This creamy Rooster Pasta Bake recipe is straightforward weeknight convenience meals! It’s made out of tacky pasta that’s loaded with juicy rooster items in zesty tomato sauce and baked till scrumptious and bubbly.
Tacky Rooster Pasta Bake Recipe
This Rooster Pasta Bake ticks all of the bins: Is it tacky? Sure. Filled with protein? Sure. Simple to make on weeknights, when dinner inspiration is working low? YES! This casserole is made with creamy penne pasta crowned with juicy rooster covered in zesty tomatoes with spinach, and 3 forms of melted cheese. Image a wealthy and gooey baked mac and cheese crowned with zesty mozzarella rooster in tomato sauce, baked till the entirety is bubbly and golden. It’s the most efficient. If the viral baked feta pasta is the rest to head off of, pasta bakes intention to delight. And this low-effort, big-flavor rooster pasta bake does no longer disappoint.
Why You’ll Love This Baked Rooster Pasta Recipe
- Taste-packed. Creamy pasta, soft rooster in tomato sauce, and a lot of cheese fill this pasta bake with all kinds of comforting, Italian-inspired flavors.
- Fast. Have this rooster pasta bake oven-ready in quarter-hour or much less. Who doesn’t love an easy-peasy, tacky pasta on a hectic weeknight?
- Casserole-style. Baking pasta like a casserole makes it tremendous make-ahead-friendly. You’ll compile or bake the pasta forward of time and shop or freeze it for simple reheating. Hi, last-minute dinners!
- Customizable. Like all excellent casserole recipe, this rooster pasta bake is completely DIY-able. Alternate up the flavors and components any method that you simply’d like.
The way to Make a Rooster Pasta Bake
Easy components and massive taste is the secret with this rooster pasta bake. Underneath is a handy guide a rough evaluate of the components and steps concerned.
Recipe Elements
- Pasta: Raw penne pasta or every other brief tubular pasta works best possible for a pasta bake. Different excellent choices are ziti or rigatoni. Those types in reality hold to all that scrumptious sauce!
- Cheese: Freshly grated cheddar cheese melts down completely to create a deliciously ooey-gooey sauce. In the meantime, you’ll want shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese so as to add over most sensible of the pasta ahead of baking.
- Butter and Milk: Unsalted butter and any milk of your selection, to mix with the cheese for the sauce.
- Rooster: You’ll use boneless skinless rooster breasts or thighs, reduce into even-sized cubes.
- Spinach and Garlic: Contemporary or frozen child spinach brings a pop of inexperienced at the side of some more vitamin, whilst minced garlic boosts the flavors of the sauce.
- Tomato Sauce: Make a selection your favourite jarred tomato sauce from the shop, or you’ll be able to use do-it-yourself tomato sauce.
- Olive Oil, Salt, and Pepper
Must You Pre-cook Pasta for a Pasta Bake?
Sure! Boiling the pasta ahead of combining it with the sauce guarantees that it’s soft and cooked thru ahead of baking. This fashion, all of the pasta wishes to concentrate on is turning into extra-hot and tacky within the oven! Something to bear in mind when pre-cooking the pasta for a pasta bake is, don’t overcook the pasta to start with. Boil it till it’s al dente or simply beneath in order that it doesn’t transform too comfortable and delicate after baking. Take a look at the segment additional on for extra recipe guidelines.
Instructions
- Get ready the pasta. Start through cooking your pasta al dente in line with the package deal instructions. Mix the tired pasta in a pot with shredded cheddar, butter, and milk, after which switch the pasta and cheese sauce to a greased casserole dish.
- Prepare dinner the rooster. Saute the rooster items in a skillet with olive oil till cooked thru and soft.
- Mix. Subsequent, wilt the spinach in a pan with garlic, upload the cooked rooster, after which pour over the tomato sauce. Stir the entirety in combination because it heats thru, then spoon the rooster over the ready pasta.
- Upload cheese and bake. Sprinkle over grated mozzarella and parmesan, then bake the rooster pasta at 375ºF for 15-20 mins. The casserole must be effervescent on the edges. Later on, let the pasta bake stand at the counter for a couple of mins ahead of digging in.
Pointers for the Perfect Rooster Pasta Bake
A pasta bake is a gorgeous factor, isn’t it? You don’t have to place in a number of time or effort for this recipe to prove scrumptious. The next are some fast guidelines that I picked up whilst recipe trying out, for those who in finding them useful.
- Use freshly grated cheese every time imaginable. Grating the cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan recent from the block yields the silkiest sauce and meltiest effects. Pre-grated packaged cheese accommodates anti-caking brokers that save you the cheese from melting as easily.
- Prepare dinner the pasta al dente. Just remember to don’t boil the pasta for too lengthy ahead of you compile your casserole (see above). Overcooked pasta will proceed to cook dinner within the oven and dangers the pasta bake turning into delicate.
- Let the pasta bake relaxation. No longer handiest does it let the piping sizzling insides quiet down slightly, however resting additionally is helping the casserole arrange in order that it’s more uncomplicated to scoop and serve.
Why Is My Pasta Bake Watery?
There are a couple of explanation why your rooster pasta bake could also be just a little runny or watery. One may well be that the tomato sauce you’re the use of used to be chilly from the refrigerator and turned into thinner because it warmed within the oven. One more reason may well be that the rooster wasn’t totally cooked thru within the pan ahead of it used to be added to the pasta and leaked some juices into the baked dish. In spite of everything, letting your pasta bake relaxation after it’s out of the oven provides the casserole an opportunity to thicken up slightly. Don’t skip that step!
Recipe Permutations
Pasta bakes are glorious for customizing, so you’ll be able to in reality adapt this recipe on the other hand you’d like! For added crunch, we like sprinkling the highest of this rooster pasta bake with seasoned breadcrumbs. Or, you’ll be able to check out a number of of those smooth concepts:
- Other cheeses. Mess around with other cheeses within the sauce. Rather than or along with common cheddar, check out Pepper Jack for some warmth, Monterrey Jack for a milder taste, or Gruyere in the event you’re feeling a lil’ fancy.
- Seasoning. To present your rooster bites much more taste, season them with the most efficient rooster seasoning ahead of you cook dinner them.
- Highly spiced. Stir chilies or beaten purple pepper flakes into the tomato sauce for a spicer, arrabbiata vibe.
- Meat sauce. Be happy to make use of your most popular meat sauce or bolognese sauce instead of the tomato sauce on this recipe for a fair heartier dish.
- Extra veggies. You’ll load up your pasta bake with much more veggies and vegetables. Take a look at diced sauteed carrots and zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and kale.
- Shredded rooster. Use shredded rooster instead of the rooster items. You’ll even use a rotisserie rooster from the shop and shred it!
- Vegetarian. Making this recipe vegetarian is as smooth as buying and selling out the rooster along with your selection of plant-based choice! Take a look at meaty oyster mushrooms, cubed butternut squash, or sauteed broccolini.
Serving Ideas
This creamy pasta bake is an all-in-one dinner, however you’ll be able to completely spherical out your meal along with your favourite aspects. Listed below are some smooth recipes to serve along a baked rooster pasta:
Make-Forward, Garage, and Reheating
- Make forward. Questioning if you’ll be able to cook dinner this pasta bake from frozen? The solution is sure! To make forward and freeze, wrap the baked and cooled pasta tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap and freeze it for as much as 1 month. On every occasion you’re waiting, unwrap the pasta casserole, quilt it with foil, and cook dinner it proper from frozen at 375ºF for roughly 1 hour. Then again, you’ll be able to defrost the pasta bake within the refrigerator in a single day and bake it for roughly 45 mins.
- Refrigerator. Retailer any leftovers of this rooster pasta bake hermetic within the refrigerator for three to 4 days. To reheat, heat parts within the microwave or within the oven. You could wish to sprinkle over just a little of water when reheating to assist loosen the pasta up once more.
- Freezer. Freeze leftovers hermetic in a freezer-safe container for as much as 1 month. Reheat within the oven or within the microwave till sizzling all the way through.
Extra Simple Rooster Pasta Recipes
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Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease a casserole dish with baking spray, put aside.
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Prepare dinner pasta in line with the instructions at the field.
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Drain the pasta and go back it to the pot. Stir in cheese, butter, and 1/4 cup milk (upload extra milk if wanted). Proceed to stir till clean and neatly blended.
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Switch the tacky pasta to the baking dish and put aside.
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Upload 2 tablespoons olive oil to a skillet and cook dinner over medium warmth. Season the rooster with salt and pepper and upload the rooster to the skillet; cook dinner till finished, about 6 to eight mins, stirring on occasion. Set rooster apart.
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Go back the skillet over medium warmth and warmth up the remainder olive oil. Upload spinach and minced garlic and season with salt and pepper; cook dinner 2 mins or till spinach is wilted, stirring incessantly.
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Upload cooked rooster to the spinach and stir within the tomato sauce; cook dinner over medium-high warmth for a minute or till heated thru.
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Spoon the rooster combination over the pasta throughout the baking dish and blend all of it in combination. Most sensible with shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
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Bake within the oven for 15 to twenty mins or till bubbly.
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Take away from oven. Let stand 5 to eight mins ahead of serving.
- Cheese: If imaginable, use freshly grated cheese for a smoother, meltier texture, as pre-grated variations comprise anti-caking brokers. You’ll additionally check out the pasta with other cheeses like Pepper Jack, Monterrey Jack, or Gruyere.
- Milk: You’ll upload kind of milk, relying on how creamy you’d find it irresistible to be. Additionally, you’ll be able to use heavy cream, part & part, and even cream cheese (at room temperature) as an alternative of milk.
- Pasta Preparation: Prepare dinner pasta al dente – about 6 to 7 mins – to steer clear of mushiness because it continues cooking within the oven.
- Resting Time: Permit the pasta bake to relaxation after baking for more uncomplicated serving and higher consistency.
- Watery Problems: A runny pasta bake may just end result from chilly tomato sauce or in part cooked rooster; letting the pasta bake relaxation after baking can assist with this factor.
- Seasoning Spice up: Toughen the rooster’s taste along with your favourite seasonings ahead of cooking it.
- Spice It Up: Upload chilies or purple pepper flakes to the sauce for a highly spiced kick.
- Meat Sauce Possibility: Replace tomato sauce with meat or bolognese sauce for a heartier meal.
- Veggie Additions: Sauté more greens like sliced carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, or kale.
- Rooster Choices: Exchange the rooster items with shredded rooster or use store-bought rotisserie rooster.
- Vegetarian Model: For a plant-based possibility, replace rooster with oyster mushrooms, butternut squash, or broccolini.
- To Make Forward and Freeze: Make the pasta bake, let it cool to room temperature, wrap it in plastic wrap plus a layer of aluminum foil, and freeze it for as much as a month. Prepare dinner from frozen at 375ºF for an hour, or defrost in a single day and bake for 45 mins.
- Storing Leftovers: Switch it to an hermetic container and stay it within the refrigerator for three to 4 days. Reheat as wanted, including a sprinkle of water to refresh the pasta.
Energy: 579 kcal | Carbohydrates: 49 g | Protein: 35 g | Fats: 27 g | Saturated Fats: 11 g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2 g | Monounsaturated Fats: 11 g | Trans Fats: 0.2 g | Ldl cholesterol: 92 mg | Sodium: 836 mg | Potassium: 755 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 5 g | Nutrition A: 1764 IU | Nutrition C: 10 mg | Calcium: 332 mg | Iron: 2 mg | Web Carbs: 46 g
Dietary information is an estimate and equipped as courtesy. Values would possibly range in line with the components and equipment used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed information.