Who doesn’t love Pasta?!
I’ve shared our love before and admit that we make at least one pasta dish a week. Our favorites include Spaghetti, Fettucine Alfredo, Penne Pasta – you name it! The main reasons why I like to make pasta dishes are:
1 – They are always delicious – usually butter and lots of cheese are involved (which means you can’t go wrong).
2 – The WHOLE family loves it.
Yes, it’s true – my kids are getting pickier and pickier (insert sad face here), so I really enjoy making recipes that I know everyone loves. And everyone LOVES pasta!! That’s why I share so many pasta recipes on the site. They are all different and have different ingredients and sauces, so we love the variety, and I love changing each dish up a bit since we have it so often. I’m sure you know what that’s all about. 😉
This next recipe is one I tried with my mom last fall when we were back visiting. We LOVE Chicken Alfredo and knew a casserole version would be just as good. Of course, everyone loved it, and with lots of cheese, chicken and delicious spices, I have a feeling you will too. 😉
For FULL RECIPE VIDEO instructions, check out:
Here is the printable recipe:
- 1 - 12 oz package Penne pasta,
- 3 - boneless, skinless chicken breasts (marinated in Italian Dressing if desired)
- vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp. thyme
- ¼ tsp. poultry seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1 stick butter
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 4 TB flour
- 3 cups half and half
- 3 cups milk
- 3 cups Kraft Italian Five Cheese Blend w/cream cheese, divided
- Italian Seasoning, garnish
- If time allows, always try to marinate your chicken. Throw them in a bag of italian dressing and let sit overnight or even a few hours will help your chicken to be tender and full of flavor.
- Cook pasta as directed. Drain and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, heat 1 - 2 TB of oil in a skillet on medium heat.
- Slice your marinated chicken in half so they are thinner pieces. This will help them cook through evenly.
- In a bowl mix salt, pepper, thyme and poultry seasoning and rub it on all sides of your chicken breasts. Add chicken to hot oil and cook on both sides until done (about 15-20 minutes). Remove to a plate to let cool.
- While chicken is cooling, preheat your oven to 350 and start on your sauce. In a separate large skillet melt the butter; add garlic and cook for 1 - 2 minutes.
- Using a wire whisk, mix in flour and stir until bubbly. Mix in half & half and milk, stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- With your whisk, mix in 1½ cup of cheese. Cook an additional 5 minutes until sauce starts to thicken. Remove sauce from heat.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cut your cooked chicken into bite size pieces and add to a large bowl. Add the pasta to your bowl and then the sauce. Mix everything to combine.
- Spray a 9x13 baking pan with non stick spray. Add the pasta mixture to the pan and sprinkle with an additional 1½ cup of cheese.
- Sprinkle with pepper and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.
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NOTE: This is what the cheese looks like that we used. 😉
Check out all that cheese!!
Yup – can’t go wrong with this dish. 😉
There are quite a few steps to this recipe, but they are so easy!
If you’ve made pasta dishes like this before, then it’s all pretty standard. You can even change it up by adding some of your favorite veggies or making a non-meat version and leaving out the chicken. 😉
For even more favorite pasta dishes, you can check out these favorites:
Bowtie Pasta with Italian Sausage
Yup – we LOVE our pasta dishes!
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About Lil' Luna
I have a question about the Italian Five Cheese Blend w/cream cheese, where do you get it or what kind of cheeses are they? Love your site, thanks!!
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You can find it at any grocery store or even Super walmart carries it.
Looks great. Thanks, can’t wait to try it.
How much cream cheese?
The cheese is actually called: Kraft Italian 5 Cheese with Cream Cheese. There isn’t additional cream cheese since it already comes in the cheese package. Does that make sense?
I’m still confused. I tried adding 3lbs cream cheese like you said, but all we had was maple walnut flavor. I put in a bunch of extra apple sauce to counter the sweetness, but it ended up starting a fire in the oven. Are your temperatures in Celsius or Fahrenheit? Thanks for your help lil luna.
The degrees are in Fahrenheit. I’m sorry you’re having trouble. The cheese is a blend with cream cheese in it. If you could find that cheese, it will make the difference, instead of substituting other ingredients that will change the outcome of the recipe. Hope that helps!
this looks delicious!! Is there any reason it couldn’t be made up ahead of time, kept refridgerated and then baked at a later time? Thanks!
I think it would be fine to make within 24 hours of being eaten, but it may need to cook just a few minutes longer. 😉
It’s called Kraft Italian 5 Cheese Blend with a touch of Philadephia cream cheese. I figured that’s what she meant when I saw it. You can find it at any grocery store near you…
Thanks, Deedee! 😉
I would like to try some of these recipe.
What’s half and half? Thank u kindly
Ruth, Half and Half is a 50/50 blend of milk and cream. You can find it in the milk/dairy section of your grocery store. Hope this helps. 😀
Thanks for helping out! 😉
Hi, we don’t have a lot of these things in south australia, any chance anyone could recommend similar things that i can get here?
Thanks for the great recipe. Looking forward to trying it with a gluten free twist. BTW, You’ve got a couple of typos in your recipe (Chicken Alfredo Casserole), in the ingredient list vegeatble oil should be vegetable oil and in the instructions italain should be Italian.
Would love to know what you do to make it GF. I’d love to add it to the post so others could make it GF too. And thanks for the update on the recipe. Must have been added during one of my late work nights where I was half asleep, lol!!
I have been unable to locate that cheese blend in Massachusetts. I bought some cream cheese to add-any guess how much to add to mimick the shredded cheese blend? I have a six cheese Italian blend. Making it tomorrow. Thank you.
Hmmm, I’d guess about 2 oz of the cream cheese bar. If you try it with this amount could you let me know how it turns out?? I think it just adds a bit of creaminess to it. 😉
Caroline I couldn’t find this cheese on any central Mass stores either! I used the kraft 5 cheese that doesn’t have the cream cheese in it. Everyone still liked it. I just added more half and half and milk.
(*_*)
Chelle
Recipe looks amazing but can you explain what half and half is for me.. Thanks
Here is a link that explains what half and half is. 😉
http://www.thekitchn.com/what-is-halfandhalf-ingredient-intelligence-205959
How many servings?
When do you use the olive oil? I cooked my chicken in the vegetable oil but wasn’t sure when to use the olive oil?
That was totally confusing. Just updated the recipe, so thanks for the heads up. When you’re cooking your chicken you can cook it in 1-2 TB of vegetable or olive oil and that is the only time you use the oil. 😉
Do leftovers of this taste okay, or is it something you have to eat it immediately?
The leftovers taste AMAZING!
Thanks Nicole and I agree!! It’s perfect for lunch the next day!
Sounds more than delish. If anyone has done without frying chicken, please post. I detest the mess of frying, but do on rare occasion.
You could poach it in chicken broth.
You could also use a purchased roasted chicken, taken off the bones and skin and chopped or shredded into bite size pieces. That would eliminate the cooking the chicken step
I like to do that, too when I am in a hurry or last minute 🙂
Looking forward to making this.
How many servings to this recipe?
Serves between 8-10. 😉
3 cups of half and half plus 3 cups of milk seems like an awful lot of liquid
This recipe was delicious! When I ran by the store to grab the ingredients, they didn’t have that exact cheese blend so I just used a store brand Italian cheese blend. It still turned out great! I also used some diced chicken I had previously made and stored in the freezer, so it reduced my prep time by about 20 minutes. Thanks for sharing, we really enjoyed it.
Have you ever made this and frozen it? Did you freeze before or after baking. Thanks!
Thyme (ground) or (leaves)???
Thanks.
I used ground Thyme:) Enjoy!!!
I made this tonight, and my sauce/cheese curdled. 🙁
What temp was your setting on the skillet? When you add the cheese, it should just be on low and only for the 5 min. I haven’t had any issues with it curdling before, so I’m trying to think of what could have made it do that. I’m thinking the setting may have been to high? Let me know!
This was very good! I “cheated” and used the chicken from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store! Much less prep involved and the seasoning on the chicken was perfect for this recipe. One question…this made a TON of food…can the leftovers be frozen and used at another time for a meal? I am not sure how the pasta would do once it thaws out and gets reheated. Has anyone tried freezing the leftovers? Thanks! Becky
Hey, that’s ok! I use that chicken sometimes, if I’m in a hurry! I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not sure how it would be. Hopefully, someone has and they’ll respond. Thanks so much for giving it a try!
I could not find the cheese blend with the cream cheese together. I saw in a previous comment you said 2 oz of the cream would be the right amount to add, should I add when I mix everything at the end before I bake it?
Going to make this tonight, can’t wait!
You could add it in step 8 with the cheese to the sauce mixture. Hope you like it!! Let me know what you think!
It was amazing, thank you for wonderful recipe!
Thank you so much for letting me know!!!
I made a double batch of this and froze half and it was fine when I defrosted it.
Thanks so much for sharing that!!
I made this, it looked amazing and smelt great. But it tasted like sour milk, really bad. And no, the half and half and milk were new.
I’m sorry that it did. I wonder why? Mine hasn’t smelled like that, so I’m trying to think what it could have been. Thank you though, for giving it a try!!
This is a family favorite, it has replaced my pampered chef Alfredo sauce. I cut the liquids in half, I use 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and 1 cup of milk. I like to add chopped broccoli In the mix.
That sounds yum! Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you like it!
I made this and it was delicious. Super easy and my family gobbled it down. I enjoy this Alfredo sauce and it is so easy to make. This is my go to for chicken Alfredo. 5 ⭐️
Yay!!! SO happy to hear that! Thanks so much!
I don’t have half and half at home is it feasible to substitute whole milk for the half and half?
I haven’t tried, but I’m sure you could. I know you could add butter to it, as well or heavy cream. I would google substitutes for half & half & see what it suggests. Hope that helps you & hope you like this recipe!
This was super yummy! Other comments were right – this does make a LOT of food. I halved the recipe and my family of 3 will have plenty of leftovers for dinner tomorrow. The sauce was great even though it took time and work – all good sauces take work! And they’re way better than the kind from a jar. Those that said their sauce was sour – I think they boiled the whole time instead of taking it down to a simmer. Serve with a side of green veggies and you’ve got a perfect meal!
Thanks so much!! And, I agree that the good stuff takes time! I am so glad you all liked it!