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
Put together a Parmesan Spinach pasta bake casserole that has ricotta cheese and half and half in it. Can the casserole be frozen and baked later? If so, should it be completely thawed before baking? Thanks for your help.
You could try it, although I personal do not like and have limited experience freezing things. I like making my things fresh but I can understand not everyone has the time. Just keep in mind the quality will not be as good when you freeze it. I would suggest thawing it in the fridge overnight before baking. Good luck, Darlene!
I made this yesterday and it was so delicious. So happy to have plenty left for the next few days too!
That’s the idea! Make it once and laze on for days all well fed 🙂
Exactly, it just looks good. And that’s it. Tried couple of your recipes and they turned out barely edible….
Sorry to hear about your bad experiences, Izabela. I guess we don’t have the same taste buds. Thanks all the same for trying them out.
Havent cooked it yet. But going to tomorrow along with some home made foccacai bread. Question is, can I prep this ahead of time then bake later?
Oh, that sounds yummy! You can prep it a little ahead of time, just be sure to bake it until everything is warmed up and cooked, especially the bottom.
This was absolutely amazing! Perfect for a family of 6 with several picky eaters!! Thank you 🙂
Thanks for letting me know, Sandra! You’re welcome 🙂
can u make the ranch alfado sause a day ahead of time ?
Yes you can, but be careful about reheating it. Reheating it too quickly (like in the microwave) can break the sauce and make the butter separate. It’s not nice to see or eat! I would suggest a gentle simmer over the stove top before adding it to the casserole to bake.
Can you make everything ahead and refrigerate until you are ready to bake it or would you not recommend that? Also, how would the baking time or temperature change?
I would say a couple of hours in the fridge should be fine. Anything longer and the pasta might turn a bit soggy. Since everything is already pre-cooked, the baking is just to marry the flavors together and melt the cheese. So play by ear on the baking time, stick at the same temperature. Check to see if the stuff at the bottom has heated up fully at the 30 minute mark. If not, try baking longer in increments of 10 minutes. If the cheese starts to burn, cover it with foil for that additional baking time. Then remove the foil (if you needed it) and finish off by broiling the cheese!
so easy to make delicious.. me and my wife just made it we love pasta alfredo its one of our favorite foods.. but we always go out to enjoy it at restaurants but finaly we did our own and specialy because it was baked was amazin.. thanks for the help…
Always happy to help someone recreate their favorite dishes as home. Thanks for trying it out, Marco!
I stumbled upon your recipe while searching for a way to “repurpose” my leftover chicken alfredo. I looked over the ingredients and upon seeing ricotta, I thought, “This one’s going to be good…” Verdict: hands-down, I applaud you for sharing this with the rest of the world. Chicken alfredo (no matter who makes it) is ok to me, but baked with ricotta — that is absolutely the way to go! Lots of gooey cheese–sinfully delicious and terribly addictive! This will definitely be my go-to recipe for days when I need some pure comfort and LUV. 😀
Thanks for sharing!
Glad to be able to give you some comfort food for those blue days, Phyllis! I hope you enjoy many more sinfully delicious days 🙂
Can you cook the chicken in a skitet to
Yes you can. Just make sure to cube it after it’s cooked so there are even portions of it to go around in the casserole. Go ahead and season the chicken with your favorite seasoning blend, or even just salt and pepper to taste. Or you can try salt and pepper, oregano, basil and sage. Then cook it in the skillet and cube. Enjoy!
My 11 yo daughter and I just made this together and I made it low fat by using part skim ricotta, light sour cream, and using a bechamel sauce with half and half and parmesan instead of the traditional stick of butter and heavy cream for the alfredo sauce. I can’t wait to try it!
Great changes! Thanks for letting me know your substitutions, maybe it can help others 🙂
How would this taste to leave out the Ricotta?
If ricotta is not your thing, it will be fine leaving it out. It’ll taste more Alfredo than anything.
The recipe looks delicious, I was hoping to make it in advance for out of town guests coming in for the holidays. What do you think about freezing it before I bake it? thanks in advance for your thoughts!
I’m not entirely comfortable with freezing stuff with eggs in it since I don’t have much experience in freezing but if you feel okay with freezing it then it’s up to your good judgement 🙂 The pasta might be a little soggy from sitting in the sauce for too long is my other concern. Hope this helps!
This is in the oven right now…Looks FANTASTIC! Cant wait to try it in about 30 minutes!!
Oh I do hope you like it!
It’s in the oven baking. It looked so yummy I had to try it
I hope it worked out for you, Kelly. Perfect season to try it out too!
My mouth is watering! I can’t wait to make this. Thanks for sharing.
Good luck when you do cook it, Kathy!