Cheesy Pasta Bake With Chicken And Bacon - a family favourite (and it makes great leftovers too!). 
Not a lot can beat a lovely cheesy pasta bake served up with a big side of salad (obviously that makes it healthy.......)
Cheesy Pasta Bake With Chicken And Bacon is one of those dinners that the kids can polish off in no time - regardless of how many veggies I sneak in there. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach - it all gets thrown in.
Sometimes I'll add courgette or kale. If I'm being extra sneaky I might add some finely chopped mushroom too (I'm the only mushroom lover in our house - but they all eat mushrooms if they can't identify them hee hee hee!).
I like it cold for lunch the next day too - although you can heat it up in the microwave with a tablespoon of water - to stop it drying out.
I sometimes wonder if I could eat pasta every day of the week and not get bored of it.
Let's see...
Monday: I'll kick-off with the chicken and bacon pasta bake.
Tuesday: Cajun Chicken Pasta
Wednesday: One Pan Lasagne Soup
Thursday: One Pot Garlic Chicken Pasta
Friday: Crispy Fried Ravioli with Spicy Tomato Dip
Saturday: Pan Fried Salmon with Creamy Lemon Spaghetti
Sunday: One Pan Spaghetti and Meatballs
Oh yeah, that was easy - I didn't even start on the pulled pork ragu or the or the penne arrabiata!! Oh and dont forget to check out my new Creamy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake too!
Do you have a favourite pasta dish? I'd love some new ideas for my pasta addiction 🙂
The Chicken Bacon Pasta Bake Video:
Equipment:
In order to make this super tasty Cheesy Pasta Bake with Chicken and Bacon you will need:
- A good Kitchen knife.
- Chopping Board.
- A Measuring Jug.
- Measuring Spoons
- A Large Pan For boiling the pasta
- Colander for straining the pasta.
- A Baking Dish. < This is the one you can see in the pictures here.
- Grater (If you choose to grate your own cheese)
- A large Frying Pan or Skillet
- Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them.
The Cheesy Pasta Bake with Chicken and Bacon Recipe:
Cheesy Pasta Bake With Chicken And Bacon
Ingredients
- 400 g dried pasta shapes - (I used rigatoni)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 large chicken breasts - cut into bitesize chunks
- 1 large onion - peeled and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper - de-seeded and chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper - de-seeded and chopped
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 800 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 120 ml double (heavy) cream
- 100 g fresh baby spinach
- 6 rashers cooked bacon - chopped
- 100 g strong cheddar cheese - grated
- 100 g mozzarella - grated
- Small bunch parsley - roughly torn
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 190c/375f. Boil a large pan of water and cook the pasta for 1 minute less than recommended on the pack. Drain.
- Whilst the pasta is cooking, heat the oil on a medium heat, in a large frying pan. Add the chicken, and cook until just sealed - about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the onion is softened. Add the chopped peppers, salt, pepper, garlic, tomato puree, oregano and thyme. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the tinned tomatoes and cream, bring to a gentle bubble, then add the pasta, spinach and cooked bacon. Stir everything together, then transfer to a large baking dish.
- Top with the cheddar and mozzarella, and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown.
- Take out of the oven and top with parsley before serving.
Video
✎ Notes
Can I make pasta bake ahead?
Yes! You can make ahead up to the point you sprinkle the cheese on, then cool, cover with foil and refrigerate for up to a day- Take out of the fridge for an hour before cooking it, to take the chill off the dish (otherwise you mind find you get a cold spot in the middle when baking it).
- Keep the foil on and heat in the oven at 190C/375F for about 10 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to heat for a further 15 minutes, until hot throughout.
Can I freeze the leftovers from my pasta bake?
Yes, once cooked:- Cool quickly, cover and freeze.
- Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
- Reheat in the oven (covered in foil) at 190C/375F for about 20-25 minutes until hot throughout.
Type of pasta to use for pasta bake:
I love to use rigatoni for this pasta bake, but you can use most pasta shapes. Spiralli (pasta spirals), Penne (tubes cut on the diagonal), Fusilli (pasta twists) and Farfalle (pasta bows) all work partcularly well, with no change in amounts or cooking times.Vegetarian version:
Replace the chicken with chunky pieces of courgette (zucchini) or mushroom. You can leave the bacon out entirely, or replace it with vegetarian chorizo or smoky chickpeas (chickpeas fried with smoked paprika, cumin, salt and pepper).Also, ensure the cheddar and mozzarella are vegetarian versions.
Gluten free version:
This recipe works well as a gluten-free dish with a few changes. Swap out the pasta for gluten-free pasta and ensure your tomato paste is gluten free. Also, if you're using ready grated (shredded) cheese, ensure it's gluten free, as it can sometimes be tossed in a little flour to prevent it from sticking.Nutritional Information is per serving.
Nutrition
If you’ve tried my pasta bake recipe then please rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing your thoughts and add-ons to my recipes!
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Pat says
This was nice, but some of the pasta was a bit hard. I’m thinking of trying it again and putting the lid on the casserole dish, then removing the lid and adding the cheese 10 mins before the end. Would this work?
wyn says
Making this for the second time today for the 5 of us. I am using Chorizo instead of bacon this time and swapped one tin of chopped tomatoes for 500mll of passata and will dress it with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a grind of sea salt. Thanks for the recipe Nicky.
Charlie says
Was not expecting this to be as good as it was!! Omg one of my new favourites!!!