Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake
This creamy chicken pasta bake is the perfect weeknight meal - super easy to make and the serving size is huge! You’ll have more than enough to feed a crowd or have leftovers the next day.
Servings 6 People
Calories 1064kcal
Cost $15
Equipment
Ingredients
- 750 g chicken breast or thighs, cubed
- 150 g bacon chopped into pieces
- 250 g pasta cook according to packet directions
- 1 cup water
- 1 bunch broccolini or asparagus, chopped into 3 cm / 1.5 inch pieces
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 can cream of celery soup or mushroom, asparagus or chicken
- 200 ml thickened cream / heavy cream
- 100 g cheese grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp bread crumbs optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F.
- Cook pasta as per packet directions, then drain.250 g pasta
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Brown the chicken, bacon and onion for around five minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked. Add the broccolini and/or asparagus and cook for a further minute.750 g chicken, 150 g bacon, 1 onion, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 bunch broccolini
- Reduce heat to low-medium and pour in the cream of celery soup, water and thickened cream / heavy cream. Stir until evenly mixed, allowing the sauce to warm through and thicken (about 5-10 minutes).1 cup water, 1 can cream of celery soup, 200 ml thickened cream / heavy cream
- Transfer cooked ingredients into a large casserole dish along with the pasta and mix well.Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs.100 g cheese, 3 tbsp bread crumbs
- Bake for around 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Chicken & Bacon - We use diced chicken breast or thighs along with diced bacon. Frying the chicken first ensures it will be fully cooked through while helping to keep it juicy and tender. It’s also a great way to repurpose leftover roast chicken (but no need to recook before using in this recipe).
- Pasta - Spirali or penne pasta are great options and make it easy to portion out the pasta bake once cooked. Sub with any pasta you like and cook according to packet directions until al dente.
- Veggies - We usually use onion, broccoli/broccolini and/or asparagus depending on what’s in season or on special at the supermarket.
- Cream of Celery Soup - This canned condensed soup is the secret ingredient to the lusciously thick and creamy sauce in our chicken pasta bake. Sub with any other ‘cream of’ condensed soup flavour, such as mushroom, asparagus or chicken. You can also make your own easy white sauce, or homemade cream of celery to use as the base instead.
- Cream - Use thickened cream / heavy cream rather than pouring cream.
- Cheese - Grated tasty cheese / cheddar cheese, mozzarella, parmesan or pizza cheese mixes all work great for this recipe.
- Breadcrumbs - For an extra crunchy golden crust! Sub with seasoned stuffing mix for even more flavour, or leave them out if you prefer.
- Top Browning Too Quickly? - Cover the top with a sheet of aluminium foil to stop it browning too much on top. Take it off for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time to let it crispen up nicely.
- Baking Dish - You’ll need one large baking dish or two smaller dishes for this recipe. If you don’t need to cook this much, consider halving the recipe.
- Storage - Cooked pasta bake will last around 2-3 days in the fridge, or up to 2-3 months in the freezer if properly stored in airtight containers.
- Optional Garnish - Top the finished pasta bake with fresh parsley, chives or spring onion.
- More Veggies - Try using half the amount of pasta and adding spinach, zucchini, garlic, finely diced pumpkin, sweet potato or even mushrooms. Or stir in some frozen peas, corn and carrots.
- Add Herbs - Add your favourite fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme or oregano.
- Add Flavour - Season the sauce with salt and ground black pepper to taste, or stir in 1-2 tsp of chicken stock powder into the sauce before baking.
- Add Heat - Add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to taste.
Nutrition
Serving: 4g | Calories: 1064kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 79g | Fat: 54g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 27g | Cholesterol: 271mg | Sodium: 1057mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g