Sometimes dinner starts with a plan.

Sometimes it starts with two videos, a crockpot, a bag of fresh Brussels sprouts I have never cooked this way before, and a little faith that everything will come together well enough to feed the people I love.

This meal came from two different video inspirations, and I want to give credit where it is due. The slow cooker garlic Parmesan chicken pasta was inspired by Eating With Edward, and the Brussels sprouts technique was inspired by 4Bettyg23. I did not follow either recipe exactly, but that is part of what I love about home cooking. We see something, we learn from it, and then it becomes something a little different once it lands in our own kitchen.

That is what happened here.

I made slow cooker garlic Parmesan chicken rigatoni with ButcherBox chicken, Kettle & Fire chicken bone broth, Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce, off-brand rigatoni, and freshly grated BelGioioso Parmesan. On the side, I tried fresh Brussels sprouts with balsamic glaze, garlic, red pepper flakes, Slap Ya Mama, salt, pepper, and a little Parmesan melted over the top.

Was it perfect? No.

Was it delicious? Absolutely.

And honestly, that is exactly the kind of cooking experience I want to share more often.

A Comfort Meal Made with Intention

As many of my readers know, I have been working on my health and wellness journey for quite some time. I care about protein. I care about better ingredients. I care about learning how to feed myself in a way that supports my body.

But I also live in a real household.

I am still raising a family. I am still cooking for people with different tastes, different preferences, and different levels of pickiness. I am still living in this wackadoo economy where grocery prices can make every shopping trip feel like a strategy session.

So no, this was not the healthiest meal on the planet.

It was cheesy. It was rich. It was comforting. It had pasta in it, and I am not going to apologize for that.

But it was also made with intention.

I used ButcherBox chicken because I have genuinely been impressed with the quality. I used Kettle & Fire chicken bone broth because bone broth matters to me, and I liked the idea of building the dish on something more nourishing and flavorful than plain water. I used freshly grated BelGioioso Parmesan because I wanted that final cheese moment to melt into the hot pasta and pull everything together.

And then I used off-brand rigatoni, off-brand jarred garlic, and the seasonings I already had in my kitchen because that is real life.

Save where you can. Spend intentionally where it matters to you. Feed your people well without pretending every ingredient has to come from the most expensive shelf in the store.

That is balance.

The Garlic Parmesan Chicken Rigatoni

For the pasta, I used three pounds of ButcherBox chicken breast, one full 32-ounce container of Kettle & Fire chicken bone broth, and a 20-ounce bottle of Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce. I added red pepper flakes because we like a little heat over here, then let everything cook on low until the chicken was tender enough to shred.

The video that inspired this dish used bow tie pasta, but I decided to use rigatoni. I wanted the sauce to tuck itself into those little pasta tubes. Rigatoni felt right for this kind of meal: sturdy, comforting, and ready to hold onto all that garlic Parmesan flavor.

I cooked the pasta separately instead of adding it directly to the crockpot. That gave me more control over the texture, and I am glad I made that choice. Slow cookers can be tricky with pasta, and I did not want the noodles turning mushy while everything else was already finished.

Once the chicken was shredded and the rigatoni was cooked, I folded the hot pasta into the chicken mixture and stirred in most of a four-ounce container of BelGioioso freshly grated Parmesan. I saved a little for the Brussels sprouts.

Then I let the pasta sit for a few minutes.

That little pause helped. The rigatoni had time to absorb some of the sauce, the cheese melted in, and the whole dish settled into itself.

For my own plate, I added a little Tabasco Chipotle hot sauce over the noodles because that is my favorite hot sauce for almost everything. The smoky heat worked beautifully against the rich garlic Parmesan flavor.

What I Would Change Next Time

All in all, I would call this pasta a win.

The flavor was excellent. The chicken was tender. The rigatoni worked well. Everybody seemed happy, and I had enough leftovers to enjoy it again Sunday and Monday. That is always one of my goals with a meal like this: make enough, enjoy it more than once, and avoid waste.

But this was also a first version.

First versions teach you things.

The biggest change I would make next time is working toward a creamier base. The flavor was excellent, but the sauce was a little looser and juicier than I prefer. I think I may have been about a cup too heavy on the broth for the texture I wanted. It was also very chicken-forward. Three pounds of chicken to one pound of pasta made a hearty, protein-heavy dish, but next time I may adjust that ratio depending on whether I am cooking for one dinner or intentionally making leftovers for the week.

For my next version, I may reduce the broth from 32 ounces to about 24, try two pounds of chicken instead of three, or keep the larger chicken quantity and increase the pasta if I am building out a meal-prep batch. I am also thinking about working something creamy in near the end to create a thicker, richer sauce.

None of that means the dish failed.

It means the dish gave me information.

That is how cooking works in my kitchen. I try something, taste it, pay attention, and then decide what I might do differently next time. That is not criticism. That is growth.

The Brussels Sprouts Experiment

The Brussels sprouts were their own little adventure.

I love Brussels sprouts, especially the kind you get at restaurants when they are crispy, caramelized, a little sweet, a little savory, and full of flavor. But I had never cooked fresh Brussels sprouts this way at home.

The video from 4Bettyg23 caught my attention because of the technique. She boils the Brussels sprouts until they are fork tender, then adds them to a hot oiled pan with seasonings and balsamic glaze before broiling them until they brown.

That hot-pan idea immediately reminded me of the preheated-pan technique I used in my Honey-Glazed Jiffy Cornbread recipe. In that cornbread post, I learned how much difference it makes when butter hits an already-hot dish and starts sizzling right away.

Heat changes texture.

That was the lesson I carried into these Brussels sprouts.

I adapted the method a little. Instead of boiling them, I steamed mine. I also halved them first because I wanted more surface area for browning and glaze. Some of the outer leaves came loose while I was trimming them, and because they still looked good, I kept them. I did not steam those loose leaves. I saved them and added them later to the pan so they could crisp up instead of turning soft.

For seasoning, I used what I had: salt, pepper, a light touch of Slap Ya Mama, jarred garlic, red pepper flakes, and balsamic glaze. I mixed the jarred garlic and red pepper flakes into the balsamic glaze because I hoped the glaze would help carry the garlic across the Brussels sprouts and protect it a little from burning under the broiler.

That was not in the original video.

That was just me thinking through the moment.

Knowing Your Own Kitchen

This was one of those “know what you’re working with” kitchen lessons.

The original video worked one way. Mine worked a little differently.

I had a 13×9 pan that looked like it might have seen better days, so I lined it tightly with heavy-duty foil. I used Graza olive oil in the pan and heated it before adding the Brussels sprouts. When the pan came out of the oven, the oil was sizzling, so I thought we were good to go.

But when I added the Brussels sprouts, I did not get the dramatic sizzle I expected.

That may have been the foil. It may have been that the sprouts had cooled a little while they dried. It may have been my oven. It may have been all of the above.

And that is okay.

Real cooking is not copying a video perfectly. It is watching what happens in your own kitchen and adjusting from there.

I started at 350°F because that is what the video suggested, but next time I think I will try 400°F for my oven. I have one of those newer smart ovens, and I am still learning its personality. It seems to take a little longer with some things than older ovens I have used, so I have learned to watch the food more than the clock.

I also did not have the air conditioning on. It was a beautiful weather day outside, and I had been enjoying that, but by the time the oven and broiler had been running, the house was around 82 degrees. That changed my choices too. I had considered pushing the Brussels sprouts further under the broiler and maybe even broiling the Parmesan on top, but by then I was done asking the oven for favors.

So I pulled the sprouts when the balsamic glaze looked bubbly, glossy, and sticky, then sprinkled a little Parmesan over the hot Brussels sprouts and let the residual heat do the work.

It melted right in.

No extra broil needed.

The Balsamic Glaze Note

Full honesty: my balsamic glaze was past its best-by date.

I thought I had ordered a new one, but if I did, it clearly did not make it home. So I checked what I had. It looked normal, smelled fine, and tasted like balsamic glaze — sweet, tangy, and a little fruity.

It did not seem to affect the finished dish at all.

That said, this is not me telling anyone to ignore dates on food. Use your judgment. Check the look, smell, and taste when appropriate, and when in doubt, throw it out. In my case, it passed the check, and dinner moved forward.

A Note About ButcherBox

This meal used ButcherBox chicken, and I want to be clear that this is not sponsored.

I am not affiliated with ButcherBox in any formal way. I am just genuinely enjoying my experience with them. My parents have tried it too, and they have loved it ever since.

For me, there is a difference between some standard grocery-store chicken breast and chicken that feels better sourced and better handled. I have been impressed with the quality and selection, and I have mentioned ButcherBox in other recipes because I actually use it.

I still use off-brand pasta, off-brand garlic, and budget-friendly seasonings where I can, because that is real household cooking. But when I can make an intentional choice with meat, I do.

P.S. If you want the full story of how ButcherBox came into my life, I wrote about it in From Best Buy Failure to ButcherBox Success: A Story About Resilience & Good Food. It involves a failed appliance delivery, lost groceries, medication that needed refrigeration, and a formal complaint that never received the response I believe it deserved. Sometimes a good thing arrives in the middle of a hard situation, and I think both parts of the story matter.

Referral note: I do currently have a ButcherBox referral option available through my account. The offer details can change, but if you are curious, email me at terra.turner@cherrycobiz.com and I will gladly share whatever current information is available.

This is not pressure. It is just food for thought.

A Win, With Notes

I want to be very clear about something.

This dinner was amazing.

The pasta was delicious. The Brussels sprouts were delicious. The leftovers were delicious. I had enough to enjoy Sunday and Monday, and now it is gone.

That is all I ever want.

No waste. Happy bellies. A meal that did its job.

The notes I have for next time are not complaints. They are experiment notes. I want the pasta base creamier. I may use less chicken or more pasta, depending on whether I am making it for dinner or meal prep. I want the Brussels sprouts a little crispier, and I want to try boiling them whole next time to compare the texture against steaming them halved.

But for a first version, this was a very good one.

Sometimes that is the real lesson in the kitchen. A meal does not have to be perfected before it is worth sharing. It can be delicious and still evolving. It can be imperfect and still successful. It can teach you something and still feed your family well.

That is where I landed with this one.

A win, with notes.

First Version Recipe Notes

This is not a perfected recipe card yet. This is the first version of what I made, with notes for how I may adjust it next time.

Garlic Parmesan Chicken Rigatoni

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ButcherBox chicken breast
• 1 container Kettle & Fire chicken bone broth, 32 ounces
• 1 bottle Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce, 20 ounces
• Red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 box rigatoni, 16 ounces
• Most of 1 container BelGioioso freshly grated Parmesan, 4 ounces
• Tabasco Chipotle hot sauce, optional for serving

Method

Add the chicken, bone broth, Parmesan garlic sauce, and red pepper flakes to the slow cooker. Cook on low until the chicken is tender and shreds easily.

Shred the chicken directly into the sauce. Once the chicken is shredded, turn the crockpot off while preparing the pasta. The mixture should stay hot for quite a while.

Boil the rigatoni separately according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, then fold the hot rigatoni into the shredded chicken mixture.

While everything is still hot, stir in most of the freshly grated Parmesan. Let the pasta sit for a few minutes before serving so the noodles can absorb some of the sauce and the cheese can melt into the dish.

For serving, I added Tabasco Chipotle to my own plate.

Version 2.0 Notes

Next time, the main thing I want to improve is the texture of the sauce. I may reduce the broth to about 24 ounces and possibly add something creamy near the end to create a thicker base. I may also use closer to two pounds of chicken for one pound of pasta, or keep the three pounds of chicken and increase the pasta if I want more leftovers.

Balsamic Garlic Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

• Fresh Brussels sprouts
• Graza olive oil, enough to lightly coat the pan
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Slap Ya Mama seasoning, light touch
• Jarred garlic, about 1 tablespoon or a little more
• Red pepper flakes, to taste
• Balsamic glaze
• A little BelGioioso freshly grated Parmesan for finishing

Method

Trim the Brussels sprouts, remove any rough outer leaves, and cut the sprouts in half. Save any loose leaves that still look good so they can crisp up later.

Steam the halved Brussels sprouts until they are tender but not falling apart. Let them sit cut-side down for a few minutes so some of the moisture can leave.

Line a 13×9 pan with heavy-duty foil, if needed. Add oil and heat the pan. Carefully add the Brussels sprouts and loose leaves to the hot pan.

Season with salt, pepper, and a light touch of Slap Ya Mama.

Mix the jarred garlic and red pepper flakes into the balsamic glaze, then drizzle that mixture over the Brussels sprouts.

Bake until the glaze looks bubbly, glossy, and sticky. I did test the broiler briefly, but because the house was getting warm and the glaze was already where I wanted it, I pulled the pan instead of pushing it further.

Sprinkle Parmesan over the hot Brussels sprouts and let the residual heat melt it in.

Version 2.0 Notes

Next time, I may try baking them at 400°F before deciding whether they need the broiler, especially with my oven. I also want to try boiling whole Brussels sprouts, like the original video, to compare the texture.

What This Meal Makes Me Want to Try Next

That is usually how one kitchen experiment ends for me. Not with a final answer, but with another idea waiting nearby.

I have also been seeing a lot of dirty spaghetti ideas lately, and I have seen people try versions with cabbage too. Since my lane right now is learning more ways to care for myself while still making food that feels satisfying, I am planning to try a cabbage version soon.

I already have the ingredients.

Now I just need the time.

As always, I will probably do it a little differently, because that is how I cook. I take inspiration, bring it into my own kitchen, and see what happens from there.

Stay tuned.