Chicken Spinach Dump and Bake Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes
This Dump-And-Bake Chicken Spinach Pasta is everything you need for a weeknight. All done in just over 1 hour, with just 10 minutes of prep. Creamy and filled with cheese this will become an immediate favorite in your house.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add in the chicken. Fry for about a minute, then season with paprika powder, onion powder, ground black pepper and salt and mix well. Cook until the chicken has nice color on all sides.
Shove the chicken to one side of the pan and add the tomato paste to the other side. Fry the tomato paste for about a minute and then mix it all together and remove the pan off the heat.
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Dump-And-Bake Chicken Spinach Pasta
Preheat the oven to 440°F (225°C).
Bring out a deep oven dish and grease it with butter.
1 tablespoon butter
Add in the uncooked pasta, cooked chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and half of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Mix.
Add the remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese on top. Then pour over the cream and milk, and push down any pieces of pasta that are not submerged in the liquid.
2 cups heavy cream, 2 cups milk
Bake in the middle of the oven for for 1 hour. Check once halfway to ensure it's not getting to much color - if it is, cover with a piece of oven foil and keep cooking.
Bring out the pasta and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes & substitutions
Chicken: Either use raw chicken that you cook according to the instructions in the recipe card below, or use leftover chicken. I prefer to use chicken thigh filets, but any cut of chicken works - just cut it in bite-size pieces.
Penne pasta can be swapped for fusilli, or another similar-size pasta
Cheese: I like to use two kinds, one well-melting (and cheaper) kind like mozzarella and one flavorful kind like Parmesan. But you can use all mozzarella, orother kinds.
Butter can be swapped for vegetable oil
Sun-dried tomatoes: I always use the kind in oil, but you can use the dry kind as well. Just soak them in hot water for a few hours until softened.
Tips & tricks
To make it quicker use leftover chicken instead of raw chicken
Fry the tomato paste to intensify the taste.
Let it sit after baking to allow for it to "set" - if not, it's going to be a bit runny
Store leftovers in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 4 days