Creamy, cheesy chicken alfredo and penne, baked to perfection… for the white sauce pasta lovers!
If there are two things I love it is 1) creamy, saucy dishes involving lots of cheese and pasta noodles, and 2) extremely easy dinners that will please almost anyone I serve them to. And I’m sure you’ve figured out that this recipe is very much both of those things.
The first step is to boil some penne noodles, just til tender. I actually had a jar of both white and wheat mixed in together so I just used both and I loved how it turned out. While the noodles are boiling, cook the chicken on the stove. It’s only seasoned with salt and pepper because you’re going to be covering it with that creamy cheesy sauce I mentioned earlier. So cook the chicken, chop it up, and then whip up your saaaaauce. So easy. So creamy. So cheesy. So YUM.
Then just throw all of that into a bowl – the noodles, the chicken, and the sauce – and give it a good stir. Dump all of that pasta happiness into a casserole dish, top it off with more cheese because, CHEESE, and then bake it for a few minutes. And that’s all she wrote you guys. Chicken Alfredo Baked Penne. Your life is forever changed.
What people are saying about this Chicken Alfredo Baked Penne
“Tiffany, I have to complement you on this recipe.This is the best chicken alfredo I have ever had. I doubled the recipe so I could have another nights dinner for the family and so glad I did. I used a Costco roasted chicken but everything else was exact. Thank you for posting this.” – Pat
“Loved this recipe! As a college student I’m always looking for easy dinners and this was sooo delicious! All my roommates loved it too, definitely making again. Thank you!” – Grace
“Tiffany, Thank You for this recipe! Just made it tonight for dinner. My 5 & 7 year old boys LOVED it! So did my husband and I as well. It gets “tricky” finding new recipes that my family will like and eat.” – Randee
“Made this last week & my whole family loved it!! My kids are 11, 7 & 4 months so I love when I find an easy recipe that is also delicious. Definitely my new favorite! Thanks for sharing.” – Sylvia
If you love this recipe, you’ll go crazy for my Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo!
Chicken Alfredo Baked Penne
Ingredients
- 8 ounces penne noodles - (I used a combination of white and whole wheat)
- 2-3 chicken breasts - salted and peppered
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups heavy cream - or milk, (I used fat free half & half)
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese - divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt - to taste
- pepper - to taste
- optional: parsley for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add penne noodles to a large pot, cover noodles with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil until easily pierced with a fork. Drain and set aside.
- Pound chicken to 1/2 inch thickness and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook in a greased skillet over medium heat 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Chop into 1 inch pieces and set aside.
- In the skillet where you cooked the chicken (you can just wipe it out with a paper towel to get rid of any leftover tidbits from he chicken) melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, sprinkle flour over the butter and stir til it clumps together. Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth. Stir in garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper) Add 1/3 cup parmesan cheese and stir until melted and completely incorporated.
- In a large bowl combine cooked penne, chicken, and the sauce and stir to combine. Transfer mixture to a greased 9×13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melty and begins to brown around the edges. Sprinkle with chopped parsley if desired and serve.
So delicious and easy to make. Wonderul recipe even my 4 y/o daughter and 6 y/o son loved it.
Yay! Oh I love hearing when kids like these recipes as much as their parents do – it can be so hard to get the whole family to love the same thing, sounds like this one is a winner for your family!! 🙂
This was so good! I came across it in a random Google search.
I increased the pasta to a box of whole wheat (about 13.5 oz). Used milk instead of cream and mixed 1/2-3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan inside of the sauce with just a sprinkle on top at the end.
I also had to make the sauce in another pan because mine got too brown from cooking the chicken. at the end I had to bake it closer to 20 minutes to get it to brown (probably because of extra pasta).
This was so good though, definitely a new favorite! Thank you for the recipe!
Tiffany, I have to complement you on this recipe.This is the best chicken alfredo I have ever had. I doubled the recipe so I could have another nights dinner for the family and so glad I did. I used a Costco roasted chicken but everything else was exact. Thank you for posting this.
Loved this recipe! As a college student I’m always looking for easy dinners and this was sooo delicious! All my roommates loved it too, definitely making again. Thank you!
Tiffany, Thank You for this recipe! Just made it tonight for dinner. My 5 & 7 year old boys LOVED it!
So did my husband and I as well. It gets “tricky” finding new recipes that my family will like and eat.
But this one’s a keeper! The only three things that I did a little different from your instructions were…
Made closer to 12 oz.’s of tri-colored penne pasta, baked the chicken breasts for 30 min. at 350 degrees,
and added shredded Italian cheese blend to the parmesan cheese, but still totaling 1 cup.
Wonderful dinner!!!