This easy Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake is made with the homemade Spinach dip combined with elbow macaroni, chicken and bacon! Creamy and cheesy pasta is smothered in a Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese sauce and then baked in a casserole dish until the perfect golden crust forms on top. Family favorite dinner recipe!
Tips and Tricks
- What kind of chicken meat to use? Use boneless and skinless chicken meat, such as chicken breast, chicken tenderloins, or dark chicken meat. You can also use leftover cooked chicken.
- You can use either fresh or frozen spinach.
- Use store-bought spinach dip if you like. You can also use pre-made spinach and artichoke dip.
- Use any kind of short pasta: elbow macaroni, penne, rigatoni, small pasta shells.
- Pre-cook the bacon in the preheated oven at 375 F. Layer bacon strips in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake the bacon until it is cooked and crispy.
- This is a super versatile recipe, and you can add all kinds of veggies to this pasta bake. Add artichokes, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, bell peppers, or asparagus.
- You can easily freeze this pasta bake right in the casserole dish. Use it as meal prep dish.
Bacon substitutes
If you want to use something other than regular bacon in your chicken pasta bake, here are some excellent choices:
- Prosciutto - an Italian dry-cured ham.
- Pancetta - an Italian bacon made of pork belly meat.
- Turkey bacon
- Duck bacon
Make this pasta bake gluten free
Because everything is made from scratch in this recipe, to make it gluten free all you have to do is use gluten free pasta. Gluten free brown rice elbow macaroni or penne pasta will work great. Tip: After cooking gluten free pasta al dente, make sure to rinse it with cold water to prevent it from getting mushy.
Can you put raw chicken in a pasta bake?
No. There is too much of a risk that you'll end up with undercooked chicken. Use either cooked sliced chicken (good way to use up some leftover chicken!). Or, quickly saute small-sized pieces of skinless, boneless chicken meat for about 3 minutes, without overcooking them. Baking the casserole dish in the oven for another 30 minutes will be enough to cook the chicken through.
Do you cook pasta before pasta bake?
- It depends on the type of sauce you use and how long you cook the pasta bake in the oven. Remember that dry pasta needs to hydrate.
- If you use a very runny liquid/sauce for your baked pasta, such as milk or chicken broth, you can probably use uncooked pasta in your pasta bake. The pasta will easily absorb all the liquid during the baking process.
- If you use a thicker, creamier sauce, such as spinach dip, or other cheese-based sauce, you have to cook pasta before adding it to the pasta bake.
How do you not overcook pasta
- Cook pasta al dente, just long enough so that it is not hard but not soft either. The pasta should have a firm texture.
- Test the pasta 3 minutes before it's ready to avoid overcooking.
- If you did over cook the pasta, rinse the pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process immediately.
Should you rinse pasta
- Do not rinse pasta when serving it hot or with sauce. Generally, you don't want to rinse pasta after cooking, especially if you plan to use the pasta with the sauce. Rinsing pasta removes the starch that helps hold and absorb the sauce. After cooking pasta al dente, drain it in a colander without rinsing it with water. This keeps the starch with pasta and allows the sauce to stick to pasta.
- Do rinse pasta when serving it cold or in a salad, or in a stir fry. Rinse the pasta if you want to prevent it from sticking together or if you want to use pasta in recipes, such as pasta salad or stir fries. In other words, rinse the pasta with cold water for recipes where you don't want your pasta to be gummy or clump together.
How to make chicken and bacon pasta bake
1) First, prepare all the ingredients for the pasta bake: cooked sliced chicken, drained cooked pasta, chopped cooked bacon, spinach dip:
2) Mix everything together and add to the casserole dish:
3) Top with shredded Mozzarella cheese:
How long do you put pasta bake in the oven
Bake it at 375 F in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then, broil for 3-4 minutes until golden brown on top.
More recipes that include pasta, chicken, and bacon
Chicken and Bacon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes in Garlic Cream Sauce
Spicy Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Peas
Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake
Ingredients
Spinach Dip:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- ½ cup Mozzarella cheese , shredded
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
- 5 oz frozen spinach , thawed, drained
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- salt to taste
Remaining pasta bake ingredients:
- 1 lb chicken , diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 8 oz elbow macaroni , uncooked
- 6 slices bacon , cooked, drained, chopped
- 1 cup Mozzarella cheese , shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
How to make spinach dip:
- Soften cream cheese in a medium bowl.
- Add the remaining dip ingredients (Mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, garlic, salt to taste) to the bowl. Mix well.
Prepare chicken:
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet.
- Add sliced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and Italian seasoning.
- Cook, stirring, on medium heat, until it's no longer pink, about 2 minutes.
Cook pasta
- Cook elbow macaroni al dente. Drain.
How to assemble chicken and bacon pasta bake:
- To the skillet with sliced cooked chicken, add chopped cooked bacon, cooked and drained pasta, and spinach dip. Mix everything together, reheating slightly.
- Add pasta mixture to the casserole dish.
- Top with 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese.
- Bake at 375 F in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- Then, broil for 3-4 minutes, until nicely browned on top. Make sure not to burn the top of the pasta bake
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Can you put it together Saturday night & put it in the oven Sunday?
Had ingredients I needed to use up and this was perfect!
Used about 2c fresh spinach, sprinkle parm, and jarred minced garlic for the sauce. Then skipped over chicken prep because I had leftover roast chicken (woohoo!). In the end I just mixed it all together in the casserole dish, but fearing it might be a little dry (I had a little too much past), I threw 4 scoops of ricotta in.
Smelled great, tasted great, and even dh AND the toddlers ate it!! Total win. Poor hubs said it was perfect and I was like, well sorry cause next time I'll probably have different ingredients. Haha.
Thanks for a quick and tasty recipe!
Hello,
I'm anxious to try this recipe!
Would this recipe work with Kale instead of spinach? If so what would be your recommendation on incorporating it? Thank you so much in advance
Kale is an excellent choice for this recipe! It would work really well!
Hi Julia, I'm new to your site. Lots of yummy looking things that I am excited to try. 🙂 One quick question for you: the recipe for the Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake requires 8 ounces of pasta. What would that translate to (roughly) in terms of cups ? TIA !
Thank you for your kind words! I am glad you are visiting my site! 8 ounces of uncooked elbow macaroni is about 2 cups. 8 ounces of cooked elbow macaroni is 4 cups.
This was a sad attempt of a mac and cheese. Anyone with basic knowledge of cheese will understand that there is no way to make these cheese work as a sauce. I would recommend adding something with sodium citrate. This allows the cheese to lossen and melt. You could achieve this with velveeta or American or just sodium citrate. I added a whole velveeta cheese pack to make this into a usable sauce that coats the noodles. Added a bit of milk to cook it down. This makes it much more of a cheese and sauce.
This was so good! I used store-bought spinach dip.
How much spinach dip do you use if it's store bought,?
I used 5 oz frozen spinach.