Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta
Updated March 04, 2023
Quick Summary
Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta-chicken parmesan and cheesy baked pasta are made in one pan! This easy cheese baked pasta is a family favorite dinner!
Josh and I have been married for over nine years and have been cooking together since day one. Literally from day one because we made all of the food for our wedding:) Well, some people still don’t believe that Josh knows how to cook…until they come over for dinner and see him in action. He really knows his way around the kitchen and I am SO thankful for that. I love having a partner who shares my passion for food. Of course, we have some “heated” moments in the kitchen (and not romantic heated moments..ha!) but most of the time our kitchen is full of love and deliciousness!
One of Josh’s favorite recipes to make is this Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta. It is a Josh staple for sure! He loves it and our boys love it too. It is one of their favorite dinner recipes!
If you love chicken parmesan, you will LOVE Josh’s Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta. It is pure COMFORT FOOD! This twist on a classic dish is even better because everything is baked in one pan, making it an easy, cheesy, and delicious dinner.
The cheesy baked pasta is made with chicken, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, marinara sauce, and a parmesan panko topping! Finish it off with fresh basil and talk about a dinner winner! Josh usually serves garlic bread on the side making it the perfect carbolicious meal! If I am home, I will usually whip up a simple salad to go with too:)
A few tips for this easy baked pasta recipe:
- You need 2 cups of cooked chicken for this recipe. It is a great recipe for using up leftover chicken. If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can cook up some chicken real quick in a skillet. PRO TIP-use shredded rotisserie chicken to save time. Both cubed and shredded chicken work well in this recipe.
- Josh uses penne pasta, but ziti, farfalle, or fuisilli are also good options. Use whatever pasta you have in your pantry.
- Josh uses my homemade Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce, but you can use your favorite jarred pasta sauce.
- You can prep this baked pasta in advance. Put everything in the pan, cover with foil, and put in the fridge until you are ready to bake. The pasta dish reheats well, the boys love eating the leftovers. It is also a great dish to take to friends and family who are in need of a meal.
Add Josh’s Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta recipe to your dinner menu this week. It is a delicious and comforting meal!
Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz. penne pasta
- 2 cups cooked bite-size chicken pieces or shredded chicken
- 4 cups marinara sauce, can use store bought sauce
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and cook the pasta according to package directions. Rinse and drain the pasta in a colander.
- Pour pasta back into the pot and add the cooked chicken, marinara sauce, 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, and ½ cup parmesan cheese. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
- In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and panko bread crumbs and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the pasta mixture evenly into the pan. Top with the remaining 1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese. Mix the remaining ½ cup parmesan cheese into the panko bread crumbs. Sprinkle panko mixture over the top of the pasta. Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick cooking spray and cover the pasta dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the foil from the pan and bake until the pasta is bubbly and panko topping is golden brown, about 5-10 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.
- Note-if you don’t have leftover cooked chicken or shredded chicken, cut 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite size pieces and cook in olive oil until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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Chicken parm is my favorite comfort food. This sounds amazing! Pinning!
This looks so good, and seems so easy to put together. It’s definitely going on the dinner rotation! We love pasta and chicken parm but it seems like such an ordeal to make after a long day.
now is the perfect time for one pan pasta dishes! so cozy
Oh I love this story – I had no idea you two cooked ALL the food for your wedding. That’s impressive! This pasta has me weak in the knees! Looks amazing!
I can’t believe you guys cooked the food at your wedding, that’s so sweet and amazing ๐
OMG! This recipe is probably the best thing that will happen to me today!
Make your own marinara. It’s easy, cheaper and much better for you.
We made our own. We linked to the recipe in the post!
Dinnertime perfection!
This looks so delicious and comforting!
This looks so delicious!! What a perfect Sunday family dinner recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!
This was good but it doesnโt say what temperature to bake this on
350 degrees
It says to preheat the oven to 350ยฐ…
It turned out okay. I would suggest Italian seasonings, salt and pepper to enhance the taste.
Delicious! Added pizza sauce to make more sauce.
Do you think this would freeze well?
Can I prepare then freeze ready to be put in oven once thawed?
FIVE STARS!!!! I had some baked chicken leftover and googled for recipes to use it. I found this Two Peas and Their Pod recipe and it sounded perfect. My son has celiac so the only difference I did was use Gluten Free penne pasta and bread crumbs (they also make Gluten Free panko crumbs but I didn’t have any on hand). My husband raved about this last night and again this morning! My 15 year old son (who as I mentioned has Celiac) insists that he hates all things “casserole” loved this as well and asked for seconds after an initial large helping :-). The recipe is so easy and delicious and I love that it doesn’t have too many ingredients. The reviewer that said it was bland may have used a bland marinara sauce because this was anything but bland. The way the bread crumbs are prepared with butter and garlic is genius (thanks Josh!). We will definitely be adding this recipe to our family meal faves.
Thanks Maria and Josh for sharing!
Simple and tasty! Added broccoli and butter fried peppers along with a generous amount of garlic.
Amazing.
Glad you liked it!
Enjoyed this however next time Iโll add more marinara sauce.
Agree, I found it to be too dry.
How many calories does this dish have and what is the serving size. What can I sub Mozzi cheese With ?
How many servings does this make?
I looked for it but could not find.
It’s just me and my husband now all the girls are on their own ; so I need to know so I can reduce everything for just 2 people.
Love you guys recipes have fixed several and enjoyed ever one.
Thank you
It makes a 9×13 pan…so a lot:) You can half the recipe and make it in an 8×8 pan.
Made this today for dinner
It was wonderful; wouldn’t change a thing! Thank you for the recipe.
Can you make this a day in advanced then cook it
How many servings is this recipe intended to make?
I see others have asked the same question, but I donโt see a reply from the author, and the replies I see from others arenโt helpful when calculating nutritional values.
It serves about 8 people.
Is the parmesan cheese in the recipe grated or shredded? Thanks.