesecake Factory fan is sure to agree and approve of this delightful copycat chicken Bellagio recipe. 

For the chicken component of this dish, you'll need thin-sliced chicken cutlets, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Next, get all-purpose flour, eggs (beaten), Italian-style breadcrumbs, and olive oil for cooking. To make the pasta sauce, grab butter, all-purpose flour, heavy cream, chicken broth, fresh lemon juice, pesto sauce, grated Parmesan cheese, and lemon zest. Pre-cook spaghetti according to the instructions on the package, and finally, to assemble the dish, get baby arugula and a package of sliced prosciutto.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.

Season the chicken with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Set up your breading station, placing the flour in one shallow bowl, the beaten eggs in another, and the breadcrumbs in a third.

Coat the chicken in flour, shaking off any excess.

Dip the chicken into the egg, letting any excess drip off.

Lastly, coat the chicken in the breadcrumbs, gently pressing to adhere the crumbs.

Working in batches, if necessary, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Once hot, add the chicken and cook for 2–3 minutes per side, or until golden, crisp, and cooked through.

Set the cooked cutlets aside on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Once melted, add the flour and stir to combine the roux.

Add the cream, broth, lemon juice, and pesto to the saucepan, and whisk to combine.

Bring the sauce to a low simmer and, once simmering, add the Parmesan and lemon zest.

Whisk to combine, and continue simmering until the sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Add the cooked spaghetti to the saucepan and toss to coat the noodles.

Divide the sauced noodles between 4 plates.

Top the noodles with the cooked cutlets.

Lastly, top the chicken with slices of prosciutto and arugula.

Serve, with some additional grated Parmesan cheese on the side for extra sprinkling.

Being able to prep some components of your meal ahead of time is convenient if you like batch cooking, and if that's your preferred method, you'll appreciate that Watkins comments, "This dish would make any prep-ahead human really, really happy." Both the chicken and the sauce can be made in advance, and if you happen to have made too much spaghetti the previous night, you're all set. 

Regarding the chicken, Watkins explains that you can bread and freeze the cutlets raw, or bread and cook them before cooling and freezing them to be reheated later. In the former case, she says, "I would sandwich your raw, breaded cutlets between sheets of parchment or wax paper before freezing." If desired, you can skip the pan frying and bake them from the freezer at 350 F for 20 to 30 minutes. 

"The pasta sauce can be made in advance, too," Watkins says, and she recommends storing it in an airtight container in the fridge for three to four days or in the freezer until you are ready to make the dish. "My only word of advice on make-ahead-sauce is that it may need to be thinned when reheating," she says. "I would recommend stove-top reheating — it is a lot of sauce to be reheated in the microwave — adding a little chicken broth to get the consistency right (just thick enough to coat the noodles, not gloopy)."

If you're accustomed to ordering the chicken Bellagio at the Cheesecake Factory, then you may already have strong opinions about what side dishes pair well with this rich dish. Watkins' take is that it's "definitely a bread-dipping pasta." Now, you could pop over to the restaurant and pick up some bread to go, but that would be defeating the purpose of making this tasty copycat rendition. If you're lucky, your grocery store sells the Cheesecake Factory loaves like Watkins' does. She says, "The sourdough loaf is my personal fav, but those sweet-ish brown bread loaves are pretty tasty, too." Some copycat bread recipes incorporate unexpected ingredients in the brown bread: cocoa and espresso powder!

If carbs on carbs is too much for your appetite, Watkins points out that "side salads are great," and notes the chain's classic garden and Caesar salad would make a great pairing. She doesn't stop at raw leafy greens, either, and lists, "green beans, grilled asparagus, or sauteed spinach" as her go-to sides for this hearty meal.