This Cheesy Chicken Pasta is an easy comfort food meal that you can have on your dinner table in under 30 minutes. Gooey melted cheese and chicken in an easy pasta recipe will have everyone licking their plate clean in a hurry.
One of the things that I am working on this year is planning ahead, so I know what we will be having for dinner each week. I don’t know about you, but most of the time 5 o’clock rolls around and the kids start wanting dinner, and I get a blank look in my eyes.
I decided to create some easy dinner recipes like this Chicken Gnocchi Bake and these Stuffed Shells with meat that we could always have the ingredients on hand for.
Each time we go to the grocery store I grab one or two extra ingredients to stock the pantry with.
You can thank this Chicken Pasta Bake and this Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta for my love of making gooey, cheesy dinners. These dinners got me going on this crazed pasta fetish.
Cheese and pasta are the first things I think of when I start to get dinner started each day. I should probably widen my options before my family gets burned out on the cheesy goodness!
When our youngest was younger, he was a picky eater and only liked canned chicken. So, we would keep extra cans of chicken from Sam’s and Costco on hand to make a quick version of this Chicken Salad with grapes on the nights we are busy.
The other afternoon I was rummaging in the cupboard looking for easy dinner ideas when I found those cans of chicken and decided to add some to an easy pasta dinner.
The first question our youngest asked was what kind of shredded chicken was in the pasta!
This Cheesy Chicken Pasta actually only has a few ingredients in it, and most of them are probably already in your cupboards or pantry. Change it up by adding your favorite vegetable to this one pan cheesy chicken dinner.
Ingredients for Cheesy Chicken Pasta Recipe:
- Pasta – any noodle will work, but we like to use a penne pasta in this easy skillet meal
- Butter – you can also use olive oil
- Red Pepper and Garlic – Adds color and flavor. You could also use peas, broccoli, spinach, or tomatoes instead of the peppers or with them.
- Flour and Milk – used together with the cheese to create a delicious homemade cheese sauce
- Shredded Cheese – use your favorite type of cheddar cheese for this recipe. Cheddar Jack or Triple Cheddar are the ones we use most often.
- Canned Chicken – You can also use 1 1/2 – 2 cups of any type of cooked chicken you have on hand.
- Ranch Powder – adds a unique and delicious flavor to the pasta recipe
BRUCREW TIP: Rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled chicken, or frozen cooked chicken all work great in pasta recipes.
How to make Cheesy Chicken Pasta:
- Start by boiling the penne noodles. (full recipe below)
- While the pasta is cooking, sauté chopped peppers in butter, then stir in flour and milk to make a white sauce.
- Add shredded cheese to the roux, and let it melt into gooey goodness.
- Stir in the chicken, drained pasta, and more shredded cheese gently.
- Season the cheesy pasta to taste and sprinkle the top with more cheese.
Make it a Full Meal:
- Veggie Salad
- Biscuits made with All Purpose Baking Mix
- Garlic Herb Bread
- Triple Chocolate Cookies
- Dessert Salad
- Rice Krispies Treats with M&Ms
More chicken recipes:
- Chipotle Pasta
- Chicken Braids
- Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe
- Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Chicken Supreme recipe
- Pasta Bake with Nacho Cheese Soup
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Cheesy Chicken Pasta
This Cheesy Chicken Pasta is an easy meal that you can make in under 30 minutes. Gooey cheese, pasta, and chicken will have everyone licking their plates clean.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces penne noodles
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup diced red peppers
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese, divided
- 2 - 12.5 ounce cans - chunk chicken breast, drained well
- 1 Tablespoon ranch seasoning powder
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the noodles according to the package directions. Drain when finished cooking.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the peppers and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the garlic and flour and stir and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the milk and cook on medium until thick. Add 2 cups of cheese and stir until melted and creamy.
- Stir in the cooked pasta, chicken, ranch powder, and 3/4 cup cheese. Season to taste with pepper.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese on top and cover until the cheese melts. Serves 6.
Notes
- You can also use 1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded cooked chicken instead of the canned chicken.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 424Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 582mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 23g
Nutrition facts are an estimate and are not guaranteed to be accurate. If you need special diet advice, please see a registered dietician.
Kenny says
I love the recipe a lot. I will make it again and again. Thank you!
Susan Dubose says
This was delicious! I want to make it with rice next time.
Jocelyn says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! This would be delicious with rice too!
Felipa says
I made this last night for dinner. It was so easy and so delicous I couldn’t have been happier. My husband loved it as well.
Lisa says
Excellent! I added mushrooms to this dish and it was extremely well received. I will be making this a regular dinner meal!
Dandre says
Quick & easy. Used shredded pepper jack and farafalle because its what i had on hand…. and left the corn out. Leftovers were great for lunch the next day too!
Jocelyn says
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the pasta. The only thing I’m confused on is that the recipe doesn’t call for corn. Did you leave the peppers out???
Lesslie says
Amazingly Delicious So easy and fast to make. Thank you for your wonderful inspiration. Makes my life easy to plan ahead!!
Margie says
I used the exact ingredients and the family loved it!
Patrice says
I have made this for my husband and myself (empty nesters) a couple times now. It’s great that oven time is not required (when in a hurry) but baked it the second time as I wanted the flavors to meld more than they did on the stove top version. Neither of us are big on Ranch dressing flavoring so I swapped IT out FOR Italian seasoning, garlic and herbs and lots of fresh ground pepper. I always try to sneak in onion so I added that to the red pepper being sautéd. I added fresh mushrooms and frozen peas first time and broccoli and shredded zucchini the second time.
This is a great base and love that you can add to it or change it up pretty easily without much thought. This is great for using up leftover veggies, cheese chicken etc. definitely will have a place in my rotation of recipes.
Helen Sheats says
This is one of the few recipes I’ve actually repeated several times already! I also made a large quantity for our church fellowship and received many complements on it! Being “gluten-free” I used gluten-free pasta and chickpea flour for thickening, and it pleased everybody. I made one more small batch without dairy, using chicken broth and no cheese (a bit of dairy is in the buttermilk mix, however), and that also was quite good!
Thanks for the wonderful yet simple method and flavor! “My kind of recipe!”
Tannah says
This is a fantastic recipe!!! I used chicken thighs and cooked them in my instant pot from frozen. (15 minutes High pressure with a quick release then shredded it with a hand mixer) I threw in some pepper jack cheese to but this recipe was definitely a hit. Made it about 3 weeks ago and again tonight because I kept wanting it lol.
KAREN DOUGLASS says
This was delicious! I used what I had on hand: egg noodles, 2 – 5 oz. cans chicken, can of diced tomatoes (drained), 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce for spice (finely diced), garlic and onion powder, combo mozzarella and chedder, plus a little salt. Loved the chipotle flavor. Next time I will use fresh garlic and onion. I can see lots of variations for this recipe. Yummy!
Thank you.
Jocelyn says
Great job using what you had on hand to make the recipe. I love the addition of chipotle peppers in yours. I bet it was amazing!
Helen Sheats says
I took this to a potluck and it was a winner! I used gluten free pasta. Also, since I didn’t have any red pepper on hand I just added some broccoli florets to the pasta as it was cooking, toward the end so it was barely cooked. This recipe meets my requirements: easy, quick, nutritious and inexpensive–besides satisfying!
Helen Sheats says
I forgot to mention that, to remain gluten free, I used chickpea flour (garbanzo), a bit more than regular flour. It works great!
Denise says
This was fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing such a quick and easy recipe. The whole family enjoyed! My husband couldn’t stop raving about it. Haha. I modified successfully using egg noodles and almond milk just in case anyone wonders if that will work. It does…beautifully!
Pam Carr says
This was the first result to my search for a chicken, pasta and cheese recipe. I’m glad I didn’t look further – this was a delicious jumping-off point for my limited pantry items when I did not feel like a grocery store run! I tweaked things a bit due to what I had at my disposal, but very minor: different kind of pasta (musical notes from a band fundraiser – HA!), broccoli instead of peppers, and a mixer of sliced up cheddar and provolone cheese. My 16-year old son cleaned his plate – unprecedented! It did take me longer than 30 minutes to prepare, but that is just my limited culinary skills! 10/10 for cheesy deliciousness!
Jocelyn says
I am so glad to hear that you and your son enjoyed this pasta dinner. Awesome job tweaking the recipe based on what you had on hand!!! Simple recipes like this make it great for substitutions!!! Thank you so much for letting me know how much you guys liked it!
Jamie Baszler says
I used the exact ingredients and the family loved it!
THANK YOU
Annette Parker says
Made it last night for the family – they loved it and asked that I put it in the “rotation”. We added crumbled bacon as a topping at the end and yum yum!
Jocelyn says
Oh, yum! Love the addition of bacon on top! I am so glad to hear that your family enjoyed it so much that it is going on the rotation!!!
Laura McBrayer says
We are not ranch fans in this house. Any other suggestions for spices instead of the ranch powder. Thanks.
Jocelyn says
You could totally leave it out and the recipe would be fine. Maybe add a little more salt and pepper to your taste. I hope you enjoy it!
Sharon says
If you don’t use ranch or other prepared seasoning packets, you can just use salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. I add those to almost everything I make. Thyme and/or parsley would be good too.
charlotte says
You’re not alone, my son still at 10 can tell if I even switch brands of anything! Not even kidding, he only eats certain bRands of most things and chicken strips are one of the biggest areas whether frozen or restaurant, he can tell!
Casey says
This looks yummy. I have started asking each of my kids what they want for dinner each week (so I don’t have to think of 3 meals). This week, my 9 year old said “cheesy pasta”….ummm…. I don’t make a cheesy pasta so I went to Pinterest. I came across this recipe and looked easy enough. I use canned chicken in several recipes because it is easy peasy so plus plus!!
I’m excited to try it this week and I’m saving your page to get more ideas!
Sydney says
I love this recipe but I changed a few things. I used pepper jack instead of cheddar jack, broccoli instead of red peppers, elbows instead of penne, and liquid ranch instead of powder. I like the liquid because it makes it super creamy. Everyone loved it!
Emily says
How much liquid ranch did you use? I like the idea of the pasta being creamy!
Jocelyn says
This particular recipe doesn’t call for ranch dressing. I just used one Tablespoon ranch powder for seasoning in the pasta.
Sydney says
I didnt measure out the liquid ranch I used I just did it to taste. If I had to guess, probably around a cup. Usually I do little by little until it tastes the way I want.
Kerri says
Is there something else I can use instead of red peppers? My family doesn’t like them.
Jocelyn says
You can leave them out if you like. I really just added them for some color. Do they like green peppers or tomatoes? Either of those would work too.
Sydney says
I used broccoli instead.
Anton says
Super tasty. I was just standing by the pantry, staring at a can of chicken, wondering what I can make with it and this was perfect. If you throw it in the oven on highest heat after topping it with cheese at the end, it forms a nice crust and creates a beautiful color.
Karly says
SO CHEESY. SO PERFECT. SO PRETTY. It just doesn’t get any better than a quick and cozy pasta dish like this! Love love love!
Wendy says
Especially as fall approaches, I love this kind of cheesy comfort food! You absolutely should be patting yourself on the back, Jocelyn, for 2 solid weeks of home-cooked dinners! I am usually just cooking for 2 these days and I still find myself grabbing something out of the freezer several nights per week. I have a glimmer of hope to offer on the picky eating front. My son was a picky eater for 18 years, then he went off to college and started eating all kinds of healthy things!
Rachel says
Can someone please give me the measurement for this. Bought all the stuff but have no clue how much of anything goes in.
Jocelyn says
Hi, Rachel. I am so sorry about that. We had a site issue today that took down all the recipe cards. Everything is fixed and back up.
Chris Downie says
Sounds tasty.
I have just modified a traditional tuna casserole with a whole host of spices and the edition of mild peppers, and was thinking of trying something not too dissimilar with chicken.
Chris Downie says
*addition
Jessica @ A Kitchen Addiction says
I love easy meals like this for busy weeknights! This looks like some great comfort food!
Heather Kinnaird says
my daughter gets fussier by the day, but I bet she would LOVE this
Julie Evink says
Kids…. haha! I always stock up on whatever they love then they promptly decide they don’t like it. This pasta though…. I don’t care if they like it! I’m making it for myself!
Marye says
This looks absolutely delicious! I think the family would love this!!
Malinda @Countryside Cravings says
I don’t get it with kids! They eat everything as babies but as they get older they start to have opinions and suddenly they don’t like that dish they have been eating for the last 5 years?!?! This dish would go great with my family and they would definitely lick their plates clean! 🙂
Lisa Spencer says
What kind of cheese did you use? Maybe a cheddar jack?
Jocelyn says
You are good 🙂 Yes, I used a shredded cheddar jack cheese. I’ll add that to the recipe!
Kris Sealing says
I personally used a maid of jalapeño and pepper jack cheese and it turned out real good!