Get ready for the ultimate comfort food! This Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake recipe is the perfect blend of cheesy goodness, tender chicken, and healthy veggies. Quick and easy to make, it’s a crowd-pleaser that will leave everyone wanting more. Don’t miss out on this mouth-watering dish – try it now!
Pasta bake is one of my favourite midweek meals. Whether it’s a spicier chicken pasta bake with added chorizo, or super creamy, pasta bakes are fab comfort food.
We eat pasta all of the time, and pasta bakes like this are a regular feature of our meal plans.
Disclaimer: While I aim to be as accurate as possible, any advice in this post, including but not limited to, cooking times, quantities, nutritional information and storage and freezing guidance is based on my own experience. Please use your own skills, knowledge and judgement, and get up to date food safety information.
Why You’ll Love This Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake Recipe
Pasta bakes, and particularly this chicken broccoli pasta bake recipe are fabulous because:
- It’s easy.
- Pasta bakes are cheap.
- The kids love them.
- There’s very little active cooking time.
- Pasta bake sandwiches are the best thing ever!
Ingredients for Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake
This isn’t a really juicy pasta bake recipe. There’s enough sauce to flavour the meat and pasta, but it’s not swimming in it, like in some of the other pasta bake recipes.
If you prefer more liquid, I’d add extra water, and a tablespoon of cornflour (mix to a paste with some of the water before pouring in) to thicken it. Alternatively, if you want more liquid, and a more tomatoey flavour, you could also add a tin of chopped tomatoes.
I use:
Cooking Spray – Swap for olive oil, or another cooking oil if you prefer.
Pasta
Broccoli – Fresh broccoli florets work best, I wouldn’t advise frozen broccoli as I’ve never tried it.
Chicken Breasts
Onion
Garlic
Chicken Stock
Soft Cheese – Like Philadelphia, I use Aldi’s own soft cheese, but I do recommend using full-fat.
Paprika
Tomato Puree
Salt and Pepper
Mozzarella
Can You Use Leftover Chicken?
Absolutely, a leftover chicken and broccoli pasta bake would be an amazing way to use up leftovers! You could even add leftover broccoli, and other veggies too!
I recommend shredding leftover chicken, this helps it to go further if you don’t have much left, and then just skip the browning step.
Just make sure your chicken has been stored safely, and only for a day or two, and that it is piping hot before you serve it! You can get more advice on leftovers here.
If you are using leftover veg too, just skip the part boiling step, and throw it in with the pasta before baking, so that it doesn’t get a chance to go too mushy!
Other leftovers recipes you might like to include:
Can I Use Chicken Thighs?
Yeah, chicken thighs are awesome, we use them a lot!
I recommend boneless skinless chicken, but thighs are just as good as breasts.
What Kind of Pasta Should You Use for Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake?
I’ve used fusilli because I’ve got a kg bag of it in the cupboard!
Rigatoni is good too because the sauce gets into the groves and sticks.
You can use any pasta though, no rules! Just check the packet cooking instructions.
What Cheese Should You Use for Pasta Bake?
Shredded mozzarella cheese is great on a cheesy chicken and broccoli pasta bake. It melts really well and has a mild flavour.
But cheddar is good too, or a mixture. You could also mix in some grated parmesan cheese for a bit extra.
Any cheese that melts, and you like, will be fine. Use what you’ve got.
How Big Should the Broccoli Florets Be?
I would say don’t worry about this too much. Try to chop off big bits of stalk, but the florets don’t need to be uniform.
You don’t want them huge, or they’ll stick out and the tops might burn. But everything between tiny and medium works really well.
Top Tips for the Perfect Baked Pasta Dish
This chicken and broccoli pasta bake recipe is super simple, and delicious. You can’t go far wrong! But my top tips for the perfect pasta bake every time are:
- Cook the pasta in salted water for half the time it says on the pack, this way it won’t go mushy as it bakes, but you won’t need to bake it for hours for it to soften.
- Use a pasta with swirls or ridges so the sauce sticks.
- Use full-fat soft cheese for a creamy sauce.
- Let the sauce simmer until it’s thick enough to stick to the pasta. Stir in a little cornflour if you are worried it’s too thin.
- Let it rest for a few minutes before serving, so that the sauce doesn’t all sink to the bottom as soon as you cut into your pasta casserole.
What to Bake Broccoli Pasta Bake in
If you have one, a large cast iron dish, or similar, is ideal, because it’s both flameproof and ovenproof, so you can simmer your sauce on the hob, and then bake it in the oven in the same pan.
If you haven’t got one, or your cast iron dish isn’t big enough, I recommend a large frying pan, to fry the chicken and simmer the sauce, and then any large ovenproof baking dish to bake.
How to Serve Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake
I serve pasta bake with chicken and broccoli with a simple side salad and either garlic bread or bread and butter. Nothing fancy. You could serve it on its own.
Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 200 g Pasta (Something like fusilli or rigatoni)
- 300 g Broccoli (Cut into small-medium florets)
- Cooking Spray (Or a Splash of Oil)
- 3 Large Chicken Breasts (Diced)
- ½ Red Onion (Finely Diced)
- 3 Cloves Garlic (Crushed)
- 500 ml Chicken Stock
- 100 g Soft Cheese
- 1 Tablespoon Paprika
- 1 Tablespoon Puree
- Pinch Salt and pepper
- 100 g Mozzarella
Instructions
- Heat the cooking spray in a large, flameproof pan over a medium heat.
- Add the chicken and fry until browned.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set it to one side.
- In the same pan, fry the onions for 5 minutes until soft, stirring often.
- Add the garlic and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
- Pour in the stock and add the soft cheese, paprika, salt and pepper and tomato puree.
- Stir well and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for around 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and then remove from the heat.
- While your sauce is simmering, cook the pasta to the packet instructions, for half the time, adding the broccoli for the last 2 minutes.
- Drain and set to one side until the sauce is ready.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- When the sauce is ready, return the chicken to the pan and add the drained broccoli and pasta.
- Stir well.
- If your pan is also ovenproof (like a large cast-iron dish) top directly with mozzarella.
- If not, tip into a large ovenproof dish and top with mozzarella.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and the chicken is piping hot.
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
