I have yet to give into the pumpkin craze.
Ok, that is one big whopping lie. In the past few days I have had more than my fair share of pumpkin spiced latte, pumpkin scones, pumpkin and cream cheese muffins..the list goes on and on. But none of them have been made in my kitchen. That is unless you count the pumpkin scones that I made…but that was last year!
What is happening to this blog? I had two savory recipes in the span of a week (and a half) and am resisting the urges of baking with pumpkin? What’s the dealio?
The dealio is this baked pasta. Now I am usually not a huge fan of baked pasta. I mean, making pasta takes no time at all. Why do I need to wait for freaking ever for the oven to cook it longer? As you can see, the award for the most patient cook should go to me.
But I have discovered the reason why we should wait out a baked pasta recipe. For all the ooey gooey cheese that makes everyone in the room drool in anticipation. True story. Next time I will test this out when I am not the only one in the room..
Baked Cheesy Chicken Pasta Ingredients
All you need to make this is:
- pasta
- olive oil
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt & pepper
- butter
- flour
- garlic
- milk
- cheddar cheese
- Parmesan cheese
That’s it!
If you try this Baked Cheesy Chicken Pasta recipe, let me know! Rate it, leave a comment and tag me with #atasteofmadness on Instagram! I always love seeing what you are creating!
Baked Cheesy Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb pasta (I used rotini)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 5 Tbsp butter
- 5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups milk
- 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
- In a medium saucepan, boil the pasta until al dente. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, on a skillet, heat the olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and cook until the insides are no longer pink. Remove from the skillet, and slice into small pieces. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add in the flour and garlic, and mix together for about 1 minute. Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly. Bring the sauce to a simmer, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cheeses.
- Add the pasta and the chicken to the pot, and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbling. Let stand for a couple of minutes before serving.
Pure comfort food and always a classic. Catherine
Very tempting and sumptuous. My favorite cheesy pasta 🙂 Regards .
It sure looks good, Cathleen!
Love it . Good recipe
Not if you make the pasta al dente as it says. Bake time is 25 mins. Getting the ingredients together is the 5 min time. Al dente pasta cooks in like 10. 10 + 25 = 35, as it says
I love cheesy baked pasta – you can't go wrong!
Cheesy pasta is the most perfect comfort food.
Dannii – Hungry Healthy Happy
The pasta, itself, takes longer than five minutes to cook, so how can you say it’s a 5 minute prep time? It actually took a lot longer than 5 minutes, but still… Lovely recipe. Easy to make, and good for picky eaters.
You clearly don’t understand the difference between the prep time and the COOK time that is directly below the PREP TIME. Prep means gathering what you need and prepping it to cook. The cook time includes boiling the pasta. The fact that I’m explaining this makes me disappointed in our current society lol
yes, most of the time the reason why we choose to bake pasta is bcos of the creamy melty cheese…yum! that looks delicious!!
Mmm this is such an awesome chilly weather meal (and I could probably eat WAY too much of it!!)
Sues
This baked pasta looks amazing ! Great for a fall dinner 🙂 (http://cookinglsl.com)
This looks awesome! Cheesy pasta is the ultimate comfort food 🙂
This looks comforting and delicious!
I'm drooling right now! This is total comfort food!
Hi Cathleen,
Totally agree that this pasta bake is a wonderful comforting bake… but if you bake anything with pumpkin in Oct, don't forget to link your post with us at http://eileenlml.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/little-thumbs-up-oct-pumpkin.html
Cheers!
Zoe
Hi Cathleen,
Seeing you after a long time, thanks for visiting my blog.
and thanks for giving me virtual feast, Pasta and chicken both are my top favourite. 🙂 and that too baked, yummy!
Have a nice week ahead!
Haha I've already gotten into the pumpkin this year. But I haven't done any cheesy pasta bakes! Must change this,
Pasta, chicken and cheese – perfect comfort food! I haven't made anything with pumpkin … yet 🙂 But I will soon – an idea is brewing!
BAKED. PASTA!! Would need some of this asap, please. 🙂
I haven`t baked with pumpkin yet, but I`ve definitely been braintstorming pumpkin recipes in my head.
Yum! Delicious and comfort food at is finest! No pumpkin used here yet either but I did just make something with squash.
How much butter???
Hello Cierra. So sorry! I just added it now. Thank you for catching that!
How many does this serve?
Depending on how much you eat. It usually serves 6 at my house.
Very tasty! I sprinkled Italian bread crumbs on top and broiled it for the last five minutes.
That sounds so good! I am glad you liked it!
Hi this is probably a very dumb question …can i substitute cornstarch for the flour by chance – all out of flour 🙁 ?
Yes you can! I would just use half of the amount, so 2.5 Tbsp
What size baking dish do you use and how many does this feed? Trying to decide if I need to double it. Thanks!
I use a 9×13 dish. It depends how much you eat, but I think we typically get 6-8 servings out of it.
This looks great! If I want to add broccoli to this dish, would you recommend steaming the broccoli first?
I would actually recommend putting it in the pasta 4-5 minutes before it is done. That way you can cook it without having to wash another pan 😉
I’m out of Parmesan cheese but have a mixture of mozzarella & provolone shredded, do you think that would taste ok? Wasn’t sure if that mixed with the cheddar would be ok?
I think it would taste great! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Is the half pound of pasta measurement referring to cooked or uncooked?
Uncooked.
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
I am so glad your family loved it!!
Can you make this a day befoe?
Yes you can! I would assemble it the day before, place it in the fridge then bake when needed.
Made this for dinner tonight, I added broccoli and sauteed onions and green pepper, and a few pinches of oregano. Delish!!
So glad you liked it!!
Can I freeze it before baking? Or can I bake then freeze? Or could I do both? And if yes, can I have instructions on temperature and time in oven! Thanks 😊
Yes, you can freeze it before baking. I wouldn’t recommend freezing after baking just because it might dry it out.
To freeze it before baking, you need to place the prepared (but not baked) mac and cheese in an aluminum baking dish, cover with plastic wrap then cover with aluminum foil.
Then when you want to bake it, remove the plastic wrap and allow to thaw before baking normally.
I made this tonight but I stead of chicken I used kielbasa sausage! Turned out great!!!
I’m going to have to try that next time. I am so glad that you liked it!
Found this on Pinterest and I know it was posted a few years ago. It looks really good!! I was curious if you have used fat free milk or anyone that’s used it and it work ok? Thank you!
I have never used fat free milk, but I’m sure it will work! It just won’t be as creamy as this version.
Thank you for the response!! Maybe I could do one fat free and one half regular. We will see.