Easy Chicken & Pasta Bake With Alfredo Sauce
Chicken & Pasta Bake With Alfredo Sauce will become your staple one-pot pasta dish. Cheesy creamy pasta is loaded with simple ingredients like penne pasta, chicken, and creamy alfredo sauce. Customize it even further by adding veggies such as broccoli, peas, and spices. It is easy to throw together which makes sit a great weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 10 ounces penne pasta cooked al dente
- 3 cups diced cooked chicken
- 3 tablespoons butter or ghee
- 2 tablespoons flour, gluten-free if using
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided use
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking spray
- 2 tablespoon parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Use leftover chicken or pan-fry boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs for a couple of minutes until done and cooked through.
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the milk and cream in batches, then simmer, whisking constantly, until the sauce has just thickened. The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- Remove from the heat and stir in parmesan. Stir continuously until cheese is melted.
- In a large bowl combine pasta, and chicken and pour in the sauce. Combine and mix well until all the paste is nicely coated in the sauce mixture.
- Grease a baking dish (I used 8x11) lightly with oil or butter. Transfer half of the pasta mixture to the dish and top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat with one more layer of pasta and cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes (uncovered), until cheese is melted and golden brown.
- Serve with fresh parsley.
Notes
- Cooking this pasta dish for less servings is totally doable. Divide the main ingredients in half and bake in a smaller baking dish. The baking time may be slightly reduced to avoid overcooking.
- More herbs can be sued in the pasta such as marjoram, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil. Anything Italian will work here.
- Increase your veggie intake by adding blanched broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or spinach (frozen or fresh) right before baking.
- Why is my pasta bake dry? There can be a couple of reasons why it's dry. Not correct oven temperatures (also every oven is different), too much pasta and too little sauce, pasta is overcooked before adding to the casserole. For this recipe, we only bake it for 20 minutes and I don't cover it, however, if in past you have not been successful with pasta bakes, just cover it with aluminum foil and perhaps cook for extra minutes than stated in the recipe.
- How do you fix a dry pasta casserole? The easiest way and what I'd do is to make another batch of the same sauce. Stir it in the pasta and bake along with the melted cheese. Or another way is to stir in pasta some warm milk or cream, melted butter, or good olive oil.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!