Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Bake
Chicken alfredo bake with penne, seared chicken, and a from-scratch parmesan cream sauce under melted mozzarella. A cheesy 9×13 casserole for 8.
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Chicken Alfredo Bake is what I make when the stovetop version isn’t going to stretch far enough. Penne and seared chicken get folded into a parmesan cream sauce, layered into a 9×13 dish with shredded mozzarella running through the middle, and baked until the top goes golden and the edges bubble up the sides. You pull it out, let it rest five minutes, and cut squares out of it like lasagna.
The sauce is built on a butter and flour roux instead of straight reduced cream. That’s the whole reason it survives half an hour in the oven. A pure cream and parmesan sauce is held together only by heat and fat, so 25 minutes at 350°F will make it break and pool oil across the top. The flour gives the sauce a backbone. So it stays smooth and glossy right through baking and reheats the next day without splitting.
One other thing saves this casserole: boil the penne two minutes shy of al dente. The noodles keep cooking in the oven while they soak up sauce, and pasta that went in fully cooked comes out soft and sad. Two minutes short is the difference between a bake with texture and one that turns to mush.
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Alfredo Bake Recipe
- A sauce that holds in the oven. The roux keeps the parmesan cream sauce smooth through 25 minutes of baking instead of breaking into oil.
- Cheesy top to bottom. Mozzarella runs through the middle layer and melts across the top, with parmesan folded into the sauce itself.
- Feeds eight, easily. One 9×13 pan covers a full family dinner with leftovers, or a potluck contribution.
- Assemble it a day ahead. The whole casserole can go together the night before and sit in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
Chicken Alfredo Bake Ingredients
Grate the parmesan and shred the mozzarella off blocks yourself. Bagged shredded cheese is dusted with potato starch and cellulose to keep it from clumping, and that coating is exactly what makes a baked cheese sauce turn grainy instead of smooth.
- 1 lb penne pasta
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan, divided
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Recipe Variations
- Stir 2 cups of steamed broccoli florets or a thawed 10 oz box of frozen chopped spinach (squeezed dry) into the pasta before it goes in the dish.
- Use 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken in place of searing raw chicken; fold it in with the pasta and skip straight to the sauce.
- Swap half the mozzarella for shredded provolone if you want a sharper, tangier cheese pull on top.
How to Make Chicken Alfredo Bake
- Heat the oven and boil the pasta: Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the penne 2 minutes less than the package says for al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Sear the chicken: Toss the chicken with the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and a thermometer reads 165°F. Transfer to a plate.
- Start the roux: Melt the butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant, then sprinkle in the flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute to cook off the raw flour taste.
- Build the alfredo sauce: Slowly whisk in the milk and heavy cream, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, whisking often, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pull it off the heat and stir in 1 cup of the parmesan, the nutmeg, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth.
- Combine everything: In a large bowl, toss the drained penne and the seared chicken with the alfredo sauce until every noodle is coated.
- Layer the chicken alfredo bake: Spread half the pasta mixture into the prepared dish and scatter 1 cup of the mozzarella over it. Add the rest of the pasta, then top with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan.
- Bake: Bake uncovered at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese on top is golden in spots and the sauce bubbles around the edges of the dish.
- Rest and garnish: Let the casserole sit for 5 minutes so the sauce sets up enough to cut clean squares, then sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.
Recipe FAQs
Can I Assemble This Chicken Alfredo Bake Ahead of Time?
Yes. Build it through the layering step, cover tightly, and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Let the dish sit on the counter for 30 minutes before baking, and add about 10 minutes to the bake time since it’s starting cold.
Can I Use Jarred Alfredo Sauce Instead?
You can, and you’d need about 3 cups (two 15 oz jars). Jarred sauce is thinner and breaks more easily in the oven, so stir in an extra 1/2 cup of grated parmesan for body before it bakes.
Why Did My Sauce Turn out Grainy?
Two usual culprits: pre-shredded cheese with anti-caking starch on it, or adding the parmesan while the sauce was still at a hard simmer. Take the pan off the heat first, then stir the cheese in.
What Pasta Shape Works Best?
Short shapes with ridges or hollows hold onto the sauce best. Penne, rigatoni, ziti, and cavatappi all work. Long noodles like fettuccine tend to clump into a mat in a casserole.
Can I Double This or Make It in Two Smaller Pans?
Two 8×8 pans work well and let you bake one and freeze the other. Keep the same 350°F oven temperature and start checking at 25 minutes.
Cooking Tips
- Undercook the pasta by 2 full minutes. It absorbs sauce and keeps cooking in the oven, and that’s the single biggest difference between a bake with bite and a mushy one.
- Whisk the milk and cream in slowly, a splash at a time at first. Dumping cold liquid into a hot roux all at once is how you get lumps you can’t whisk out later.
- The nutmeg is a quarter teaspoon on purpose. You shouldn’t taste it as nutmeg, it just makes the cream and parmesan taste rounder and less flat.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days. The roux-based sauce holds together much better than a straight cream sauce would.
To freeze: Freeze the assembled unbaked casserole, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed plus about 10 minutes. Baked leftovers freeze too, though the pasta softens noticeably.
To reheat: Reheat individual portions in the microwave with a splash of milk stirred in, or cover the whole dish with foil and warm at 325°F for 20-25 minutes.
How to Serve Chicken Alfredo Bake
Chicken Alfredo Bake is rich, so it likes something sharp alongside: a green salad with vinaigrette, roasted broccoli, or garlicky green beans all cut through it. Garlic bread is the obvious move if you’re feeding teenagers. For the same flavors with almost no hands-on time, our Crockpot Chicken Alfredo covers that lane. This is one of the recipes in our August dinner collection, and more family-sized casseroles like it are on the way.
Loved This Recipe?
Chicken Alfredo Bake takes the sauce everybody already loves and turns it into a golden, cheesy 9×13 that feeds the whole table.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb penne pasta
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts boneless, skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan divided
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella divided
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oven and boil the pasta: Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the penne 2 minutes less than the package says for al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Sear the chicken: Toss the chicken with the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and a thermometer reads 165°F. Transfer to a plate.
- Start the roux: Melt the butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant, then sprinkle in the flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute to cook off the raw flour taste.
- Build the alfredo sauce: Slowly whisk in the milk and heavy cream, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, whisking often, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pull it off the heat and stir in 1 cup of the parmesan, the nutmeg, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth.
- Combine everything: In a large bowl, toss the drained penne and the seared chicken with the alfredo sauce until every noodle is coated.
- Layer the chicken alfredo bake: Spread half the pasta mixture into the prepared dish and scatter 1 cup of the mozzarella over it. Add the rest of the pasta, then top with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan.
- Bake: Bake uncovered at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese on top is golden in spots and the sauce bubbles around the edges of the dish.
- Rest and garnish: Let the casserole sit for 5 minutes so the sauce sets up enough to cut clean squares, then sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
