A weeknight pasta that comes together in twenty minutes, using the Alfredo sauce on your shelf as its base and building it into something that feels like dinner. Roasted garlic and cream make this rich but the sauce won't taste jarred when you add freshly cracked pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 18 at the stove.

About 990 calories a serving, 57 g protein, 172 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat. From USDA figures for 88% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon salt and drop in 6 oz fettuccine; stir once and set a timer for the pasta's package time.12 min
2. While the pasta cooks, cut 8 oz chicken into bite-sized pieces, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, and sauté the chicken until cooked through, about 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
3. Stir the 22 oz jar of Alfredo into the hot chicken skillet, lower the heat to low, and warm through, stirring, for 2 minutes while the pasta finishes.2 min
4. Drain the pasta, toss it with the Alfredo and chicken, crack 1/4 teaspoon fresh pepper over the top, mince 2 cloves garlic, scatter them over, and squeeze lemon juice to taste.

Note Swap the chicken for shrimp or skip the protein and add a handful of peas or spinach to the sauce instead. The pasta keeps well for one lunch the next day and rewarms in a skillet with a splash of water. Serve with a green salad and crusty bread to stretch this into more than pasta.