Chicken Alfredo Bake is a great main dish that brings savory, creamy garlic pasta together with tender chicken. This recipe can be made within an hour or can be prepped ahead of time making this one truly a winner!
Alfredo Bake with Chicken
A chicken alfredo bake is the perfect dinner dish to bring to the table. It’s cheesy, warm, filling and delicious! You won’t hear complaints when this chicken alfredo baked pasta comes out of the oven, but you may have to dish out second helpings.
The cheesy alfredo sauce is made by scratch and as intimidating as it sounds, it’s actually pretty easy. The best part is that the cheese sauce gets made while the noodles are boiling, so it’s pretty time efficient. That’s great for those of us with such a small amount of time to spare with dinner prepping.
Enjoying creamy cheesy chicken pasta casserole recipes at home is great during colder days or months, but this chicken alfredo bake is great at any time of the year. It’s such a great comfort food and a crowd-pleasing simple dish that you can enjoy it whenever you want or even use it as a dinner when you have guests over.
What’s in Chicken Alfredo Bake?
Below is a list of ingredients you are going to want on hand when making this dish. Exact measurements and the steps to make this recipe can be found below in the printable recipe card.
- Pasta (ziti, rotini, penne etc)
- Cooked and Cubed Chicken- or use a rotisserie chicken! I love planning this dish when I have a rotisserie chicken in my fridge!
- Butter
- Minced garlic
- Flour
- Heavy cream
- Milk
- Parmesan cheese
- Parsley, for garnishing purposes.
How to make chicken alfredo bake
Boil the pasta according to the package directions.
While the pasta is boiling, make the alfredo sauce.
To make the Alfredo Sauce, melt the butter in a medium sized pot and then add in the minced garlic. Stirring until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Whisk in the flour and then stir for 1 minute. This is a pretty classic technique of thickening a sauce, called a roux.
Slowly pour in the heavy cream and the milk, whisking until the mixture thickens. Once the mixture thickens a bit, remove the pot from the heat and then whisk in 1 1/2 cups of the parmesan cheese.
In an 8×8 pan (or any 2 qt pan), layer the cooked pasta and the cooked chicken. Pour the alfredo sauce over the top.
Top with a little more parmesan cheese. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and then broil the pasta bake until it’s golden brown right before serving.
Can I make this dish in advance?
Yes! Something truly great about this chicken alfredo bake is that you can prep it in advance and bake just before you want to serve it. This is great for meal prepping around busy schedules. Make the dish as directed, cover and then place in the fridge. When you’re ready to heat and eat, bring it out, preheat the oven and continue cooking as directed.
Easy Variations
This dish is a perfect base to really spice up on your own if you’d like. There are a lot of great variations that you could do, I’ll list some below.
- Add steamed broccoli to the mix prior to baking.
- Substitute pan fried shrimp for the chicken.
- Add baby spinach before baking.
- Add ham and a bread crumb topping to make it a Chicken Cordon Bleu bake
What side dishes go well with Chicken Alfredo?
Some great complimentary side dishes include steamed or roasted broccoli or Brussel sprouts. Asparagus and green beans can also pair well. Breads like garlic bread or french bread can pack on the added carbs but taste great with this dish as well.
As always, an easy side is a garden salad paired with a zippy Italian dressing.
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Want more easy Main Dish Recipes??
- One Pot Salisbury Steak
- One Pot Fettuccine Alfredo
- Easy Chicken Pot Pie
- Instant Pot Pot Roast and Veggies
- One Pot Creamy Ziti
Chicken Alfredo bake
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta ziti, rotini, penne etc
- 2 cups chicken cooked, cubed
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups parmesan cheese divided
Instructions
- Boil the pasta according to package directions.
- While the pasta is boiling, make the alfredo sauce.
- Melt the butter in a medium pan and add the minced garlic. Stir until fragrant.
- Whisk in the flour and stir for 1 minute.
- Pour in the heavy cream and milk, whisking until it thickens.
- Remove from heat and whisk in 1 1/2 cups of the parmesan cheese.
- In a 8x8 pan, layer the cooked pasta and cooked chicken. Pour the alfredo sauce over top.
Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. - Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and broil until golden brown right before serving.
Megan Miller says
Made this for dinner tonight….SO! GOOD!!!! Everyone went back for seconds. Super easy to make. We grabbed a rotisserie chicken which made it extra easy. Thanks for the recipe!
Karli Bitner says
You rock Megan, I’m glad everyone was satisfied and ready for seconds. Thats how I know my family likes something is when they are done and looking for more. 🙂