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.
CHICKEN ALFREDO PASTA BAKE RECIPE TIPS
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
♡ If you liked this recipe, giving it a star rating ★★★★★ in the comments below really helps! For more recipes, subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Print
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 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.
- Enjoy!
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
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
♡ Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com. You can learn more about it here.
153 Comments
Darlene Wise
September 12, 2016 at 3:31 PMPut 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.
The Cooking Jar
September 19, 2016 at 2:16 PMYou 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!
S. Hoffman
September 11, 2016 at 10:54 AMI made this yesterday and it was so delicious. So happy to have plenty left for the next few days too!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
September 19, 2016 at 2:04 PMThat’s the idea! Make it once and laze on for days all well fed 🙂
Izabela
August 26, 2016 at 1:50 PMExactly, it just looks good. And that’s it. Tried couple of your recipes and they turned out barely edible….
The Cooking Jar
August 29, 2016 at 8:22 PMSorry 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.
Jeremy
May 25, 2016 at 6:55 PMHavent 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?
The Cooking Jar
May 25, 2016 at 7:37 PMOh, 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.
Sandra
May 12, 2016 at 7:44 PMThis was absolutely amazing! Perfect for a family of 6 with several picky eaters!! Thank you 🙂
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
May 23, 2016 at 3:56 PMThanks for letting me know, Sandra! You’re welcome 🙂
carol
May 9, 2016 at 9:44 AMcan u make the ranch alfado sause a day ahead of time ?
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
May 11, 2016 at 2:09 PMYes 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.
Krissy
April 8, 2016 at 5:05 PMCan 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?
The Cooking Jar
April 13, 2016 at 4:41 PMI 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!
marco
April 7, 2016 at 10:47 PMso 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…
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
April 13, 2016 at 4:35 PMAlways happy to help someone recreate their favorite dishes as home. Thanks for trying it out, Marco!
Phyllis
March 24, 2016 at 3:58 PMI 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!
The Cooking Jar
March 29, 2016 at 5:00 PMGlad to be able to give you some comfort food for those blue days, Phyllis! I hope you enjoy many more sinfully delicious days 🙂
Barbara
August 2, 2016 at 2:08 PMCan you cook the chicken in a skitet to
The Cooking Jar
August 9, 2016 at 5:32 PMYes 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!
Elisa Partridge
December 3, 2015 at 8:00 PMMy 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!
The Cooking Jar
December 7, 2015 at 2:09 PMGreat changes! Thanks for letting me know your substitutions, maybe it can help others 🙂
Nicole Chambers
December 1, 2015 at 3:39 PMHow would this taste to leave out the Ricotta?
The Cooking Jar
December 3, 2015 at 11:34 AMIf ricotta is not your thing, it will be fine leaving it out. It’ll taste more Alfredo than anything.
Liz
November 23, 2015 at 9:44 AMThe 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!
The Cooking Jar
November 30, 2015 at 2:49 PMI’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!
Monique Rizzo
October 31, 2015 at 9:47 PMThis is in the oven right now…Looks FANTASTIC! Cant wait to try it in about 30 minutes!!
The Cooking Jar
October 31, 2015 at 10:47 PMOh I do hope you like it!
Kelly Palmer
October 7, 2015 at 4:50 PMIt’s in the oven baking. It looked so yummy I had to try it
The Cooking Jar
October 12, 2015 at 8:54 AMI hope it worked out for you, Kelly. Perfect season to try it out too!
Kathy
September 29, 2015 at 11:33 AMMy mouth is watering! I can’t wait to make this. Thanks for sharing.
The Cooking Jar
September 29, 2015 at 1:18 PMGood luck when you do cook it, Kathy!