Just before I get to this DELICIOUS looking recipe for an Easy Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake...a note of apology and thanks.
For those of you who subscribe, and so receive every new recipe via email (for free, no catches! See box below the "About Me" section on the right hand side →→→ of this page if you're interested!) my apologies because the last one was really hard to read!
I had some technical issues (not due to me thankfully!) so when my IT person - me asking Dr Google - fixed it, she obviously didn't do a very good job!
Lucky for you AND me that my cooking skills far outweigh my IT skills!
I do apologise, hopefully the email of this post will be nice and clear with normal sized text and photo! Thank you to every one of you who didn't just hit unsubscribe!
Anyway...on to the recipe!
Easy Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake. Just as advertised, super simple creamy sauce with only 2 ingredients, then just add your bacon and ziti/penne pasta and bake this pasta casserole in the oven.
This creamy chicken pasta casserole would be perfect for those nights when you don't have a lot of time, but need something filling to feed the family.
It's a great way to use up any leftover rotisserie chicken, or in Australia what we call a BBQ Chicken - don't know why because it's not barbecued! I have also used smoked bacon, you can taste the extra flavour from the smoke through the whole dish. Yum. Plus who doesn't love a creamy pasta bake?
I hope you enjoy this creamy chicken and bacon pasta bake, or bbq chicken pasta bake to us Aussies!
Some more leftover chicken recipes you might like
One Pot Creamy Chicken Gnocchi - creamy chicken gnocchi soup made with leftover rotisserie chicken but NO cream!
Chicken Mornay Baked Potatoes - loaded baked potatoes topped with a creamy chicken, bacon and avocado mornay sauce.
Chicken Stuffing Bake - so easy to make from scratch, no stuffing mix required.
Lee-Ann ♥
Table of Contents
📖 Recipe
Easy Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 2 cups leftover shredded chicken about 200g
- 250 g dried macaroni pasta (see notes)
- pinch of fine salt very small pinch!
- 4 rashers smoked bacon roughly chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves crushed
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 300 ml pure cream
- 2 teaspoon butter
- ⅔ cup fresh parmesan cheese grated (50g)
- ⅓ cup shredded mozzarella not fresh (40g)
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 180c ff / 355 f
- Cook pasta according to packet directions (I only add a very small pinch of salt to the water) minus 1 min, then drain & return to pot, adding 2 teaspoon of butter and stirring lightly to coat
- While pasta is cooking, place bacon in a small non-stick fry pan/skillet and fry for 6-8 mins, then add garlic and rosemary to pan & continue to fry for 1 min then remove pan from heat
- Add bacon mixture to cooked pasta & stir lightly to mix, then add cream & shredded parmesan to pasta, mixing to coat, then add chicken & mix again until incorporated
- Tip chicken and pasta mixture into an a baking dish, top with shredded mozzarella and bake uncovered for about 20 mins, or until peaks are lightly browned, then serve immediately
Angel Cariaga
Would it be okay to use milk instead of cream?
Lee-Ann
Hi Angel! Sorry, but no milk won’t give you the same result.
Lisa
Hi Lee-Ann, I'm wanting to make this for a crowd and love to use 500g for other pasta bakes. Would I just do a simple doubling of the recipe do you think? I will throw in some mushrooms and peas as well I think. Will there still be enough sauce if I double?
Lee-Ann
Hi Lisa, if you double all the ingredients it should work great, still enough sauce. The mushrooms and peas sound like a great addition:)
L x
Patricia Smith
HI Leeann
Would this recipe be okay to freeze afterwards. If so would you recommend for reheating from frozen state or thawed. Making this tonight.
Thanks in advance
Patricia Smith
Lee-Ann
Hi Patricia, freezing should work fine (to be honest I haven’t) then thaw before reheating.
Pam
Loved this recipe, I used heavy cream instead. This will be a regular for us and a great way to use leftover chicken.
Lee-Ann
So glad Pam! Thanks for letting me know!
L x
Jeanette
Very tasty recipe. I added some mushrooms, leftover cooked diced sweet potato and peas to the bacon mix, and sour cream as I had no pure cream. Still delicious!
Lee-Ann
Thanks Jeanette, they sound like great additions! Glad you enjoyed it!
L x
Celeste
Could this be made ahead of time and refrigerated?
Lee-Ann
Hi Celeste, I haven't done this personally but I don't see why you couldn't! I would put it in the oven covered in foil to reheat. Hope this helps!
L x
Juleen dickins
I made this tonight, so easy and very tasty. I have 3 US stepsons and they can be incredibly fussy unless it's fast food, but they ate every morsel of this. Thanks for such an easy and tasty fish
Lee-Ann
Wooooo hoooo!!! So glad it was a winner for you! Thanks for taking the time to let me know Juleen, I LOVE comments like this!!!
L x
Tonya
What is the conversion of a “rasher” of bacon to slices? Every source I’ve found states it’s 3 slices, so does that mean use 12 slices?? That just sounded like a lot. Thank you!!
Lee-Ann
Hi Tonya, we refer to the long streaky slices of bacon as rashers here in Aus - who knew stuff like that would be so tricky haha! Sounds like 4 slices is what I would go with. Hope it turns out well, L x
Melinda
What is four rashers of bacon? Four strips ?
Lee-Ann
Hi Melinda, yes 4 strips.
Suzann
Do you think I could use cheddar instead of Parmesan? I don’t have enough Parmesan.
Lee-Ann
Sure Suzann, I would use all the parmesan you have then top up the difference with cheddar.
L x
Laurie
Great simple dish, I especially love the fact that its so versatile. Having so much more time due to Covid lockdown, I marinated some chicken breasts in dry white wine and thyme the night before, added sautéed mushrooms to recipe, outcome was rich & divine! Definite keeper! Thanks for this one Lee-Ann, oh and I loooove your blog! 👌🏻
Lee-Ann
Hi Laurie, glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Thanks so much for your support too, it means a lot.
L x
Denee
Honestly this looks like a good recipe but a real pain for measuring. You are using SI mixed with cups, T,t. Then direct us to another site for conversion! C’mon!
Laurie
Most cooks, be it in South Africa, UK, Australia, Europe, most of the world for that matter always have to convert a receipe's measurements if it's written by a Yank, so now its your turn to do some work, its worth it. The world doesnt revolve around the US way of measuring. Usefull tip: only three countries still use the old british imperial system: The USA, Burma and Liberia - so no use complaining!
Jill
Thank you for saying what I was thinking.
Jan
Siri and Alexa do the conversions for you in seconds!
Lisa
Why do you complain about something that can be looked up in seconds? Put some effort into it and stop whining! Geez!
Susan Smithe
I'm going to try this tonight but I'm concerned with measurements.....cups, grams, teaspoons, milliliter. Kind of confusing.
Lee-Ann
Hi Susan!
Something like this may help - https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/cooking/cooking-calculator.php this is just one I found when I googled it, there seem to be many available! Hope it helps,
L x
NenisQ
Delicioso!!! Fácil y una manera diferente de usar los restos de un pollo rostizado!!👍🏻 Lo acompañe con ensalada verde con gajos de mandarina y nuez garampinada!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Lee-Ann
Hi Nenis! I'm making an educated guess that you enjoyed the recipe and had a green salad with it? Excellent!
Denise
Is pure cream, Heavy cream?
Lee-Ann
In Australia pure cream is 35% milk fat with no thickeners added. Hope this helps Denise, L x
Marie
This was such a simple but delicious dinner! The only change I made was adding some leftovers peas right before baking. Perfect weeknight dish!
Lee-Ann
Glad you enjoyed it Marie, and the peas sound like a great addition!
Thanks for taking the time to let me know,
L x
Darlene
What is real cream. Pet milk. half and half?????
Lee-Ann
Hi Darlene, I have used pure cream in this recipe, here in Australia that is cream with 35% milk fat and with no thickeners added. Hope this helps!
L x