This Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake has been in my easy dinner arsenal for years. This pesto chicken pasta casserole recipe only has three main ingredients: pesto, chicken, and cheese! Utilize a rotisserie chicken for ultimate quickness and ease.
For the chicken, you can use a rotisserie chicken to make this dish even easier or shred up some chicken in the crockpot. I have used my crockpot chicken recipe in this dish, or sometimes I’ll just do chicken broth and adobo seasoning (pictured above) because it pairs better with the pesto.
I use gluten-free chickpea pasta made by Banza in this recipe, but you can totally use any pasta you would like. I’ve been loving the Banza pasta because it doesn’t make me feel overly full and it’s high in protein/fiber. Make sure when cooking the pasta to cook it al dente, because it will be going into the oven for a few minutes, so you don’t want it to end up mushy.
Combine the pasta, pesto, crushed red pepper flakes, shredded chicken, and mix. Spread into a baking dish, sprinkle some parmesan on and bake!
Once it’s done baking you can add additional parmesan if desired. There you have it! 5 ingredients that easily come together to make a quick and delicious dinner! Enjoy.
Things you’ll need: crockpot/slowcooker, baking dish, large mixing bowl, pasta pot, adobo seasoning, banza pasta, cheese grater
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PrintPesto Chicken Bake
A quick and easy dinner with just 5 ingredients, protein, and a ton of flavor!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 box (8oz) of Banza chickpea pasta (or pasta of choice)
- 2 cups of shredded chicken breast
- Rotisserie chicken or chicken made in the slow cooker (1 1/4lb chicken breast, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 tbsp adobo seasoning or seasoning of choice, on low for 6-8 hours or high 4-6)
- 1 cup pesto
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup fresh parmesan
- Garnish with fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil, cook pasta al dente according to package, drain and set aside
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large bowl add al dente pasta, shredded chicken, pesto, and crushed red pepper flakes. Gently mix together.
- In a baking dish, spread pasta chicken mixture evenly, and top with parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted on top. If you want the cheese more brown, you can low broil the top for a few minutes.
- Serve and can top with more parmesan if desired
Keywords: pesto chicken bake, pasta bake, pasta, shredded chicken, pesto pasta
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