Just before I get to this DELICIOUS looking recipe for an Easy Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake...a note of apology and thanks.
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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?
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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
- 200 g leftover shredded chicken
- 250 g dried macaroni pasta (see notes)
- pinch of fine salt
- 4 rashers smoked bacon roughly chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves crushed
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 300 ml pure cream
- 2 teaspoon salted butter
- 50 g fresh parmesan cheese
- 40 g shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 180c ff / 355 f.
- Cook pasta according to packet directions (plus a pinch of salt to the water) minus 1 min, then drain & return to pot, adding 2 teaspoon of butter and stirring lightly to coat.250 g dried macaroni pastapinch of fine salt2 teaspoon salted butter
- 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.4 rashers smoked bacon2 large garlic cloves1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 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.300 ml pure cream50 g fresh parmesan cheese200 g leftover shredded chicken
- 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.40 g shredded mozzarella
Notes
- **15/07/2018 Correction to amount of cream in recipe - should be 300ml.
- The baking dish I use for this recipe is 20cm x 30cm x 5cm (7.5" x 12" x 2")
- About the pasta I have chosen, I have made this dish made with ziti (or penne) pasta. I have also made it with shells, and quite frankly they taste the same of course because it's all still pasta.
- The reason I only add a pinch of salt to the pasta water is because the bacon itself can be salty - and we all know that once you have too much salt it's hard to fix! I found that this was enough salt for me. If you think you would like to add more, I would give it a taste just before it goes into the baking dish and add it then if you would like.
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Could this be made ahead of time and refrigerated?
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
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
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
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!!
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
What is four rashers of bacon? Four strips ?
Hi Melinda, yes 4 strips.
Do you think I could use cheddar instead of Parmesan? I don’t have enough Parmesan.
Sure Suzann, I would use all the parmesan you have then top up the difference with cheddar.
L x
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! 👌🏻
Hi Laurie, glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Thanks so much for your support too, it means a lot.
L x
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!
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!
Thank you for saying what I was thinking.
Siri and Alexa do the conversions for you in seconds!
Why do you complain about something that can be looked up in seconds? Put some effort into it and stop whining! Geez!
I'm going to try this tonight but I'm concerned with measurements.....cups, grams, teaspoons, milliliter. Kind of confusing.
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
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!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Hi Nenis! I'm making an educated guess that you enjoyed the recipe and had a green salad with it? Excellent!
Is pure cream, Heavy cream?
In Australia pure cream is 35% milk fat with no thickeners added. Hope this helps Denise, L x
This was such a simple but delicious dinner! The only change I made was adding some leftovers peas right before baking. Perfect weeknight dish!
Glad you enjoyed it Marie, and the peas sound like a great addition!
Thanks for taking the time to let me know,
L x
What is real cream. Pet milk. half and half?????
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