I found this hearty, delicious Italian Chicken Casserole . I love a good casserole, don’t you? Throw a bunch of ingredients together and bake. What could be easier? This casserole combines some of my favorite foods, pasta, chicken and cheese. Yummy!
If you are feeding a crowd, this is the recipe for you. I filled the casserole dish, about 9 in. by 13 in. by 3 in, and still had a couple of cups of the pasta and chicken mixture left over. I just ate the extra portion for lunch and still had a full casserole to serve for dinner. It’s one of those comfort dishes everyone loves. At least, my family did. Give it a try, I think your family will love it, too.
Sometimes I make a lot of changes to a chef’s recipe. Sometimes I barely make any changes at all. This recipe is almost identical to the original, Italian Chicken and Pasta Bake, at PaulaDeen.com. The only change from the original is that I used jarred minced garlic in place of the minced fresh garlic. I like to use the jarred type, no garlic odor on your fingers!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano ( I used Hunt’s)
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I cooked 3 chicken breasts for this recipe, if you have leftover chicken, feel free to use it.)
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 pound package bow tie pasta, or any pasta you like, cooked according to package directions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a large casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a very large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add in milk, tomatoes, and tomato sauce; cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in chopped chicken, 3 cups of the cheese, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir in cooked pasta. Pour all into casserole dish and sprinkle the top with remaining cup of cheese.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. It’s really a time saver, if you are feeding a large crowd or feeding a small one and want some good leftovers.
Do you love casseroles as much as I do? So easy, a few steps and dinner is done. Please feel free to leave a comment and if you like the site, please sign up for email updates in the box on the top right of this page.
Just fry up onions and garlic and add a jar of Marinara sauce and let simmer a bit….instead of the tomatoe/.milk mixture…I would like to saute a little spinach…and put down a layer of the pasta.chicken mix and then spinach and then put the rest of the casserole on top..sprinkle w/cheese…easy…
Just fry up onions and garlic and add a jar of Marinara sauce and let simmer a bit….instead of the tomatoe/.milk mixture…I would like to saute a little spinach or mushrooms…and put down a layer of the pasta.chicken mix and then spinach or mushrooms and then put the rest of the casserole on top..sprinkle w/cheese…easy…
I made this casserole and my husband said this was a keeper! It was very tasty and we really enjoyed it.