Easy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake – A simple, no-fuss dinner that you can easily make right at home with very few ingredients and ready in just 30 minutes.
I love simple dinner recipes like this, I literally put this together in only 30 minutes. This is perfect, especially after a long hard day at work, and you come home and you’re all tired and don’t feel like slaving in the kitchen for a couple hours.
All you really need is butter, flour, and Parmesan cheese, ingredients that I always have in the house. I wanted to make this a bit heartier though so that we wouldn’t be hungry half hour after eating it, so I added some chicken.
I know you all must have at least some taste buds that are similar to mine, I mean that’s why you you come to my blog right? Well then we can all agree that pasta is almost always the answer to “what should we eat tonight?”. I say almost because sometimes you just want to switch things up a little, and a pasta bake is the perfect way to do just that.
Can I Use Other Types Of Pasta?
This dish will work with many other types of pasta if you have some in the pantry you’d like to use up. The Alfredo sauce is just so delicious, it’s good with anything! I like to use a shaped pasta so that there’s lots of ridges for the sauce to cling to, I especially recommend something smaller like penne, fusilli, elbow, or bowtie.
Ingredients
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Pasta – I used elbow macaroni noodles today but feel free to use whichever kind you’d prefer, but I highly recommend it be a small shaped noodle.
- Butter – Unsalted as to control the sodium content of our dish.
- Chicken – Boneless and skinless chicken breast, cubed up into bite sized pieces.
- Cheese – Shredded mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Flour – Just a bit of all purpose to help thicken up our sauce, if you’re gluten free feel free to use corn starch instead.
- Cream – We’re using heavy cream to form a beautiful creamy sauce.
- Pasta water – The starch in the pasta water will help our sauce thicken, be sure to grab some before draining the pasta.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper.
- Parsley – Minced up nice and fine and sprinkled liberally over top.
Why Do We Use Pasta Water?
Pasta water will add flavor and seasoning to your dish (you’re always making sure to salt your pasta water right?). It will also help thicken our sauce and ensure the sauce sticks to our pasta. It will also add a sheen to your sauce, so be sure to always reserve a little bit! This is the secret to all great pasta sauces.
How To Make Easy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Prepare the pasta: Turn your broiler on. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
- Cook the chicken: In a large skillet melt 1 tbsp of the butter. Add chicken pieces and cook just until chicken is no longer pink and is beginning to slightly brown. Remove chicken from skillet.
- Form the sauce: In the same skillet, add remaining butter and melt it. Pour the heavy cream in the skillet and whisk it. Add the flour and continue whisking until sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper and add the Parmesan cheese. Continue whisking. By now the sauce should be pretty thick, use some of the pasta water to thin it out a bit. Add chicken and pasta to skillet and toss well.
- Finish the dish: Top with mozzarella cheese and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and gets golden brown, checking often to make sure the top doesn’t burn. Garnish with parsley and more Parmesan cheese if preferred.
Some Tips
- The sauce will seem thin when you start to mix in the pasta. Don’t worry, just keep tossing. The starches from the pasta will mix into the sauce to give the the perfect consistency. If you use flour or cornstarch to thicken the sauce, it may come out with a gluey consistency once it’s cooled down a bit.
- You can add a few tsp of Italian seasoning, a pinch of nutmeg or red pepper flakes to add some flare to this sauce. Feel free to get creative with seasoning.
- You can adjust the ratio of cream to milk in this recipe to suit how rich you’d like it to be.
How to Serve
This rich, creamy dish pairs beautifully with light and simple sides like salads and roasted veggies. This pasta bake is completely satisfying on its own so if you’d rather just curl up on the couch with a big old bowl, I won’t stop you.
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Greek Salad
- Mediterranean Couscous Salad
- Kale And Quinoa Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette
- Tabbouleh Salad
- Italian Roasted Mushrooms And Veggies
Leftovers
You can store this recipe easily in the fridge. In an airtight container it’ll keep for 3 – 5 days just be sure it’s properly cooled before storing. Unfortunately this dish doesn’t freeze well so I recommend either making it day of or a few days before and storing in the fridge.
Craving More Pasta? Try These Delicious Recipes:
- One Pot Beef Ragu Pasta
- Creamy Avocado And Spinach Pasta
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Caprese Pasta
- Three Cheese Hamburger Helper
- One Pot Chili Mac And Cheese
- Cheesy Taco Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Parmesan Pasta
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Easy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 oz pasta uncooked, I used elbow macaroni
- 3 tbsp butter unsalted
- 1 chicken breast cut into small pieces
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
- parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Turn your broiler on. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water.
- In a large skillet melt 1 tbsp of the butter. Add chicken pieces and cook just until chicken is no longer pink and is beginning to slightly brown. Remove chicken from skillet.
- In the same skillet, add remaining butter and melt it. Pour the heavy cream in the skillet and whisk it. Add the flour and continue whisking until sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper and add the Parmesan cheese. Continue whisking. By now the sauce should be pretty thick, use some of the pasta water to thin it out a bit. Add chicken and pasta to skillet and toss well.
- Top with mozzarella cheese and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and gets golden brown, checking often to make sure the top doesn’t burn.
- Garnish with parsley and more Parmesan cheese if preferred.
Recipe Notes
- You can store this recipe easily in the fridge. In an airtight container it’ll keep for 3 – 5 days just be sure it’s properly cooled before storing. Unfortunately this dish doesn’t freeze well so I recommend either making it day of or a few days before and storing in the fridge.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
