It’s been awhile since we’ve done a pasta bake, not since the cheesy hot Italian sausage bake we did awhile back. So today we’ll be a doing a pesto chicken pasta bake! This one is slightly Alfredo-y, like my chicken Alfredo pasta bake but also has a taste of pesto and with less of a cheesy top. Instead, we have cheese in the pasta itself, a six cheese Italian blend all mixed up with the Alfredo sauce. There’s also tomatoes, spinach and chicken to go with it and a generous layer of Italian bread crumbs and Parmesan.
All of the ingredients are store-bought items which makes this super easy to put together. I even used rotisserie chicken here so we didn’t have to pre-cook the chicken. Of course, you can make your own Alfredo sauce and cook your own chicken; grilled, pan-fried, whatever way you want. But the emphasis of the recipe is to get a full family-portioned meal with as little hassle as possible. So let’s begin.
Start by cooking your pasta. You’ll want to cook it till it’s just before al dente since it will cook longer in the oven and you don’t want soggy pasta. So take it off the stove once the pasta has expanded in size but is still a little chewy. After that, drain the pasta and rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking process.
While you’re cooking the pasta, start cooking or pulling apart the rotisserie chicken. You should get about 3 cups worth of chicken when all is said and done. Mix up the chicken with the cheese blend, spinach, tomatoes, Alfredo sauce, milk and pesto. You’ll need a huge prep bowl for this because the fresh spinach tends to be bulky, or you can do it in the casserole dish itself.
Once the pasta is cooked, drained and rinsed, add to the chicken mix. Mix, mix mix! I found I spent more time carefully mixing it then I did any of the other prep work. Once that’s done, transfer it to a casserole dish and top with the Parmesan, Italian bread crumb and olive oil mix. Then we bake!
It should take about 30 minutes or so, since all the ingredients are already cooked. The baking part is just to marry the flavors together and melt the cheese topping. At this point, you can take the 30 minutes to start a side dish, or finish washing up, or write up this post like me.
And that’s it! Happy eating 🙂
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Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 8-10 1x
Ingredients
- 16 oz. penne/ziti/rigatoni pasta
- 3 cups cooked/rotisserie chicken, cubed
- 2 cups Italian cheese blend, shredded
- 5 oz. fresh/frozen baby spinach
- 1 can (15 oz.) petite diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 cups Alfredo sauce
- 1 cup milk
- 1 jar (7 oz.) pesto
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the pasta until just before al dente
- Drain and rinse pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process
- Combine chicken, cheese blend, spinach, tomatoes, Alfredo sauce, milk and pesto
- Add cooked pasta to the chicken mix and stir to combine
- Transfer pasta mix to a 9×13 casserole dish
- Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and oil and sprinkle over casserole
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly
Notes
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
Inspired by Taste of Home
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16 Comments
Adrienne
September 24, 2020 at 11:47 PMThis was great! I had leftover baked chicken and cooked pasta that I wanted to do something with and came across this recipe. I had everything needed on hand, besides tomatoes, so I left them out. It was so much better than I was expecting (I rarely do anything with leftovers, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out). I didn’t really measure, but probably halved the recipe to match what I had. Every bite was eaten, which was also unexpected since my hubby and sons don’t usually like spinach. I will definitely make this again! Thanks!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2020 at 10:59 PMThanks for trying it out! You know, the best food comes out of salvaging all the leftovers in the fridge. It’s just so satisfying making something good out of a mash of random ingredients you need to get rid of. I’m happy to have helped you and your leftovers!
Sara
August 20, 2018 at 11:53 PMThis is a great easy recipe that’s delicious. I added frozen peas and broccoli (which I lightly steamed) to add more greens. My flatmates loved it.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
September 27, 2018 at 8:31 PMThanks for trying it out and sharing it, Sara!
Rosemarie Malin
July 28, 2017 at 10:39 AMI’m also a food blogger – a little fish in a big sea. Love your every day approach, especially now – we are in the process of moving, so my kitchen in half-packed – making preparing delicious meals for my guys a bit of a challenge. This was perfect after a day of house hunting in another city. Thank you.
The Cooking Jar
August 2, 2017 at 1:55 AMOh it’s a very big sea indeed! So many of us out there 🙂 I do like to offer alternatives to busy cooks that want something more than takeout or frozen stuff but still need short cuts. There’s a little something of everything here for everyone, I’d like to think!
Rob
December 31, 2016 at 5:38 PMThis was amazing! Such a good recipe. I added some fresh chopped garlic to it. Thank you!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
February 20, 2017 at 12:54 PMYum, garlic! Great addition. Happy you liked it, Rob.
Cierra
June 20, 2016 at 9:24 PMI made Chicken Pesto Bake and it was delicious. I just didn’t add the spinach. Everyone loved it who tried it. ??????
The Cooking Jar
June 23, 2016 at 2:29 PMThanks for letting me know, Cierra! Always a good day to hear someone had something yummy 🙂
Erika
February 10, 2016 at 4:29 PMTried this out today and I loved it!!! I just added some left over broccoli and it was delish! Thank you:)
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
February 16, 2016 at 2:13 PMGreat to hear! Thanks so much for trying out this new recipe, Erika.
Muna Kenny
January 16, 2016 at 4:14 PMIt’s been long time since I visited your blog. I missed your beautiful clicks 🙂
Your Pesto Chicken Pasta looks delicious,
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
January 16, 2016 at 10:46 PMThanks for stopping by, Muna! Just peeked in your blog and wow that lamb in spicy gravy has my name all over it. YUM! I want 😉
dixya | food, pleasure, and health
January 8, 2016 at 9:59 AMi havent made pasta in a long time..thank you for sharing this easy recipe esp for weeknights 🙂
The Cooking Jar
January 11, 2016 at 1:17 PMVery welcome! Do let me know how you liked it, if you ever try it out 🙂