This Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake will surely become a family favorite with a creamy pesto sauce baked with whole wheat penne pasta and chicken and topped with cheese!
This winter has been very strange so far in Michigan.
It started off with a huge snow storm and up to a foot of snow before Christmas arrived.
That snow quickly melted and since then we’ve only had one or two more days of snow.
Then came the unseasonably warm weather, even reaching the 50’s a few days in January. Yes, January.
That is NOT normal for Michigan.
Now, most people here are loving this weather. And I do for running and the kids being able to spend more time outdoors. However, I also love skiing like I’ve mentioned several times so we decided to take a last-minute trip up north this weekend to see some snow!
This will be the first time my kids will try snow skiing too and to say I’m excited to introduce my kids to my all-time favorite activity is an understatement. I can’t wait to see how each one of them react to the concept.
Updated: here is my recap of our first time skiing as a family of 5. It went amazing!
My daughter is already talking about how much she LOVES skiing even though she’s never tried it. And my 3 year old is demonstrating how he’ll go down the hill by running crazy around our house and landing in a pile of bean bags.
And the funny part is that this just may be what it looks like when he tries skiing. He’s the wild one of the bunch.
So onto this cheesy chicken pasta recipe. If you have pre-cooked chicken, all you need is 20 minutes to prep this dish and another 20 minutes to bake it.
I don’t cook with pesto much but love any dish that I add it to, like my Tuna Pesto Pasta recipe that I make quite often.
Dietitian’s Dish
Pesto can be a healthy choice but like everything, it should be consumed in moderation.
Did you know you can easily make your own pesto with fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, cheese, olive oil and seasoning? This is on my to-do list this summer once we get a garden up and running.
And if not, I’m going to at least have several herb plants around our house since I love adding fresh herbs to practically every dish I make.
PESTO CHICKEN PASTA BAKE
Ingredients
- 13.75 ounce whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins cooked and cut into strips
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- black pepper and salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 8 ounce fresh mushrooms chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 10 ounce frozen spinach drained and thawed
- 2 cups skim milk
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 7 ounce container pesto
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to directions.
- In a large skillet add olive oil, garlic and onions. Saute over medium heat until onions are tender.
- Add cooked chicken, mushrooms, spinach, Italian seasoning, black pepper, salt, milk and flour. Stirring constantly until sauce thickens.
- Stir in pasta and pesto.
- Add pasta to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish and top with mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Do you make your own pesto? I’d also love to hear what your favorite recipes are that include pesto!
This Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake post first appeared on Chocolate Slopes.
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