The Best Copycat Pasta Da Vinci Recipe (without wine) – Sautéed chicken, fresh mushrooms and red onions are tossed with penne in a delicious creamy sauce. While this dish requires quite a few ingredients it is an easy recipe that is great any night of the week, but also perfect for a special occasion.

The finished da vinci pasta in a skillet with the recipe title in text above it.

The Cheesecake Factory is another popular restaurant that we don’t have here in Wichita. But there is one in major cities close to here like Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa. We keep hearing rumors that we are going to get one but we haven’t seen one yet. For now we will have to go to them when we are out of town or make the recipes at home.

One serving or pasta da vinci on a white plate with shredded Parmesan cheese on it.

We don’t consume alcohol very often. I would cook with wine but I don’t know that much about it and don’t want to buy a whole bottle for the relatively small amount that is needed in most recipes. We came up with a substitute for this copycat Cheesecake Factory recipe and are very happy with the way it came out.

Close up of one serving of copycat da vinci pasta on a white plate.

Ingredients

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Ingredient Notes

Pasta – we use regular penne, whole wheat would be very good in this recipe.

Chicken – I like boneless skinless chicken breasts for this, you can use chicken tenders or thighs if you want.

Mushrooms – our grocery store carries cremini and white mushrooms. We choose the cremini mushrooms. You can also use shiitake mushrooms.

Chicken Broth – regular, low sodium, store bought or homemade are all great options.

Heavy Cream – this helps to thicken the sauce a bit.

Sour Cream – this also thickens the sauce while adding great flavor.

Grape Juice – we like red grape juice because it gives nice rich flavor.

Balsamic Vinegar – this adds the acidity, similar to what you would get from the wine.

Butter – I like unsalted real butter, you could substitute all or part of the butter with olive oil.

Red Onion – these have a higher sugar content than brown or white onions making them sweeter.

Parmesan Cheese – this is a key ingredient in many delicious pasta dishes.

Garlic – we use the garlic in the jar for just about everything. It is so much easier than peeling and chopping garlic cloves.

Salt & Black Pepper

Overhead view of one serving of pasta da vinci on a white plate with a fork on the edge of the plate.

How to Make DaVinci Pasta

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, slice the mushrooms and chop the onion.
Cook pasta al dente according to the package directions, usually about 9 minutes.
Meanwhile, season chicken with salt and pepper.
Melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add chicken cubes and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, transfer to a dish.
Add another tablespoon of the butter to the skillet. Sauté onions and mushrooms until softened, about 5-7 minutes, add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Raise to medium-high heat and add grape juice, balsamic vinegar and chicken broth scraping to get any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook over medium to medium-low heat until the liquid reduces by about half, approximately 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and add sour cream, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and remaining tablespoon of butter.
Add chicken and pasta and heat through. Top each serving with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Recipe Note: The sauce is thin and will thicken a bit as it stands. Unless we get interrupted in the middle of dinner ours never lasts that long 😉.

A collage of eight images showing the steps it takes to make the sauce for the pasta da vinci.

What is Madeira Wine

Madeira is a fortified wine from the island of Madeira. It comes in a range of dry to sweet styles and a variety of flavor profiles. Wine Folly has a great article about Madeira wine. We chose not to use any wine in our dish. If you would like to use wine just omit the grape juice and balsamic and add one cup of wine instead.

One serving of the pasta dish on a white plate with the recipe title in text above it.

What We Love About This Cheesecake Factory Copycat Recipe

It is a simple pasta recipe our whole family loves.
This is a great pasta dish perfect for an intimate dinner for 2 or large family dinner.
The sauce is delicious and has just the right amount of richness.