Easy, cheesy pasta with chicken and sauce – you’ll love this Chicken Pasta Bake!
Chicken Pasta Bake
Old recipes are the best ones aren’t they? This one is from years ago when I first started blogging (remember I’m a blogging dinosaur now!) and quickly made it for my family. It’s awesome because it has all of the pasta staples but is super easy to make. There’s pasta, protein with chicken, spinach and cheese. Who could forget the cheese!? Not me.
Although this recipe uses penne, most types of pasta would work – think bowtie, spaghetti, etc. It’s a great way to use up noodles in your pantry and toss it all together for a hearty meal.
The best part is when you pull pasta right out of the oven and it’s all cheesy, ooey and gooey. Mmmmmm!
Note: this recipe will taste best for leftovers if stored in the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking and eaten within 3-5 days. (that goes for most pasta dishes!)
Do Pasta Dishes Freeze Well?
At this point, you know that I love a recipe that can be doubled or made to freeze for later, right? Pasta dishes can get really tricky because noodles get soggy and gross if you cook them like normal and then freeze them. Here’s how you can make this to freeze and have it come out right:
- Cook noodles to al dente or not at all.
- Thaw it in the fridge the night before. Let’s say that you double this recipe and freeze one to be eaten by your family later on. Pull it out of the freezer the night before you want to bake it and it will taste so much better! It will last in the fridge for 3-4 days once thawed. If not eaten in that time, you need to toss it.
- Cooked pasta will last for 1-2 months in the freezer, so take advantage of your doubled meal and eat it in that time frame.
Other Pasta Recipes
Our family loves pasta! You too? You’ll love these recipes as well:
Chicken Pasta Bake Recipe
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please write a five star review, and be sure to help me share on Facebook and Pinterest!
Chicken Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 lb chicken boneless, skinless
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 28 oz spaghetti sauce
- 1 14 oz tomatoes diced
- 1 3 oz cream cheese (little less than 1/2 package)
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/4 c parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions for "al dente." Drain. Pour into prepared baking dish.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
- own chicken in oil. Add Italian seasoning, half of the spaghetti sauce and the drained tomatoes. Let simmer 2-3 minutes.
- Cut cream cheese into small chunks. Add to chicken and tomato sauce mixture. Simmer until cream cheese is melted.
- Stir in spinach. Cook another minute, until spinach wilts slightly.
- Pour chicken mixture over pasta. Top with one cup of the shredded mozzarella. Top with the remaining spaghetti sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until bubbly.
Nutrition
This sounds delicious! I’m adding this to my Pinterest board to try!!