This Cheesy Chicken Pasta is the perfect meal to make when you are short on time. It only takes 30 minutes from start to finish, so it's ready in no time at all. The gooey melted cheese and chicken in this easy pasta recipe will have everyone licking their plate clean.
Looking for more cheesy dinners? This chicken pasta bake and this chicken ranch pasta bake are two of our favorite pasta dinners.
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Every day around 5 o'clock our kids start asking "what's for dinner?". And I start wondering "what can I make with chicken?" that will appease these hungry kiddos.
Each time we go to Sam's or Costco I pick up a few extra ingredients like chicken broth and canned chicken. When our youngest was younger, he was a picky eater and would only eat canned chicken. Having those ingredients on hand makes it easy to make dinner in a hurry.
Why this Cheesy Pasta is Best
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!
This easy and delicious cheesy chicken pasta is a great way to get dinner on the tables fast. It's full of flavor and perfect for busy nights! Plus, there are lots of ways to customize this recipe depending on what you like best.
Your family will love this chicken cheese pasta skillet because it has everything they want. A creamy sauce, tender chicken, and lots of gooey cheese will have everyone asking for seconds.
The other afternoon I was rummaging in the cupboard looking for easy dinner ideas. I found the canned chicken and decided to add some to an easy chicken pasta skillet for dinner.
Ingredients for Cheesy Chicken Pasta Recipe
This cheesy chicken pasta actually only has a few ingredients in it. 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.
- 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 ½ - 2 cups of any type of cooked chicken you have on hand.
- Ranch Powder - Adds a unique and delicious flavor to the pasta.
BRUCREW TIP: Rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled chicken, or frozen cooked chicken all work great in this chicken pasta recipe.
How to make Cheesy Chicken Pasta
This chicken cheese pasta is an easy and delicious dinner that can be made in 30 minutes or less. You'll love how creamy the sauce is, and it's easy to customize with your favorite veggies!
- Start by boiling the penne noodles. (full recipe below)
- While the pasta is cooking, sauté the chopped peppers with butter in a large skillet.
- Sprinkle the cooked peppers with flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the milk to make a white sauce. Let it thicken.
- Stir in shredded cheese to the roux, and let it melt into gooey goodness.
- Add the chicken, drained cooked pasta, and more shredded cheese gently.
- Season the cheesy pasta to taste and sprinkle the top with more cheese.
Make it a Full Meal
This easy chicken skillet recipe is delicious on its own, but adding a few side dishes and a dessert rounds it out.
- Veggie Salad
- Biscuits made with All Purpose Baking Mix
- Garlic Herb Bread
- M&M Rice Krispies Treats
More Chicken Recipes
- Chipotle Pasta
- Chicken Gnocchi Bake
- Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Chicken Salad with Grapes
- Other Canned Chicken recipes
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Please leave a 5 star ⭐️ rating and/or a review in the comments section further below.
Recipe
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
- ½ cup diced red peppers
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 3 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese, divided
- 1 - 12.5 ounce can chunk chicken breast, drained well (or 1 ½ - 2 cups shredded cooked chicken)
- 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 ¾ cup cheese. Season to taste with pepper.
- Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup cheese on top and cover until the cheese melts. Serves 6.
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.
Barb
Where is the recipe for Buffalo chicken pasta? I really get discouraged when I can’t find the recipe because of all the ads!!
Jocelyn
Hi, Barb. I'm so sorry you have having trouble finding the recipe. The recipe for buffalo chicken pasta is in this post. https://insidebrucrewlife.com/buffalo-chicken-pasta-bake/ At the top of the post is a "jump to recipe" button. If you click that it will take you to the recipe card. I hope that helps and you enjoy the dish.
Amanda
I thought this was just okay. Definitely needed more seasoning of some kind. I wasn’t wow’d and it won’t be on regular rotation, but it was good for being something different!
Tammy
I thought this was ok, will not be on our rotation.
Kerri
That was delicious! The family raved :)Thanks for getting me out of a jam tonight👍🏽
Kenny
I love the recipe a lot. I will make it again and again. Thank you!
Susan Dubose
This was delicious! I want to make it with rice next time.
Jocelyn
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! This would be delicious with rice too!
Felipa
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
Excellent! I added mushrooms to this dish and it was extremely well received. I will be making this a regular dinner meal!
Dandre
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
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
Amazingly Delicious So easy and fast to make. Thank you for your wonderful inspiration. Makes my life easy to plan ahead!!
Margie
I used the exact ingredients and the family loved it!
Patrice
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
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
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
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
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!