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+ servings

Baked Pesto Chicken Pasta

Baked Pesto Chicken Pasta
Baked Pesto Chicken Pasta is the ultimate comfort food meal and perfect for busy weeknights. Made with just FIVE ingredients, this creamy pesto chicken recipe combines rotisserie chicken, creamy pesto sauce, frozen ravioli and shredded mozzarella cheese then it's baked to bubbly golden perfection!
Heather - A Wicked Whisk
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Serving Size 8

Ingredients

  • 2 19 ounce bags frozen cheese ravioli
  • 30 ounces jar alfredo sauce
  • 6 ounces store bought pesto
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 cups rotisserie chicken 1 rotisserie chicken

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick spray.
  • Remove the meat from the chicken, discarding all skin and bones. Cut or shred the meat into small pieces. Move the chicken to a large skillet and add alfredo sauce. Heat over medium high heat, just to warm up the sauce.
  • Carefully pour out and discard as much of the excess oil from your pesto as possible. Add the pesto to the chicken and alfredo sauce. Stir to combine.
  • Toss in the frozen ravioli and stir together until incorporated. Transfer half of the pesto chicken ravioli to your prepared baking pan and smooth into an even layer. Cover with half of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Add remaining pesto pasta and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil.
  • Bake for 40 minutes, uncover and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese turns bubbly and golden..
    Remove and serve with some garlic bread and a nice crisp, green salad.

Notes

  • Not a fan of rotisserie chicken? Feel free to cut 2 large chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and sauté for 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink. Also works perfectly with chopped or shredded baked chicken breasts.
  • Store bought fresh pesto comes with a lot of oil in it. That's how pesto is made. However, it's a lot of oil to add to this dish. Be sure to gently tip your pesto and remove as much of the oil collected on top, as possible. Removing that top layer of pesto oil ensures your pesto chicken recipe won't be oily.
  • The frozen ravioli can be substituted with frozen tortellini, if you like. Both come out delicious.
  • Bacon. In hindsight, there is definitely room for chopped cooked bacon in this recipe ... :) #baconislife
  • Feel free to season this baked pesto pasta dish to your tastes. Throw in some onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, grated Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh basil ... 
  • This pesto pasta casserole will keep in the fridge for about five days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave for about 2 minutes or until warmed through.
  • Cooking just for two? Cut the ingredients in half and prepare the casserole as instructed in an 8-inch square pan. Or make the whole thing and freeze any leftovers for another night.
  • You can prep easy dinner in advance and freeze it until you’re ready to bake it! To do so, in a freezer friendly baking pan, simply follow the recipe instructions up until where you would bake it. Instead, cover tightly with foil and freeze. To bake, remove from freezer and bake as instructed, adding on an additional 15 minutes or until warmed through.