Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake is comfort food baked in your oven! Creamy Alfredo sauce with chicken, bacon and pasta makes a dinner everyone will love!
The Alfredo Sauce for Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake
Have you tried my delicious Homemade Alfredo? Click HERE for the recipe.
This is the alfredo sauce I use for this pasta bake and it is creamy and delicious! It comes together pretty fast but has such great flavor.
You can use a jarred/bottled Alfredo Sauce. Rao’s is delicious brand and surprisingly Walmart’s Great Value Brand has a delicious Alfred Sauce. (Not getting paid to promote either of those brands- it is just my opinion.)
Making the Alfredo Sauce
In a large bowl or large liquid measuring cup, add your milk, flour, kosher salt and garlic powder.
Whisk it together, making sure the flour is mixed in and there are no lumps.
In a large skillet, melt your butter over medium heat and add your minced garlic.
I use bottled minced garlic and love it- the flavor is so yummy but you don’t have to worry about peeling and mincing the fresh stuff! Let the butter and garlic simmer for a minute, or until the garlic is fragrant.
Next, you will add in your milk mixture, whisking it as you add it. Keep your heat on medium and keep whisking. It should start to thicken. (If it never thickens, see notes in the recipe below).
Add your block of cream cheese once the milk mixture is hot and thickened. The cream cheese will help it thicken a bit too. Whisk/stir the cream cheese until is fully melted and mixed in.
Add your grated parmesan cheese and whisk/stir until it’s melted and mixed in good.
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed to your liking.
The Chicken and Bacon
You will need cooked chicken, cut into small pieces and you will need cooked bacon pieces.
The chicken does not need to be seasoned. If you season it, you can season it with salt and pepper or some garlic salt. I usually use just salt and pepper. You can have the pieces as large or as small as you like. You can see in the photo below the size of my chicken.
I prefer fresh cooked and crumbled bacon. Do not use a flavored bacon, like “maple”. It will not taste good (personal opinion, but I wouldn’t recommend it).
You can use pre-cooked bacon or “real” bacon bits in a plastic bag/bottle if you don’t want to have to cook it.
Pasta for Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake
I use Penne Pasta for this Pasta Bake.
You can use any type of pasta, but I recommend using a pasta like penne, bowtie, rigatoni or ziti. I like to use a bite size pasta. Spaghetti, angel hair and fettuccine will work if you prefer that.
NOTE: Bite size pasta is easier to eat (especially for the kiddos) if it is not long pasta noodles.
I cook the pasta while I am making my sauce. Cook the pasta a little underdone. It will cook and soften a bit more in the oven.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and set it aside. I usually run some cold water over the pasta in the strainer. This stops it from cooking and getting more tender from the steam.
Side Note: See below for a link to the pasta pots that I LOVE! It comes with a great sized pot, a steamer insert (which is great) but the best part is the pasta insert!
Assembling your Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake
It is pretty simple to assemble this Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake.
Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Preheat your oven.
Add the cooked chicken and cooked bacon pieces to the alfredo sauce.
Next, add your cooked pasta.
Then, pour it in your greased 9×13 baking dish and spread it evenly in the pan.
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake it for 20-26 minutes. Everything is cooked, it just needs to be warmed through.
After it has baked for a bit ( about 25 minutes) and is warmed all the the way through, take off the foil. Add the shredded mozzarella cheese to the top.
Put the dish back in the oven without foil.
Let the dish bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted to your liking.
Then, remove the dish from the oven and let it cool a minute before serving. You can add a little dried parsley for a garnish and to make it look fancy if you wish! (I usually don’t worry about this, but I did it for the photos).
For some other yummy pasta dishes try my Slow Cooker Penne Pasta, my Creamy Chicken Bacon Pasta or my Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce.
For some delicious bread sides to eat with this pasta bake try my Easy Breadsticks, my Garlic Knots or yummy Garlic Bread!
If you liked this recipe please take the time to leave a comment and a star rating below! Also, don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram!
Check out the latest posts from the Butcher’s Wife!
- Garlic Basil Parmesan Butter Spread
- Easy Clam Dip
- Pina Colada Fruit Dip
- Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs
- Greek Chicken
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake
Equipment
- 9×13 baking dish
- Foil, for covering the dish while baking
- large skillet or pan
- bowl or glass measuring cup
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken, cooked and diced/cubed into bite sized pieces *about 1 lb. of chicken
- 1 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled *you can add more or less
- 4 cups milk, 2% or whole
- 1 8 oz. block cream cheese *not low fat or light cream cheese
- 4 1/2 tbsp flour
- 2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tsp bottled, minced garlic or 6 fresh garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated *or more (for topping)
- 1 box (16 oz. or 1 lb.) Penne Pasta, cooked a little underdone *ziti, bowtie or rigatoni works great too
- dried parsley *for appearance after baking (optional)
Instructions
- Cook your pasta leaving it a little underdone. It will finish cooking and get a little more tender in the oven. You can also cook your pasta while you are making your sauce. Make sure to drain your pasta well and run some cold water over it so it stops cooking (the hot steam as it sits can cause it cook a little bit more).
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl or large liquid measuring cup, add your milk, flour, garlic powder and kosher salt. Whisk together making sure the flour is mixed well and there are no lumps.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt your butter and add the minced garlic. Let it cook until garlic becomes fragrant.
- Pour your milk mixture into the hot skillet with the butter and garlic. Whisk it until it's well combined. It should start to thicken.
- Once the milk mixture gets hot, add your block of cream cheese. Whisk it until it's melted and fully incorporated.
- Add your parmesan cheese and whisk until fully melted. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Add your cooked chicken and cooked bacon crumbles to the alfredo sauce. Mix well. Then add the cooked pasta and mix it all together.
- Dump the mixed pasta in your greased 9×13 baking dish. Spread it evenly in the baking dish.
- Tightly cover the dish with foil. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes until the dish is heated through.
- Remove the foil from the pasta dish and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top. Let it bake (without the foil) for another 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted to your liking.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. You can sprinkle the top with some dried parsley if desired (this is totally for looks).
- Serve amd enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.
