Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake

Creamy chicken and bacon pasta bake with cheese and sour cream, this pasta bake has the potential to become a family favorite.

Chicken, bacon, and pasta – three ingredients that everybody loves! Mix them together, bake them shortly and you will have a super simple yet super delicious meal that is bound to make your children happy!

Pasta dishes are, most of the time, quick and easy to make, and when it comes to taste and family food-related happiness, I could never go wrong with anything containing pasta.

This chicken and bacon pasta bake is definitely a recipe for those busy days when you don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen but still want to feed your family something more interesting than bread and cheese.

Not that bread and cheese always have to be boring, have a look at these Danish open-faced sandwiches or smorrebrod; they take a simple sandwich to a whole new level.

Recipe ingredients

One of the best things about this chicken and bacon pasta dish is that it uses many ingredients that you probably already have in the house (pasta, bacon, canned mushrooms), and it is also a good recipe for using leftover chicken.

Chicken:

• As mentioned above, you will need cooked chicken; I always make this chicken and bacon pasta bake when I have leftover chicken, either from making chicken stock or from making roast chicken.

Can I use rotisserie chicken?

• Definitely, you can always buy a ready-cooked chicken and use parts of it, either breast or legs.
• And you can use the rest of the rotisserie chicken to make some other delicious dishes like this leftover turkey/chicken fricassee, leftover chicken risotto, and sour cream chicken enchiladas.

Can I use leftover turkey?

• Yes. Thanksgiving and Christmas are approaching, and if you have leftover turkey, you can definitely use turkey instead of chicken.

Bacon:

• I used slightly smoked, very lean bacon cubes, but you can use regular bacon slices instead, whatever you have.
• After cooking the bacon slices, pat them with kitchen paper to remove the excess fat and chop or crumble them into the pasta mix.

Pasta:

• I used elbow macaroni, but any kind of short-shaped pasta will be fine.
  Cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions and drain well before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients.

Mushrooms:

• I had a jar of mushrooms lying around in the pantry, so I drained the mushrooms and added them to the pasta mixture.

Can I use fresh mushrooms?

• If using fresh mushrooms, clean them with a kitchen towel, slice them thinly, and fry them in a little fat for 3-4 minutes until the water they release evaporates and the mushrooms are golden.
• If there is enough bacon fat left in the pan after frying the bacon, use that to fry the mushrooms.

Sour cream:

• This chicken and bacon pasta bake was born because I happened to have an extra container of sour cream.
• So I thought about making the chicken and bacon pasta creamier by mixing it with the sour cream. It was a great idea!

Cheese:

• Gouda cheese is always my first choice when making this kind of bake or casserole. Gouda is probably the most common kind of cheese you can buy in Germany, and my kids love it.
• But if Gouda is not your thing, Cheddar is a good substitute.
• Alternatively, you can choose any kind of cheese you would usually use for this type of pasta bake.
• I always buy Gouda in larger pieces and grate it myself. It tastes much better than already grated cheese, keeps longer in the fridge, is cheaper, and has no added weird stuff to it.

How to make bacon and chicken pasta bake?

• Cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions. Drain and return to the pot you used for cooking it. That is where you will mix all the ingredients, so you will not need to clean an extra bowl.
• Cook the bacon. Pat it with kitchen paper to remove the excess fat, if necessary.
• If using fresh mushrooms, clean them with kitchen paper, slice them thinly, and fry them in the pan you used for frying the bacon for about 3-4 minutes, until the water they release evaporates and they are golden.
  You will not need to add fat if there is still some bacon fat in the pan.
• If using mushrooms from a jar, let them drain well.

• Cube the cooked chicken.
• Add the crumbled or chopped bacon, chicken, and mushrooms to the pasta in the pot.
• Add salt, pepper, dried rosemary, sweet paprika powder, and garlic powder to the chicken and bacon pasta.
• Add the sour cream and ¾ of the grated cheese. Mix well and adjust the taste with salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Place the chicken and bacon pasta in a casserole dish and sprinkle the dish with the remaining grated cheese
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the chicken and bacon pasta bake is golden brown.

What to serve with it?

• Green salad with yogurt dressing
• Cucumber salad with dill
• Shopska salad – leave out the feta cheese as the chicken and bacon pasta bake is already cheesy
• Tomato and avocado salad
• Broccoli and pea salad

More pasta bakes

Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake

Creamy chicken and bacon pasta bake with cheese and sour cream, this pasta bake has the potential to become a family favorite.

4.50 from 10 votes

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Course: Pasta and Rice

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 590kcal

Author: Adina

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 250 g/ 8.8 oz/ 2 ½ cups elbow macaroni or other short cut pasta
• ▢ 75 g/ 2.6 oz bacon either already cubed or regular slices
• ▢ 1 jar of mushrooms See note 1
• ▢ 250 g/ 8.8 oz/ about 2 cups cooked and cubed chicken See note 2
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sweet paprika powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fine sea salt to taste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper to taste
• ▢ 250 g/ 8.8 oz/ 1 cup sour cream
• ▢ 125 g/ 4.4 oz/ 1 ¼ cups grated cheese See note 3
• ▢ 1-2 tablespoons chopped chives

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions. Drain and return to the pot.
• Cook the bacon.
• If using fresh mushrooms, clean them with kitchen paper, slice them thinly and fry them in the pan you used for frying the bacon for about 3-4 minutes, until the water they release evaporates and they are golden. You will not need to add fat if there is still some bacon fat in the pan.
• If using mushrooms from a jar, let them drain well.
• Cube the cooked chicken.
• Add the crumbled or chopped bacon, chicken, and mushrooms to the pasta in the pot.
• Add salt, pepper, dried rosemary, sweet paprika powder, and garlic powder.
• Add the sour cream and ¾ of the grated cheese. Mix well and adjust the taste with salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Place the chicken and bacon pasta in a casserole dish of about 19x23 cm/7.5x9 inches.
• Sprinkle the dish with the remaining grated cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the chicken and bacon pasta bake is golden brown.
• Sprinkle with chives and serve.

Notes

1. Don't stress about the exact amount of mushrooms in the jar or can, use whatever you have, a little more or less will not matter, about 150-200 g/ 5.3-7 oz drained weight. If using fresh mushrooms about 200 g/ 7 oz fresh mushrooms are OK.
2. Use leftover chicken (or turkey) or use rotisserie chicken. If none is available, cook about the same amount of chicken breast and use that instead.
3. Gouda, Cheddar, or any kind of cheese you like to use when making pasta bakes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the bake | Calories: 590kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 1114mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g

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