No Boil Pesto Chicken Pasta
No Boil Pesto Chicken Pasta is a super easy weeknight dinner that takes 5 minutes to prep! You put the unboiled pasta in the baking dish and it's cooked in the oven!
Now that cozy season is in full swing, I'm really leaning into all of the soups, stews, and casseroles. I've made no boil pasta casseroles before (like No Boil Baked Rigatoni!)and they are always a big hit with you guys, so I'm definitely going to making a bunch of them this winter! This No Boil Pesto Chicken Pasta is my first one this fall and it was a huge hit with my family. I loved it so much I had it for lunch AND dinner one day. And lunch the next day!
How to Make No Boil Chicken Parmesan Pasta
This recipe is seriously SO easy to make (kind of like my Creamy Vegetable Pasta!). It is one of my favorite pasta recipes! The great thing about this recipe is that it uses uncooked pasta, which means you don't have to pre-cook and drain cooked pasta at all. You just add it to the baking dish uncooked.
So, to start, grease a 9x13" baking pan and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Add the uncooked pasta to the bottom of the pan and then top with the shredded chicken, pesto, half and half, and broth. Give it a little stir. You don't have to get everything perfectly combined, but I like to take some tongs and just mix things around a bit. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.
Then cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, add the shredded cheese, give it a little stir, and bake, covered, for another 5-10 minutes. After 5-10 minutes, stir it well and then it's ready to go! If you want it a bit creamier, add a splash or two of extra half and half, but it should be pretty creamy already.
No Boil Pesto Chicken Pasta Tips
Use rotisserie chicken. I love buying a rotisserie chicken, or now Target has pre-shredded rotisserie chicken that is REALLY good! You could also cook up some chicken breasts or chicken thighs and shred them for this recipe.
Other Add-Ins. Season as you prefer with salt and pepper. You could also add a teaspoon of garlic powder or even fresh minced garlic for some garlic flavor, or some crushed red pepper flakes for a little bit of heat. You could also add in some pine nuts at the end for a little bit of crunch.
Pesto. Use a good basil pesto, as that is the main flavor in this dish! We like Rao's or Stonewall Kitchen pesto, although homemade fresh basil pesto really is the best!
Cheese. I like using shredded white cheddar or mozzarella cheese in this. I have also added a handful of Parmesan cheese and that is delicious, too!
Tomatoes. I think this recipe would be delicious with some cherry tomatoes in it. I would just add them with the rest of the ingredients at the start and bake them with the chicken pesto pasta.
Leftovers. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I use a microwave to reheat the leftovers.
Half and half. Adding half-and-half makes the creamy pesto sauce and it is so dreamy! I like using half and half in this recipe, but you could use a combination of heavy cream and milk, too.
Pasta. I used spaghetti pasta in this recipe for this time, but I have also made it using short pasta like penne pasta. Other no bake recipes I have done have used rigatoni and large elbow macaroni and they turn out great.
Like this recipe? Check these out, too!
No Boil Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta
No Boil Pesto Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti uncooked
- 2 cups shredded chicken I use rotisserie chicken
- ¾ cup pesto
- 2 ½ cups half and half
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese shredded mozzarella would work, too
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Grease a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray.
- Lay the spaghetti noodles on the bottom of the baking dish.
- Add the chicken, pesto, half and half, and broth to the dish and give it a little stir to mix it all up.
- Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
- Remove the foil, give the pasta a stir, and add the cheese, stirring to combine.
- Cover again with the foil and bake another 7-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the pasta is fully cooked.
- Serve and enjoy!
This recipe is SO easy and delish! 3 picky girls in our house asked for seconds! Yesssss! We used bow tie noodles to make things exciting! Thanks Taylor!