You don’t even have to boil the pasta for this quick and healthy Dump-and-Bake Chicken Caprese Pasta! With only 5 minutes of prep, the easy, family-friendly recipe is a fresh and fast way to get dinner on the table!
You get home at the end of the day and the last thing that you feel like dealing with is a complicated supper. You’re tired, your family needs your attention, and there are piles of laundry threatening to take over your house. Heck, you don’t even know what to make for dinner!
It’s evenings like this when I turn to simple, fresh meals that I can feel good about feeding my family — but that don’t require much effort on my part!
Classic Italian ingredients like garlic, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and pasta come together in a one-dish casserole that you only have to stir together. There’s no need to even boil the pasta!
What is “Caprese” Pasta?
The term “Caprese” typically refers to a simple Italian salad that’s made with sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and fresh basil, and seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper.
I borrowed the same flavors from the classic salad and transformed them into this healthy entree by adding chicken and pasta!
As the penne cooks in the oven it absorbs most of the broth and releases starches that thicken the sauce. Combined with the melted cheese, the end result is a light-yet-creamy sauce that coats the roasted chicken, vegetables, herbs and pasta.
In other words, this Dump-and-Bake Chicken Caprese Pasta is a simple (and delicious) solution for those busy evenings when you just don’t have the time, energy, or desire to worry about dinner!
Cook’s Tips – Chicken Caprese Pasta
- Some readers have noted that they found the dish to have too much broth at the end of baking. I prefer this, because when you stir the dish together it acts as a “sauce” and prevents the pasta from feeling dry or sticky. However, if you do NOT want much broth in your pan, that’s fine too. It’s a matter of personal preference. You can reduce the liquid to 2 1/2 cups for a less “soupy” final product.
- Cooking for Just Two? The recipe ingredients can easily be cut in half (or in quarters) and baked in smaller dishes. If you cut the recipe in half, use an 8-inch square baking dish. If you want to prepare just 2 servings, cut the ingredients into fourths and bake in small individual dishes. The rest of the cooking instructions remain the same.
- For an equally easy vegetarian pasta bake, try this ravioli lasagna with ricotta and spinach.
More Chicken Pasta Recipes To Try;
- Dump and Bake Chicken Pot Pie Pasta
- Dump and Bake Creamy Chicken Penne Pasta
- Dump and Bake Chicken Florentine Pasta
- Chicken Alfredo Pasta Casserole
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Dump-and-Bake Chicken Caprese Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced, cooked chicken
- 1 3/4 cups halved grape tomatoes (can substitute with a can of undrained diced tomatoes)
- 12 ounces (about 3 cups) uncooked uncooked penne pasta
- 3 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth*
- 8 ounces (about 2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- ½ cup chopped or torn fresh basil leaves divided
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In the prepared dish (or in a separate bowl), stir together cooked chicken, tomatoes, uncooked pasta, chicken broth, 1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese, about half of the basil leaves, minced garlic, and salt.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Uncover; stir. At this point you should check the pasta to make sure that it is al dente (firm but just about finished cooking). If it’s still too hard, cover the dish and return to the oven until pasta is al dente. Then move on to the next step.
- Sprinkle remaining ½ cup of mozzarella over the top. Bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes (or until cheese is melted and pasta is tender).
- Garnish with remaining basil leaves just before serving.
Absolutely delicious!
I wasn’t sure at first but will definitely make this again! I didn’t have low sodium broth. For anyone that says no way, definitely use low sodium. I also didn’t have fresh basil so I used baby spinach & a sprinkle of dried bail. The end result was super! I did sprinkle the leftover mozzarella on top and broil it at the end. Thanks for a great recipe!
Wonderful! Thanks, Elaine! I’m so glad that it worked well for you. 🙂
Last night I tried the Honey Dijon Pork Tenderloin, tonight it was this wonderful Chicken Caprese Pasta. You make recipes easy to follow and use minimal ingredient but the flavor is large! This was another winner. I’m a forever fan. Looking forward to trying more of your creations.
Oh, that’s so wonderful to hear, Kathy. Thank you for taking the time to leave a kind note. I’m glad that you’re enjoying the easy recipes! 🙂
Love this recipe! Just wondering why the amount of pasta stays the same (3 cups) when the recipe is reduced by half? Seems like a lot of pasta for 4 servings.
Hi, Sherry! I think that’s just a technical glitch with the online auto calculator. If you’re cutting the recipe in half, you definitely need to cut the amount of pasta in half as well. You want to keep all of the proportions the same. Hope that helps!
The calculator is fine for those asking why it reads 3 cups. The ‘3 cups’ is coming from the list of ingredients. The calculator can’t change the text of the ingredients. Read to the left of the “(” to see how much pasta you need.
This was yummy. I went with a gluten free option on the pasta. I used chickpea and red lentil rotini. It was what I had on hand. I mixed the two together which gave the dish some extra color. I think next time I will leave the pasta on the bottom and layer everything else on top instead of mixing everything together. We had some pasta that was overcooked that I suspect was because they weren’t in the broth. I saw the comments about the end result being soupy and suggestions to reduce the liquid. I used what was called for and it wasn’t soupy at all.
Thanks, Tracy!
This was delicious! I used gluten free pasta and it worked wonderfully. The leftovers also heat up very well the next day! I sliced up some Italian chicken sausage and used that instead of the chicken – so good!
Thank you, Ashley!
I have summer sausage type beef stick, so I’ll chop & fry it up a litttle prior to adding it in. Thanks for the idea!!!
Do you think frozen spinach would work ok or should I skip it/ go with different veggies??
We find frozen veggies work just as well as fresh. We hope you enjoy, Tracy!
Hi! Thank you for the recipe! Can you provide instructions how to cook the chicken? Thanks for your help!
Sure! Here you go:
Boiled and Pulled Chicken: Boil about 1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs until cooked through (about 15 minutes). When cool enough to handle, chop or pull the chicken. You’ll need a total of about 2 cups shredded. I find that 1 lb. of chicken breasts yields about 2 cups of pulled chicken, but there’s some flexibility here — it doesn’t need to be exact.
Rotisserie Chicken: This is a great shortcut! Purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, shred the meat, and use in the recipe as instructed.
Leftover Chicken: If you have leftover grilled or baked chicken from a previous meal, put those extras to good use in this casserole.
Canned Chicken: Yep, even canned chicken from the pantry will work in this recipe.
Any tips for making for a crowd of 100+
Thanks
The only tips we have are to use as big of pans as possible and to work in batches. You could try keeping the dish warm with buffet warmers and rotate pans. Sorry we aren’t much help!
So delicious! This is my go to easy meal to make
Thank you, Rachel! We’re so glad you enjoy it.
You had me at “dump and bake”
We hope you enjoy it!