Enjoy this creamy, cheese-packed chicken Alfredo pasta bake with three kinds of cheese and plenty more to go around. There are tons of melty cheese strings 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.
How To Make Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake (1 Min Video)
Ingredients in Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
CHICKEN ALFREDO PASTA BAKE RECIPE TIPS
The great thing about this recipe is how you can customize it to save you time. I made the Alfredo sauce from scratch but you can also use store-bought sauce Alfredo sauce. I used some rotisserie chicken but if you’re not a fan, any kind of leftover or cooked chicken works just as well. You can grill, pan-fry or poach about 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cube or shred them for the casserole.
You can also customize what kind of pasta you’re using. I used penne for this recipe but it works with all kinds of tube-type pasta like ziti, rigatoni, elbows, or other pasta shapes like shells, cavatappi, bowties, or fusilli.
One thing I did make sure to do 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, and some people don’t. My preferred brand of ricotta is Galbani, so I’m a big fan.
The last time I made a casserole with tons of cheese was last year. My chicken, spinach and mushroom pasta bake are still rocking 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 leftovers that will reheat well for days, this recipe is perfect 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!
Enjoy and let me know how you liked it, what substitutions you made and what you paired it with in the comments below!
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
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
This creamy chicken Alfredo pasta bake is a comforting fall casserole with three kinds of cheese and lots of melty cheese strings.
Ingredients
- 16 oz. penne/ziti/rigatoni pasta
- 2 cups Alfredo sauce
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 3 cups cooked/rotisserie chicken, cubed
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese
- 2 cloves 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 until just before al dente, about 2 minutes shy of the package directions. Drain and rinse pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- If you’re making Alfredo sauce from scratch, see notes.
- Mix cooked pasta with Alfredo sauce, sour cream and cooked chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Combine ricotta, garlic, eggs, Parmesan and parsley and mix well.
- Add the ricotta mixture to the pasta and stir to combine. Transfer everything to a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Top with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the casserole is bubbly.
- Broil at 450°F for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.
- Dish and serve hot.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Homemade Alfredo sauce (2 cups):
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt, or to taste (see note)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
Melt butter in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Slow stir in the heavy cream and bring to a gentle boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add grated Parmesan cheese in batches, stirring constantly until the cheese melts smoothly into the sauce. Season with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
Simmer gently until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes. Do a taste test and adjust seasonings, if needed.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
Comments & Reviews
I made this and added bacon and wilted spinach (cooked in the bacon pan) and it turned out phenomenally! I will definitely make it again.
Sounds delicious, Cassandra! Bacon makes everything better 😉
I made this last night for my husband and I and I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t get the crispiness of the mozzarella just right and it would be floopy instead of nice and golden but this came out PERFECT. I followed the directed exactly and I am so happy I found this recipe!!
Yay, congrats! It’s always great when it turns out just like the pics and I’m always happy when a recipe works out for someone 🙂 The secret to nice golden cheese top is just to broil it for a couple of minutes while watching it like a hawk. Doesn’t take too long at all! I can practically imagine you beaming over your perfect golden cheesy crust!
I just made this Chicken Alfredo Pasta bake tonight. It was so delicious. I think this puts Pizza Hut’s Alfredo to shame. Thanks for this recipe.
Thanks, John! I had no idea Pizza Hut made Alfredo. I’m glad you’ve found something you like better that you can make at home 🙂
Do you think this would be good if I did a half ricotta half cream cheese mix? I love cream cheese!!
I actually think it will work, Tricia! Cream cheese should compliment the flavors well. Good luck!
is it option to get parmesans cheese?
You can choose not to use Parmesan in the ricotta mixture, it just won’t have the Parmesan flavor. But Parmesan is one of the main flavoring ingredients in Alfredo sauce if you decide to make it from scratch and I wouldn’t skip it in the sauce. Hope this helps!
Can you freeze half of the casserole? I’m baking the other half right now but this makes so much!!
Replied to this as fast as I could since you’re cooking it right now! I think you should be able to freeze it though honestly I don’t know how long it will keep with the eggs in the ricotta mixture. I suggest trying to figure out how long a lasagna can be frozen, since it has the same ricotta and egg mixture in it usually. That should be a good benchmark. My only concern are the noodles not being too great from being frozen. If you do freeze it, come back and let us know how it went?
Thank you so much!! This was delicious & we all had seconds. My friend is having their first baby any day so I thought I would freeze half for them 🙂 I am thinking it will only be in the freezer for a week or two so hopefully it works! I’ll keep you posted. Thanks again for the delicious recipe & the speedy reply!
That’s so sweet of you! Say congrats to your friend for me. First baby, wow. And I’m glad you guys liked this one 🙂
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
You’re welcome, Simon! Happy eats!
I was just picking a rotisserie chicken apart and thought, I want baked chicken Alfredo! Googled it, and this came up. Looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it! I don’t like ricotta cheese though. Is there anything I can use instead?
Heya Valerie. Well I was thinking and the most obvious substitute would be cottage cheese. If you don’t like that, some vegetarians use tofu instead but that just doesn’t sound right to me. The other solution would be to leave out the egg and ricotta cheese. Just make do with the Alfredo sauce to fill it up. If it’s not enough substance, perhaps add more sauce to make up for it?
Awesome thank you! I was thinking adding more parm cheese too! More sauce would definitely be good too!!
It will work! Makes it simpler too and you get to use up that rotisserie chicken that started all of this 😉
Farrah Farah Farah, omg this is the best. I made this today, sooooo delicious, and easy to make. I called my neighbor downstairs, told her to bring a bowl, she loves this as well. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Hooray! Careful saying my name three times, I just may appear in your kitchen and steal your food! 😉 But hey, I’m thrilled it worked out well for you and your neighbor, bad joke aside 🙂
love it. This is one of my new favorite sites.
I made this a few weeks ago for our Bible study group. It was a huge hit. They could not stop raving about it. It was very good! Thanks for such a yummy recipe.
Question for ya: Some friends are out of town and will be returning home at an ungodly hour. I am house sitting for them and am wanting to make them this dish so they don’t have to worry about supper their first night home. Would the pasta get soggy if I mixed everything and refrigerated overnight without cooking? Or should I cook it first then have them reheat it? IF reheating it is the answer, how do you reheat it? Microwave or oven? Thanks!
You know, I think you called it on the pasta being soggy if made in advance. I’ve personally not done it this way so I can’t be 100% sure but my gut feeling says the same thing. There’s just the two of us here so we had lots of leftovers when I made this and I think it heated up pretty well. I just did it in the microwave. Good luck and I have to say that’s a pretty sweet thing to do for your friends 🙂
Yummm!!! This was a hit tonight for me & my 3 little picky eaters, ages 8, 7 and 5. I don’t personally care for parsley on its own, but I used a little Goya sazonador total which contains parsley + topped the bake with 4c seasoned bread crumbs. I also snuck in some broccoli and served with cheddar bay biscuits on the side. Delish!!
Cheddar bay biscuits sounds like a treat! I like your idea of making an au gratin out of it with the bread crumbs 🙂
Hi I just had to thank you for your Alfredo sauce recipe! (I didn’t get to make the entire pasta bake just the sauce). I have a 3 yr old who is in remission from having leukaemia, her chemo meds make her nauseous and so she is a really picky eater. I googled “cheesey Alfredo sauce” tonight and found your recipe. It was so simple and I just added the sauce to some penne and she ate 3 bowls of it!!!! So much better than the icecream she had for breakfast! Thank you 🙂
That is awesome, Megan. I’m really happy your daughter enjoyed it and you let me be a part of it. Thank you for sharing 🙂 🙂 🙂
This was really good but mine needed salt and next time I’m throwing in some bacon :). I used Emerils 4 cheese Alfredo sauce. Will make it again. Thank you!
Oooh it’s gonna be good with bacon 🙂 Thanks for trying it, Dierdra!
Instead of parsley can i use oregano
Sure! That will work too, Karen 🙂
So my girlfriend and I had our 1 year anniversary on April 19th. Wanted to do something special, so I set up a surprise “night in Italy” for when she got off work! I set our apartment up like Italy! Grapes, sunflowers, and candles on a nice table cloth. Some low lighting to set the mood. Some Italian music playing when she walked in and through out dinner. A bottle of moscato. Then finished off with an Italian themed movie! She loved it all. And she definitely loved this recipe!! Glad I found it! Left a couple things out and didn’t use quite exact measurements, but boy did it turn out great! Made this along with some manicotti and some baked Italian bread! Amazing night!
So great, we’re making it together again right now! Thanks again!
Firstly, happy belated anniversary! Secondly, that is a FANTASTIC story and thank you for sharing. I love it! Seriously! Maybe I’m a closet recipe peeping tom but I LOVE hearing how these recipes turn up in people’s lives 🙂 🙂 🙂