Pasta Bake with Bacon and Chicken
Pasta Bake with Bacon and Chicken
This simple Pasta Bake with Bacon and Chicken is a midweek favourite that everyone will enjoy. It’s packed with vegetables and a creamy sauce. The cheese adds extra flavour.
It’s a great way to get dinner ready early in the morning to save you time later.
Fill your boots with cheesy goodness, which is so satisfying for any season.
This Bacon and Chicken Pasta Bake is pure comfort food. This is a winning combination of flavours that will please even the most discerning diners.
There are so many different ways to make a creamy chicken pasta dish.
This is a great way to stretch a package of chicken breasts. For the bacon and cheese, add a little extra.
Everyone needs a simple and affordable chicken pasta bake to add to their repertoire.
Here’s my offer. This is my offering. I hope you’ll add it to your midweek meal plan, too.
This is how we developed this recipe.
This recipe has been available on this site for some time. However, I wanted to update it as the previous version required three pans. Who wants to do all that dishwashing?!
It’s only two pans now (hurrah!) I’ve simplified the recipe a bit without losing any taste.
If you like, you can serve it as regular pasta with chicken and bacon without the cheese and grilling.
This Chicken Pasta Bake can be made ahead.
When I know that I’m going to have a busy evening on a midweek day, I cook my food in the morning and then cover it up in the refrigerator once it has cooled. I can then pop it into the oven at a later time.
Chicken and Bacon Pasta Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Pasta – Your choice
- Bacon – chopped into small pieces
- Large chicken breasts
- Fresh or frozen onions can be used.
- Use fresh garlic, jarred garlic, or a mixture of both.
- Broccoli: You’ll Need a Whole Head
- Milk
- Plain flour
- Black pepper and salt freshly ground
- You can choose your preferred cheese. I use half mozzarella, half cheddar
- Wholegrain mustard is optional
How to Make Chicken and Bacon Pasta BAKE
1. Meanwhile, fry the bacon and chicken. In the meantime, cook the bacon and then the chicken with the onions, garlic, and onion. At the same time, add broccoli to your pasta water.
2. Add the flour and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until well coated.
3. Pour the milk into the cup.
4. Season and stir in half the cheese.
5. Add the pasta and broccoli.
6. Sprinkle cheese on the grill and cook for 10 minutes.
Tip: Drain pasta well to prevent the sauce from being watery.
Substitutions
- Try substituting meatballs, sausages, ham, or chorizo for the bacon and chicken. If you’d prefer to make it a vegetarian meal, omit all the meat and add more vegetables.
- Vegetables – If you’d prefer, you can substitute broccoli with another vegetable. Peas or other vegetables would be great.
Leftovers
Pasta Bake can be eaten as leftovers or packed for lunch.
Store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to enjoy it. (No more than three days).
Never reheat food more than one time.
It will not be as good, and I would not recommend freezing pasta in the freezer. Defrosting it makes the pasta mushy.
You should use leftovers as efficiently as possible in the days following the original cook. (No one will need convincing to dispose of them for you!)
Top Tips
How to use cooked chicken
This recipe will help you stretch leftover chicken from a roasting chicken to another meal. Add it to the pasta, sauce and pan-fried vegetables. No need to fry the pasta again.
Prepare the pasta before baking.
It just works better. It’s worth the extra time and effort to cook the pasta first.
The pasta can be cooked in fresh boiling water, drained and then added to the sauce with the other ingredients and baked together.
Prepare in advance
When cold, place the dish in the refrigerator (covered). Once you’re ready to eat the dish, heat the oven to 180C. Cook for 30-40 minutes until the top of the dish is golden brown.
Easy Chicken Bacon Pasta Bake
This delicious and healthy recipe for Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake is perfect for the whole family. The creamy sauce is topped with cheese and packed with bacon, vegetables and other ingredients.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: Four People
Ingredients
- 300 g Pasta
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Bacon 200g, chopped into small pieces
- About 2 large chicken breasts in 300 g chunks
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- Peeled onion, chopped into pieces
- Broccoli (whole head) 300 g, chopped into small pieces
- 500 ml Milk
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- Black pepper and salt freshly ground
- Notes: 150 g of Cheese
- 1 tsp Wholegrain Mustard, Optional
Instructions
- Set a timer to 5 minutes and cook the pasta in boiling salted water.
- In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a big pan. Add the bacon to a large pan and cook it for 5 minutes until it starts to brown.
- Add the broccoli to the pasta when the timer for the pasta goes off. Cook for another 6 minutes until the pasta and the broccoli are both cooked. Drain and set aside.
- Add the chicken and bacon to the pan. Fry for another 5 minutes, until the chicken is coloured on all sides.
- Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked. It takes about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle flour in the pan and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Pour the milk into the cup.
- Stir well. Add half of the cheese, salt, and pepper to the meat sauce.
- Preheat the grill.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the pasta and broccoli after draining and cooking them.
- Place under the grill and cook for 10 minutes or until crisp and bubbling.
