You don’t even have to boil the pasta for this nutritious and cozy Dump-and-Bake Chicken Noodle Casserole! All of the ingredients cook together in one dish for a simple comfort food dinner on a cool evening!
Y’all know how much I love my dump-and-bake dinners, and this Chicken Noodle Casserole is no exception!
My kids have always loved chicken noodle soup, but their favorite part of the soup is always the pasta and chicken — not the broth. As a result, I end up draining off a lot of the excess broth and instead serving them bowls of tender chicken, noodles, and veggies. Not bad, but not exactly “soup.”
That’s why this Chicken Noodle Casserole is such a genius creation (if I do say so myself). It includes all of our favorite flavors and ingredients from the classic soup, but they’re baked into a hearty and nutritious casserole. Can’t beat a one dish meal on a busy night!
But the ABSOLUTE BEST part of this whole meal is the fact that it’s a DUMP-AND-BAKE dinner! In other words, you don’t even have to boil the pasta before preparing the casserole! Just stir all of your ingredients together in the dish, cover it, and bake it in the oven. SO simple, right?!
You’ll add some shredded cheddar cheese on top during the final few minutes of baking, which gives the Chicken Noodle Casserole even more flavor and texture. It’s a simple option that takes advantage of leftover chicken from a previous meal, a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or the refrigerated cooked chicken strips that you can purchase at any grocery store.
Did you have any idea that a homemade dinner could be quite this easy?! Time to pull out your fall sweaters and get cozy this season with a classic family-friendly dinner that only requires 15 minutes of prep!
Dump-and-Bake Chicken Noodle Casserole
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 8 servings
You don't even have to boil the pasta for this nutritious and cozy Dump-and-Bake Chicken Noodle Casserole! All of the ingredients cook together in one dish for a simple comfort food dinner on a cool evening!
Ingredients
-
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
-
1 cup finely-diced celery
-
1 cup finely-diced carrots
-
1 cup finely-diced onion
-
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves)
-
2 teaspoons minced garlic
-
12 ounces uncooked rotini pasta
-
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
-
1 teaspoon salt
-
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
-
In the prepared dish (or in a separate bowl), stir together cooked chicken, celery, carrots, onion, thyme, garlic, uncooked pasta, chicken broth, 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 cheese over the top. Bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes (or until cheese is melted and pasta is tender).
Notes
Cooking for Two? You can cut the recipe ingredients in half and bake the casserole in an 8-inch square pan. The cooking instructions remain the same.
Want to Prep Ahead? You can chop all of the chicken and veggies in advance and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you're ready to stir together the casserole.
Courses Dinner
Cuisine American
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/8 of the recipe
Amount Per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|
Calories 270 | ||
% Daily Value | ||
Total Fat 6.7 g | 10% | |
Saturated Fat 3 g | 15% | |
Cholesterol 34 mg | 11% | |
Sodium 669 mg | 28% | |
Total Carbohydrates 32 g | 11% | |
Dietary Fiber 4 g | 16% | |
Sugars 3.4 g | ||
Protein 20 g | 40% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Need some help planning your family’s meals? When you join Simply Mailed, I will send you 3 quick-prep dinner recipes and a grocery shopping list each week (for less than $1 per week!!!). This super-affordable service takes the stress out of dinner, saves you time and money, and brings your family together at the end of the day. There are even options for smaller households of just 1 or 2!
Chicken casseroles like this are my version of pure comfort food. I love that you made your dump and bake version, Blair! I could dive right into this for breakfast!
Thanks, Gayle! Chicken casseroles definitely = comfort! Have a great weekend!
If I want to use previously cooked pasta, how much do I reduce the liquid?
Hey, Tracey! I’m not sure, since I’ve never tried it that way. I would just eyeball it and see how much liquid you think it needs once you have all of the ingredients stirred together. You would want enough to keep it moist, but not so much that it looks like soup. 🙂 Maybe 1 cup? But here’s my main concern: when you cook the raw pasta in the dish, it absorbs most of the liquid, but it also releases starches that thicken the liquid that’s left. If you’re not actually cooking the pasta (and you’re just using pre-cooked pasta instead), the end result will be a runnier “sauce” since there’s no starch added. I suppose you could mix some cornstarch into the liquid before putting it in the dish, which would act as a thickener in a similar way? I’ve just not tried that. 🙂
Thanks for such a great idea for someone who cannot have tomatoes with pasta! Thanks again.
Great! Enjoy, Dee!
Blair- My hubby has been feeling cruddy all day, so I made this tonight, along with a batch of your slow cooker applesauce. Perfect meal! He and our daughter gobbled it right up- definitely going in our dinner recipe collection!
That’s wonderful, Megan! Thank you so much for letting me know! I agree — it sounds like the perfect dinner, and I hope that your husband is feeling better soon! Doesn’t it smell so good while it’s cooking too? Just like a pot of soup simmering on the stove… 🙂
We are tha Florida evacuees staying in Alabama. It’s nice to see your normalcy at this time. It’s heartening there is something out there that is still normal. Please keep us in your prayers.
Praying for you, Kathy! My brother and his family live in Orlando, so the people of Florida are on my mind! xoxo