This easy Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake is a winner for the whole family. It’s packed with veggies, has a delicious creamy sauce base and is topped with crunchy cheese.
Fill your boots with this cheesy, carby goodness that is so satisfying in any season. This recipe for Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake is comfort food, pure and simple. Include whatever veggies you fancy, top with cheese and there’s a whole meal ready to go.
This has always been one of my go-to dishes, and there’s so many ways you can mix it up. It’s a brilliant way of stretching a pack of chicken breasts, and the bacon and cheese obviously take everything up a notch of deliciousness.
Every home cook needs an affordable and easy Pasta Bake in their repertoire, right? Here is my offering. I hope it’ll be added to your go-to midweek meals too.
You’ll love this recipe because:
✅ Easy and adaptable (mix it up each week)
✅ So comforting
✅ Fantastic for lunch leftovers
FAQs about this Pasta Bake Recipe
How do you make Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake?
Start with bacon and chicken breasts, browned in a pan until delicious and golden. Add vegetables and garlic while cooking your pasta in another pan. Make the creamy sauce by making a cornflour ‘slurry’ and heating the milk until it’s nice and thick. Drain the pasta, mix everything together and top with cheese. Bake until you have a dish of cheesy gorgeousness (totally a thing).
Can I use leftover chicken?
Sure, just add it to the pasta and sauce with the pan fried bacon and vegetables. (No need to fry it again if it’s already cooked.)
Do you cook the pasta before baking in a pasta bake?
It’s always best to cook pasta in fresh boiling water and then drain before adding to a pasta sauce to make a pasta bake.
Can I use the oven for this dish instead of the grill?
Sure, just preheat the oven to 180C and cook for about 20 – 30 minutes until the top is golden.
What should I serve with Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake?
Really this is a one-stop-shop easy meal that requires not further effort. However, if you’re up for adding extras to the meal to make it go further or because you’re entertaining, you could serve this with a side salad or garlic bread.
Can I make this pasta bake recipe vegetarian?
Of course. Just omit the chicken and bacon and replace with extra vegetables or meat substitute. If you eat fish, my mum often made this with drained tinned tuna for a Tuna Pasta Bake (just add the tuna to the sauce when you add the cooked pasta). Other meat options could be meatballs, sausage or chorizo.
Is pasta bake healthy?
This pasta recipe is relatively low in fat compared to some as we don’t use butter in the sauce. If you want to reduce the fat further you could use low fat bacon and omit the cheese.
How can I use the leftovers?
Pasta Bake is a brilliant dish to eat as leftovers or for a packed lunch or picnic. Just store it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it (for not more than a couple of days) and enjoy. If you want to reheat it, make sure it’s piping hot before serving again, and never reheat more than once.
Can I make this in advance?
Yes. Prepare up to the end of point 9 in the recipe and then when cold pop into the fridge (covered). When you are ready to eat, preheat the oven to 180C and cook for about 30 – 40 minutes or until the top is golden and everything is hot throughout.
Fancy more easy pasta recipes?
- One Pot Pasta – Super simple tomato sauce recipe
- Feta and Tomato Pasta – Perfect summer slow cooker fave
- Prawn Pasta – A 10-minute meal with creamy garlic sauce
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
I’d love to know how you got on and what you thought of it if you make this recipe. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ by the recipe.Also, if you’d like to show me a photo by tagging me on Instagram (@tamingtwins) I LOVE to see your creations.
This recipe was originally published on June 07, 2018 and fully updated with new photos and method on June 28, 2022.
Easy Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 300 g Pasta
- 1 tsp Olive oil
- 200 g Bacon Chopped into small pieces
- 300 g Chicken breast chunks (About 2 large chicken breasts)
- 3 Cloves Garlic Peeled and crushed
- 1 Large onion Peeled and chopped into chunks
- 200 g Courgettes Chopped into small chunks
- 500 ml Milk
- 30 g Cornflour
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100 g Cheese See notes
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water as instructed on the packet (usually about 10 minutes). Remove the pasta from the water and drain about 2 minutes BEFORE the end of the cooking time.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pan. I like to use a wok as it's good for frying and cooking the sauce in.
- Fry off the bacon for 5 mins, then add the chicken and fry for about 5 minutes until coloured all over.
- Add the onions, garlic and courgettes and cook until just softened and the chicken is cooked through. About 10 minutes.
- While everything else is cooking, put the cornflour into a mug and mix with a small amount of the measured milk until it forms a paste.
- Put the remaining milk into a sauce pan over a medium heat. Pour in the cornflour 'slurry' and whisk for about 5 minutes until it thickens, whisking often.
- Add half of the cheese to the white sauce, plus salt and pepper, and whisk until it's thick.
- Preheat the grill.
- Add the drained, cooked pasta to the bacon, chicken and vegetables, plus the sauce, and sprinkle the cheese on top.
- Put under the grill for about 10 minutes until crispy and bubbling.
Notes
You can use whichever cheese you like to top your chicken pasta bake. I like to use half mozzarella, for streeeeeeetchy-ness (is that a word?) and half cheddar, for flavour. Vegetables
Don’t like courgettes? Substitute whichever vegetables your family prefers. My Mum always used to make this with broccoli and carrots.
Carol Redfern says
This recipe is amazing. Really tasty. I tried it out last night and loved it 👍
Sarah Barnes says
Ahhh so pleased you liked it Carol! It’s one of our favourites 🙂
Naomi Dawson says
Delicious and easy to make. Family favourite now.
Rachel says
Found this recipe before Christmas and it’s become our Monday night tea most weeks ~ the most delicious pasta recipe that everyone gobbles up!
Kirsty Warsop says
Tried this tonight for the first time, so simple yet so delicious. Am absolute hit in our house, kids loved it, hubby loved it, we all loved it. Definitely going to be a regular on my menu plan.
Lucy Capaldo says
This looks great, absolutely love your feed Sarah. I am a mum of twins too and your posts are so brilliant 👏
Love your sausage pasta recipe, it is one of our family favourites 😍 😋
Fiona irvani says
Tried this recipe out last night , very tasty and all the family loved it 😍
Ann says
Made tonight following recipe and adding some mushrooms i had to use. Easy to make and tasted really good. I buy packs of bacon cuts from lidl and chopped that, so it was nice and cheap as well as tasty. Also had a slice of brown bread left from home made loaf and whizzed it into breadcrumbs to add with the cheese topping. Extra crunchy,yum! Will be making it again.
Eileen says
Loving the recipes, we had this tonight and we all loved it. Loving the meal plans.
Marion says
Made this tonight and it was amazing.