After cooking and creating recipes for as long as I have, I have learned that simple always works. If you live with me, you know that this now simple recipe for creamy chicken baked pasta has been made, remade and made again —several more times —because Goldilocks couldn’t get the rich mushroom sauce just right. Truth be told? I couldn’t get out of my own way.
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And then, an a-ha moment. Sometimes, the best solutions are ones you already know, right? In this case, all the sauce needed was a double batch of my bechamel sauce recipe.
I won’t spend a ton of time going through the iterations but what I going for was a velvety chicken and mushroom baked pasta that could be made in one pan, except for cooking the pasta (btw here ➡️ is a true one pan rigatoni and it’s delish).
What follows is the resulting recipe.
Everything I know you’ll love
Creaminess. Made from a roux base with milk, this white sauce can also be made even richer with cream or half and half.
Simplicity. Because you saute the mushrooms first and then making the white sauce in the same pan, there is huge pop of umami. The rest of the dish is assembled in the sauce and baked in the same pan.
Flexible. Don’t like sun dried tomatoes? Skip ’em. Out of spinach? Use kale or peas or any green thing you’d like. Talk about a forgiving recipe to make the most of what you have!
Alright…let’s get to it.
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Ingredient standouts
In addition to pantry ingredients like kosher salt, unsalted butter, olive oil and the like, the list is fairly straightforward. There are a few things you’ll probably have to run to the store for like:
How to make creamy baked chicken pasta
Before you start…boil up a pound of rigatoni pasta to al dente or even a tich less.
- Mix the breadcrumb topping in a medium bowl and set it aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high and melt butter and heat olive oil. Add the mushrooms and saute for a minute or 2. Cover with a lid and continue cooking.
- After 8 minutes or so, remove the lid and let the water cook off. Saute the shallot and garlic with a little more butter and finish the mushrooms. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- To the same pan, melt the remaining butter and stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook for 2 minutes to cook off the flour flavor.
- Pour in the milk and quickly whisk to incorporate the roux. This will remove any lumps. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper and add the parmesan.
- Stir in the chicken, handfuls of spinach, sun dried tomatoes and finally the pasta making sure to coat all the pasta and ingredients with the sauce.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumb topping over the pasta and put the pan into the oven. Bake until golden brown on top.
A kitchen pep talk (you’ve got this!)
To successfully make a roux, continually whisk the butter and flour together. It will darken but you don’t want your pan too hot (medium is great). Continue whisking after adding the cold milk because the flour and butter will fight to stay separated. Don’t give up!
I usually undercook my pasta a bit when I also plan to bake it. To me, overcooked pasta is only good for teething babies and that’s about it. Just deduct a couple of minutes from the package time and you’ll be good.
If you want to make the dish ahead, I suggest:
- make the sauce first and refrigerating it, without the cooked pasta, chicken, etc. You don’t want the pasta to soak up all the sauce and get super soft.
- don’t refrigerate the sauce in the pan you made it in. This eliminates the risk of the sauce burning on the bottom when you go to heat the sauce. Just heat the sauce in a clean pan, add the chicken and other ingredients and assemble the dish from there.
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Creamy Chicken Baked Pasta with Mushrooms and Sun Dried Tomatoes
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Ingredients
- ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs, or panko
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 3 teaspoons minced garlic, about 4 cloves, divided
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese, fresh grated, divided
- 2 T olive oil, divided
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded or diced as preferred
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves, longer stems removed
- 6-8 sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil drained and sliced
- 1 lb cooked rigatoni pasta
For the mushrooms
- 1 lb baby portobello mushrooms, sliced into thirds or quarters
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
For the sauce
- 4 TBSP all purpose flour
- 4 cups 2% milk, you can also use part cream if you like
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425° with a rack set to the middle of the oven.
For the breadcrumb topping
- Mix the breadcrumbs in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.Drizzle with 1 Tablespoon olive oil and stir until the mixture is combined completely and set aside.1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs, 3 teaspoons kosher salt, 3 teaspoons minced garlic, 2 T olive oil
For the mushrooms
- Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of butter to a large 10" skillet or enameled cast iron pan over medium high heat. Once the butter has melted, sauté the mushrooms with a generous 1 teaspoon sprinkle of salt. Cover the pan and let them release all their water.6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 lb baby portobello mushrooms
- After about 8 minutes, remove the lid to let the water cook off and let them brown completely another 7 minutes or so. Right before they’re finished cooking at about the 5-6 minute mark, add another tablespoon of butter along with the shallots, remaining 2 teaspoons garlic and thyme and finish cooking. Remove to a plate.1 shallot, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
For the sauce
- To same pan, add the remaining butter (4 T) and cook with the flour to make a roux. Stir for two minutes. Add in the milk (and cream if using) and cook until thickened and the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Season with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and stir in the remaining parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)4 TBSP all purpose flour, 4 cups 2% milk, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Stir in the chicken, sun dried tomatoes, handfuls of baby spinach and finally the cooked pasta tossing in the sauce until evenly coated.2 cooked chicken breasts, 2 cups fresh spinach leaves, 6-8 sun dried tomatoes, 1 lb cooked rigatoni pasta
- Evenly sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the whole pan and bake for about 15 minutes until the top is golden.
This delicious recipe was our dinner the other night. I love how your recipes are easily adaptable to various dietary needs; lower carb, gf, lower sugar, etc. I did add several splashes of dry sherry to enhance the umami of this yummy dish. Another good one Lori, thanks!
Thank so much Joyce! That makes me so happy that you can easily adapt my recipes to any dietary needs! I so appreciate your sharing that and glad you loved the creamy chicken pasta…it’s so good for the winter months, right? 😊