Creamy, cheesy packed chicken Alfredo pasta bake with three kinds of cheese and plenty to go around. Lots of gooey, stringy cheese in this fall casserole!
I don’t know about you, but I love a good Alfredo. It’s rich, it’s definitely not good for you, but it’s oh so yummy. And why shouldn’t we love it? It has all the goodness of butter, cream and Parmesan. Creamy. Cheesy. Yummy. So today we’re taking good old Alfredo sauce and making a chicken pasta bake. And we’ll add more cheese plus other stuff to make a great fall casserole.
So if you’re wanting cheese, I’ve got your back. This makes a HUGE serving to go around and it heats up well. It’ll make that wet squishy sound when you mix it all up, a sign of tons of creamy cheesy power. It’ll give you long strands of cheese when you dish a serving. The kind that you’ll want to run your finger along to break. And it’ll satisfy your cheese craving.
CHICKEN ALFREDO PASTA BAKE TIPS AND TRICKS
The great thing about this is how you can customize it to save you time. I made the Alfredo sauce from scratch but you can use store-bought sauce. If you don’t like poached chicken, grill it. Or buy some rotisserie chicken and chop it up. And you can practically use any kind of pasta you want. I used penne but there’s ziti and rigatoni.
One thing I did make sure of was to cook the pasta until the point just before it turns al dente. Then I rinsed it under cold water to stop the cooking process. Because if it continues cooking in the cheese sauce in the oven, it’ll get slightly mushy. I’m not a big fan of mushy pasta so I finish off the al dente process in the oven. Works for me. If you don’t mind or even like mushy stuff (and I’m not talking about romance), then keep on cooking that pasta until it’s al dente. The rest of you can join me in my anti-mush club.
Another thing I want to kind of throw in here is that there’s a lot of ricotta to go around, as you can see. So if you’re not big on it, you can halve the ricotta and egg portion before mixing it in with everything. Some people like it, some people don’t. Whatever you prefer!
The last time I made a casserole with tons of cheese was last year. My chicken, spinach and mushroom pasta bake is still rocking it. The sad thing about it? I was still using my iPhone back then to take pics. And I didn’t have all the gadgets and gizmos I have now to take a good stringy cheese shot. So this year, I made up for it.
So really, if there’s just the two of you and you want a meal for days, this one’s for you. Or if you’re a family of four and you want something for two days, here you go. And if you have a huge family, have at it. This can serve up to ten servings. The cheese is not stingy!
MORE ALFREDO RECIPES TO TRY
- Spinach and Artichoke Ravioli Bake
- Lemon Pepper Chicken Alfredo Pasta
- Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake
- Tortellini Alfredo Spinach Casserole
- Mushroom Alfredo
- Easy Alfredo Sauce
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Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
Ingredients
- 16 oz. penne/ziti/rigatoni pasta
- 2 cups Alfredo sauce
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 3 cups poached/grilled/rotisserie chicken, cubed
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Cook the pasta till just before al dente.
- Drain and rinse pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- If you’re making Alfredo sauce from scratch, see notes.
- Mix pasta with Alfredo sauce, sour cream and chicken.
- Combine ricotta, garlic, eggs, Parmesan and parsley and mix thoroughly.
- Season the pasta mix with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the ricotta mixture to the pasta and stir to combine.
- Top with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake in a 9×13 casserole dish at 350°F for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
- Broil at 450°F for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.
- Dish and serve hot.
Notes
Homemade Alfredo sauce (2 cups):
INGREDIENTS:
8 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
INSTRUCTIONS:
Over medium-low heat, melt the butter and pour in the heavy cream. Stir to combine
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Add the Parmesan cheese in portions and stir to mix
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151 Comments
Tess
April 19, 2021 at 8:26 PMI want to add broccoli, when would I do that? Cook first or place within, refrigerated? 🙂
The Cooking Jar
April 20, 2021 at 10:04 PMIt depends on how you like your broccoli. If you don’t mind it on the softer side, you can cook it with the pasta in the last 3-5 minutes then drain and mix with the rest of the pasta bake ingredients. If you like it a little firmer, you could try mixing it all together and let it cook while the pasta bakes in the oven for 30 minutes. I’m pretty sure it will cook fully this way too.
Robyn Jones
September 14, 2019 at 9:57 AMI am going to try this recipe. Question: After prepared and cooked, does this dish freeze well to prepare for a future event? Then thaw and reheat?
The Cooking Jar
September 19, 2019 at 10:35 AMI personally have not frozen it, so I can’t say much from personal experience (since we don’t freeze much in this house). If you do decide to try it, please let us know so it can help folks with the same question!
CarolAnn
March 21, 2019 at 1:11 PMCan this be made. Ahead of time and frozen
The Cooking Jar
March 24, 2019 at 6:24 PMI personally haven’t done it, we don’t have much space in the freezer for gigantic casseroles. Maybe someone else has and can leave a comment in my stead. I’m leery of saying you can when I personally haven’t tested it yet.
Courtney Ammons
February 26, 2019 at 9:54 AMI printed this recipe and will post it near the dish when I make it March 24, 2019 for our Italian Lunch at Western Prong Baptist Church! I can’t wait for everyone to try it!!! Thank you!
The Cooking Jar
March 24, 2019 at 6:21 PMHow did it go? I hope it was received well! Thank you for having faith in the recipe to bring it to a gathering 🙂
Shannon
August 31, 2018 at 10:18 AMI made this last night after reaching out to you about the ricotta cheese. It was a HUGE it! I did use the Galbani ricotta and you are right, in this case brand matters. I’m so glad I didn’t omit. We had friends coming over and I wanted something easy (could prepare ahead by an hour and then just bake once they were here)…worked out perfectly and everyone had seconds and thirds. This will be a regular on the menu this fall. It’s too much for just my husband and I but perfect for having friends and family over. Thank you!!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
August 31, 2018 at 2:40 PMI’m so glad I helped! I used to hate ricotta cheese and complained about it at my mom -and-pop Italian restaurant we frequented when I asked about the recipe for their lasagna. They told me good quality ricotta matters and to try and brand name. Galbani was my first try and it was wonderful. So light and fluffy.
Shannon
August 29, 2018 at 11:00 AMQuestion, I’m thinking to make this tomorrow night when we have friends over. It looks so good. But I am not a fan of ricotta cheese, or I wasn’t the last time I tried it when I was a kid. Does the recipe need it? Does it add something that would be lacking if I left it out?
The Cooking Jar
August 29, 2018 at 2:51 PMThe ricotta is sorta like a filler in between the pasta. You could do without it. However, I too used to HATE ricotta cheese until I discovered I was simply going for the low quality kind. Quality does make a difference between brand name and generic here. I found I liked Galbani once I re-tried it. Huge difference.
Shannon
August 29, 2018 at 2:56 PMOh okay this helps. I will go for the Galbani brand and give it a shot 🙂
Thank you!