This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
A delicious and simple Chicken Penne Pasta that is the perfect family dinner. The entire family loves it!
Whip up some Oven Roasted Veggies and Cheesy Garlic Bread to serve with this filling chicken penne pasta for the perfect dinner! Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Skewers are a great option for something extra special!!
Chicken + pasta = win
Not sure about you, but I can never have enough dinner recipes. Way too often it comes close to dinner time and I still have no clue what I’m making. Fortunately, we love pasta and always have the ingredients on hand to make it for dinner.
One of our favorite dinner recipes is out creamy penne pasta recipe. We love it so much that we decided to add chicken to it!
We all love Italian food so she knew it would be a hit. It was. In fact, it’s a new favorite and was devoured quite quickly. If you love pasta dishes with lots of cheese and delicious-ness you will want to give this one a try.
How to make chicken penne pasta
PASTA. Cook pasta according to packaged directions.
CHICKEN. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan, add chicken and cook until cooked through.
ROUX. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Add flour and cook for an additional minute, stirring constantly.
SAUCE. Add milk and broth, stirring constantly. Cook until sauce boils and thickens.
CHEESE. Add parsley and parmesan cheese. Add desired salt and pepper. Continue stirring until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.
Variations
My kids all love this pasta probably because it’s so simple without a lot of extras. However, adding extras would be easy and yummy.
- Turn up the heat: Add a sprinkle of red chili flakes for some added spice
- Add spinach or kale
- Add some sun dried tomatoes
- Add broccoli florets
- Top with bacon crumbles
- Mushrooms
- Shrimp instead of chicken
- Change up the pasta shape. Any similarly sized pasta will work.
Storing Info + Bechamel Tips
Freezer meal: Pastas are among my favorite freezer meals. I typically like to double a recipe that I am already making then freeze the extra for another day. Allow the pasta to cool a bit and then place them in a freezer Ziploc. The pasta can be kept in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Thaw and then reheat on stove top. Heat it up low and slow and add a bit of milk to help revive the creamy smooth texture.
STORE leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3-4 months. Reheat on the stovetop or microwave. Add a bit of milk to help get a smooth texture.
Bechamel Tips
Béchamel is just a fancy French word for a basic white sauce. Tips for a good béchamel:
- Cook until it appears dry or like a wet sand and smells nutty, then add liquid.
- If the sauce isn’t thickening try pausing the stirring every so often. Sometimes allowing the sauce to thicken up a bit between stirs helps.
- Too thick? Add a bit more milk
- Too thin? Add a bit more wondra flour
- Using whole milk makes a creamier sauce but 2% will work
- Use warm milk as it mixes in better and don’t forget to add the milk slowly.
For more Pasta Dishes check out:
- Lemon Asparagus Pasta
- Italian Pasta Sausage
- Creamy Garlic Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Creamy Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Chicken Tetrazzini
Chicken Penne Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb penne pasta
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 3 chicken breasts cubed
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- garlic salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to packaged directions.
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan, add chicken and cook until cooked through.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Add flour and cook for an additional minute, stirring constantly.
- Add milk and broth, stirring constantly. Cook until sauce boils and thickens.
- Add parsley and parmesan cheese. Add desired salt and pepper. Continue stirring until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.
- Pour sauce over pasta and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Does anyone have the creamy garlic penne pasta recipe? I’m not sure why this is a different recipe then what I clicked on.
Here you go!! 🙂 https://lilluna.com/creamy-garlic-penne-pasta/
OMG!!! So easy and so good. There were no leftovers.
We tried this with the mini-penne and my kids destroyed it! So much easier for them to eat than the messy fettuccine haha!
All of my girls LOVED this recipe. When I find a recipe they all like it’s a keeper! I usually double the recipe and freeze half. I found that it reheats really well on the stove top with a bit of extra milk.
Thanks a lot for this amazing and super easy to make chicken penne pasta recipe! It’s really tasty and very flavorful! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended
This recipe is always a welcome sight. My kids absolutely love this meal! So filling too.
There’s really nothing that we don’t like about pasta. It’s creamy, easy to make and full of chicken. Yummy!
This is one of my go-to weeknight meals! It’s easy to make, creamy, & tasty! It’s a kid approved meal!
The picture doesn’t match the recipe.
This used to be the link to your mozzarella penne recipe. I made it quite a few times, but don’t have it memorized just yet. My family is asking for it again and I can’t find your recipe.
Hi Sara! That may have been one of our recipes that has been removed. We have been cleaning up our site and updating posts, and that may be one that is gone. Or may have been updated to this recipe. Here are a few other links/options: this one is a round-up of penne pasta recipes, so possibly the one you are thinking of is here: https://lilluna.com/penne-pasta-recipes/. We also have a Chicken Tetrazzini recipe https://lilluna.com/chicken-tetrazzini/ that has mozzarella. We also have a yummy Three Cheese Pasta Bake (Baked Mac and Cheese) https://lilluna.com/baked-macaroni-and-cheese/ which might be close too? Hopefully some of these help!