Baked Ziti With Chicken

Creamy, cheesy Baked Ziti with Chicken is a savory, indulgent meal the whole family will love! This gooey pasta dish combines perfectly cooked pasta, sautéed peppers and onions, seasoned chicken, and plenty of melty Provolone cheese, channeling the flavors of a chicken cheesesteak.

I use an Alfredo-style cream sauce in this Baked Ziti with Chicken. If you’re craving a tomato-based sauce, try my original Baked Ziti recipe!

Baked Ziti With Chicken

This recipe is slightly adapted from Lauren Grier’s cookbook, Modern Comfort Food. When you want delicious, hearty comfort food without using canned soup, this book is perfect! Lauren’s Baked Ziti with Chicken is amazing—ultimate comfort food that still tastes fresh.

This casserole is incredibly delicious—cheesy, flavorful, and has a great mix of textures. If you like Philly cheesesteak with chicken, you’ll recognize those flavors in this dish.

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A few of our other favorite comfort-food meals to put on your list to try next: Sausage Rigatoni, Creamy Beef and Shells, or Chicken Divan.

Baked Ziti With Chicken and Vegetables

There are four components to this recipe: 1. vegetables, 2. chicken, 3. pasta, and 4. the cheesy cream sauce.

The pasta is boiled in a separate pot, but we then cook the vegetables, chicken, and sauce all in the same pan at different times. By cooking each component in the same pan, we’re building and layering flavors, which will enhance the final dish. When the chicken gets removed from the pot, make sure to leave behind all those lovely browned bits. Those will get whisked into the sauce to add an incredible depth of flavor to the final dish.

As mentioned above, there are four parts to this recipe; here’s a quick overview along with a few tips for preparing Baked Ziti With Chicken:

How To Make Baked Ziti With Chicken

1. Boil pasta. Be sure to boil the pasta in salted water–this is how we actually season the pasta and make sure the entire dish doesn’t taste flat.
2. Sauté the vegetables. We want a nice char on the veggies which will make them extra flavorful. Achieve maximum char from high heat, ensuring the vegetables have plenty of space, and stirring them only occasionally.
3. Cook the chicken. To make sure this step goes fairly quick, we cut medium-sized chicken breasts in half widthwise. These thinner filets cook up much quicker!
4. Prepare the cream sauce. In the same pan, we create a quick roux (butter + flour) and then add milk and later cheese. A quick check to ensure the sauce is thick enough: stir with a wooden spoon and then lift up the spoon. If you can draw a path across the back of a spoon and it stays, the sauce is ready!

Baked Ziti With Chicken Recipe Tips

• Use ultra-thin sliced Provolone cheese. We’ve tried this recipe with regular Provolone slices and the thin slices. With the thicker slices, the cheese is a bit overwhelming and tends to take over. Use these ultra-thin slices for best results! And if you can’t find them, we’d recommend topping the casserole with freshly grated Parmesan cheese instead.
• Don’t use pre-shredded cheese in the cream sauce. Pre-shredded packaged cheese has a cellulose coating that keeps it from melting as smoothly. It tends to make the sauce overly gummy.
• Under-boil the ziti. Since we’ll bake the ziti after it’s been cooked, make sure to drain it 1 minute before the package suggests for al dente. This way, as it bakes it will end up perfectly tender instead of perhaps mushy.
• Season at every step. Seasoning is very important for this dish and we want to season as we cook (while also keeping in mind that the cheese adds more saltiness to the dish as a whole). I like to salt the pasta water as the ziti cooks (thus seasoning the ziti), seasoning the vegetables, seasoning the chicken, and seasoning the cream sauce. Taste all the elements as you cook and add a dash more if any of the flavors seem flat.

Baked Ziti With Chicken FAQs

More Comfort Food Favorites:

• Chicken Parmesan Meatballs with a quick marinara sauce
• Biscuits and Gravy over store-bought biscuits or use this homemade Biscuit Recipe
• Red Beans And Rice with andouille sausage
• Meatballs and Orzo made in ONE pot!
• Grilled Cheese made in the air fryer or in a skillet

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Baked Ziti With Chicken

5 from 5 votes

- Review this recipe

Creamy and cheesy Baked Ziti With Chicken is a deeply savory and totally indulgent meal the whole family will go crazy for! We're channeling the flavors of a good chicken cheesesteak into this gooey pasta dish by combining perfectly cooked pasta with sautéed peppers and onions, seasoned chicken, and plenty of melty provolone cheese.

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Baked Ziti With Chicken

5 from 5 votes

- Review this recipe

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

Creamy and cheesy Baked Ziti With Chicken is a deeply savory and totally indulgent meal the whole family will go crazy for! We're channeling the flavors of a good chicken cheesesteak into this gooey pasta dish by combining perfectly cooked pasta with sautéed peppers and onions, seasoned chicken, and plenty of melty provolone cheese.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword Baked Ziti With Chicken

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6 servings

Chelsea Lords

Calories 545kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $12.85

Ingredients

For the Pasta:

• ▢ 8 ounces (3 cups) uncooked ziti or rigatoni pasta

For the Peppers & Onions:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 cup thinly-sliced yellow onion
• ▢ 1 cup thinly-sliced red pepper
• ▢ 1 cup thinly-sliced green pepper
• ▢ Salt and pepper
• ▢ 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

For the Chicken:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 2 medium-sized (1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly-sliced in half widthwise
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

For the Provolone Sauce:

• ▢ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 cups whole milk
• ▢ 1 package (7.6 ounces) ultra-thin sliced provolone separated, see note 1
• ▢ Optional: fresh chopped parsley

US - Metric

USMetric

Instructions

• Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
• Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add 2 teaspoons of salt, then the pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, minus 1 minute. Strain the pasta, then transfer it to a prepared 9x13-inch pan.
• In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, red pepper, green pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Sauté until softened and golden brown, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the red wine vinegar, and pour the mixture over the cooked pasta.
• Cut the chicken breasts in half widthwise to create four thinner filets. Pound each piece gently to even out the thickness. Season both sides with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper each, and divide 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning evenly over all pieces.
• In the same skillet used for the peppers and onions, heat oil over high heat. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer and cook for 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through (160°F/internal temperature). Transfer to a plate, tent with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Chop the chicken and add it to the peppers and onions. Do not rinse the pan!
• Return the skillet to medium heat and add the butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for one minute, scraping up any browned bits. Gradually whisk in the milk and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in the Provolone cheese until melted (it doesn't have to be fully melted). Pour the sauce over the chicken, peppers, and pasta. Gently stir until everything is well coated and combined.
• Smooth the top in an even layer, then add Provolone slices or Parmesan cheese (Note 1). Place the dish in the oven, uncovered, and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown. Remove from the oven, garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired, and enjoy promptly!

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Provolone: Use a package of ultra-thin sliced Provolone cheese. Set aside 6 slices for topping and dice the rest into small pieces for the cheese sauce (about 1 cup). If not using ultra-thin slices, the Provolone can be overpowering. Instead, use 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese. For best results, grate a block of Parmesan on a microplane or the small holes of a grater.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 545kcal | Carbohydrates: 42.6g | Protein: 33.4g | Fat: 26.6g | Cholesterol: 106.8mg | Sodium: 323.8mg | Fiber: 3.1g | Sugar: 8.2g

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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