Chicken And Broccoli Pasta Bake is healthy comfort food at its finest. Heartwarming and full of flavor, easy to make, and without any canned or condensed soups. You won’t believe how simple “from scratch” can be!
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Easy and Healthy Broccoli Chicken Pasta Bake
Would you believe you can make a heartwarming, from-scratch casserole that’s packed with flavor, high in protein, and still easy enough for a weeknight—without any canned soups or soup mixes? This Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake is exactly that, and it’s about to earn a permanent spot in your dinner rotation.
Like my Glazed Chicken Meatloaf, Puff Pastry Turkey Pot Pie and Low Carb Chicken and Mushroom Casserole, this cheesy bake is healthy comfort food at its best: simple, basic, and delicious. It’s a versatile recipe, a great way to use up leftover chicken, and the whole thing comes together in less than an hour!
Ingredients
- Uncooked short pasta - rotini pasta, penne or ziti all work great
- Broccoli florets - I use one whole crown
- Cooked chicken meat - shredded or chopped, rotisserie chicken works great
- Olive oil - extra virgin
- Butter - If using salted butter, you may want to reduce the amount of salt in the recipe
- Onion - yellow or white, diced
- Fresh garlic cloves - minced
- Chicken broth or chicken stock - I like Imagine
- Heavy cream - or light cream or half-and-half for a lighter version
- Milk - any milk will work
- All-purpose flour - to thicken the sauce
- Shredded cheddar cheese - sharp or mild
- Shredded Monterey Jack or mozzarella
- Parmesan cheese - freshly grated
- Salt - I like to use coarse Kosher salt or pink Himalayan salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1: Sauté onion in butter and olive oil until softened.
Step 2: Add flour and cook, stirring for a few minutes.
Step 3: Add cream, milk, chicken broth, most of the cheese and spices.
Step 4: Once the sauce is thick and all the cheese is melted, add cooked chicken.
Step 5: While the sauce is thickening, cook pasta and broccoli in one pot. Drain.
Step 6: Add pasta and broccoli to the sauce and stir to coat.
Step 7: Transfer to an oven proof dish. Top with more grated cheese.
Step 8: Bake for 25-20 minutes until golden and bubbly.
Storage and Reheating Tips
Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezing: Assemble the casserole but don’t bake it. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil, then store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Bake straight from frozen at 375°F for about 50–60 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
To reheat leftovers: Cover with tin foil, then reheat in the oven at 350 until hot.
Substitutions & Tips
- Any leftover cooked chicken will work, and so will cooked turkey meat.
- Regular pasta can be swapped for whole wheat pasta, protein pasta (chickpea, lentil or Barilla protein pasta), gluten-free pasta or whatever pasta you want.
- The heavy cream and milk can be swapped for 1 full cup of half and half or light cream.
- To make it higher in fiber, add some baby spinach to the pasta mix before baking and swap our regular pasta for whole wheat.
- You can also sub or add extra veggies like cauliflower or peas.
- The cheddar, Monterey jack and parmesan combo can be swapped for whatever cheese you like - for example, you can do all cheddar or ½ cheddar and ½ mozzarella.
Top Tip
Don’t overcook the broccoli - 3 minutes is enough or you may end up with mushy broccoli in your casserole.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can assemble the casserole up to 48 hours in advance, cover the whole baking dish tightly, and store it in the fridge. When ready to bake, add extra time (35–40 minutes) since it will be cold going into the oven.
Technically yes, but it will still be crisp. I recommend pre-cooking (blanching) it for 3 minutes first.
Use milk in place of cream and swap our full fat cheese for reduced fat cheese. The bake won’t be as creamy and decadent but it will still be delicious.
Rotisserie chicken is my go-to because it’s so easy, but you can use any cooked chicken (grilled, baked, poached, or leftover from another meal). Just shred or chop it into bite-sized pieces.
More healthy pasta dishes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe
Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 10 oz uncooked rotini pasta or penne or ziti
- 3 cups broccoli florets (one large crown)
- 2 ½ cups cooked chicken meat shredded or chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese plus more for the top
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Add 10 oz of rotini pasta and cook until al dente according to package instructions (for me it was 7 minutes). Add broccoli florets 3 minutes before the end of pasta cooking time (I added mine after 4 minutes).
- Drain pasta and broccoli on a colander, then transfer back to the now empty pot and cover with a lid. Set aside.
- Place butter and olive oil to a large skillet. Add diced onion and cook stirring often, until softened. Then add minced garlic and cook another minute.
- Now stir in the flour and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Then pour in 1 cup of chicken broth.
- Cook on low heat whisking with a metal whisk until the sauce is mostly smooth and thickened. Then add the additional cup of broth, ½ cup of milk and ½ cup of heavy cream.
- Cook, whisking often until bubbly. Now turn off the heat and stir in cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese (or mozzarella) and parmesan. Stir until all the cheese is melted.
- Add cooked chicken together with cooked and reserved pasta and broccoli. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Stir with a spatula until the sauce coats all the pasta, then transfer to a casserole dish.
- Sprinkle with more monterey jack or mozzarella cheese (about ½ cup), if desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until you see some golden edges on top.
- Serve immediately with a green salad.
Notes
Nutrition
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Meet the Author
Hi, I'm Agnieszka. I'm a mom of three and recipe developer, writer and photographer behind Wholly Tasteful. I love creating comforting, delicious, family-friendly recipes that you can feel good about.
Mike says
Extra good with a few shakes of Frank's on top.
Magali Mutombo says
This recipe is perfect for fall. So creamy and nutritious:)
May says
Made it for dinner last night. Added some baby spinach, as suggested too, super delicious, and so easy to put together.
Ros says
This is the ultimate comfort food! A good pasta bake is a weeknight lifesaver, and the combination of tender chicken and fresh broccoli is a classic. Yours looks perfectly cheesy and creamy. Definitely adding this to my rotation!
Andie says
Love a good pasta bake although I had never tried which chicken and broccoli. Was so delicious!
Lathiya says
The part I love about this recipe is that my kids finish off licking the plate when I serve this. This is in my weekly menu now.
Dani says
The broccoli stayed tender-crisp in the oven, and the chicken-to-pasta ratio made for a very balanced and filling meal.
Lora says
This sounds like the perfect balance of cozy and wholesome. I love that it is made completely from scratch but still so simple to pull together.
Tess says
Delicious! My whole family loved it, we will definitely be adding it to our regular list of go to meals!
Anne says
This is a baked pasta dish with chicken, broccoli, and a creamy sauce, all topped with melted cheese.
It’s an easy, family-friendly dinner that’s great for busy nights 🍝🥦
Emily says
My family loved this pasta bake. I was in a pinch to make something new, but still easy and this fit the bill!