What’s not to love about a big bowl of cheesy pasta with a delicious crispy au gratin crust? This Zesty Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Recipe is the ultimate comfort meal for my husband, he calls it “full-belly food.” I say it’s feed-an-army type of food, but you know what I mean.
This recipe was originally published on this blog in early 2012 and due to its popularity, the photos have been updated.
While I don’t do buttered, smothered, twice baked or fried type of southern recipes, from time to time entertaining family and friends calls for a big pan of food that is both delicious and a crowd-pleaser. And let me tell you, this pasta is just that!
While perusing Pinterest, I came across a recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta that looked delicious but I knew would be too bland for my Southern guests. I mean, people down here suck crawfish heads with all those spicy juices and call it delicious!
Anyways, back to the pasta. I’m grateful for the inspiration because it got my creative juices flowing and the pot of pasta water boil’n. It’s immensely gratifying to pull out a large pan of cheesy, baked goodness and know that your guests will love it.
Doesn’t it look delicious? I swear it’s amazing. We’ve eaten huge bowls two nights in a row it’s that good! Of course, you can make this with gluten-free pasta -I’ve found that penne works best for this dish- and it’s just as good.
The best part is that this is can be one of those mid-week 30-minute meals that come together with deli ham and leftover chicken. The pasta, of course, can be cooked ahead of time and the entire thing is just assembly and a quick broil for the crispy, cheesy topping.
The “zesty” comes from the added creole seasoning. My go-to is Zatarain’s Big and Zesty Original Creole Seasoning but any creole seasoning available at most grocery stores will do.
Zesty Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne pasta
- 2 cups Alfredo sauce, homemade or prepared
- 1 1/2 cups diced chicken breast
- 8 ounces cooked ham, diced
- 6 strips bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled or, 1/4 cup bacon crumbles
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 1/2 cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Position your oven rack in the middle position and preheat the broiler to low. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or cast-iron skillet with oil.
- In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Once cooked, remove from heat, drain water, and return pasta to the pot.
- To the pot, add the Alfredo sauce, chicken, ham, crumbled bacon, and Creole seasoning, stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and heat ingredients through for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Transfer the hot pasta mixture to the greased baking dish. Top the pasta mixture with the Monterrey Jack and Parmesan cheeses.
- Broil in the preheated oven (on low) for about 3 minutes, until the cheese has melted and a golden crust has formed. Carefully remove the dish from the oven and serve immediately.
This looks yummy! Im not eating pasta now (losing weight), but I may have to make an exception for this recipe!
can you eat rice? i bet this would be yummy with rice too- or are staying away from carbs all together?
I am TOTALLy staying away from rice and ALL carbs…very difficult but hopefully this will just be to give me a jump start.
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OH my holy stars! Laura!!!!
Yowza. I’m marking this to make this winter when we need a good comfort food recipe!
Awesome!
This sounds amazing! And I’m with your Hubs, the more seasoning the better! I think we’ll have to give this a try once its cool enough to use the oven again!! 🙂
I’d love to invite you to share this at my link party, Mom’s Test Meal Mondays! Hope you have a great day!
Jaime @ Mom’s Test Kitchen
Hi Jaimie! Thanks for stopping by! Let me know how your family enjoys this when you make it! -Laura
This is an incredible recipe. My family can’t get enough of it. It’s great as a leftover (if there are any). Whatever you do, don’t omit the Zatarain’s Big & Zesty Original Creole Seasoning. It adds a wonderful flavor.
★★★★★
You are right Kelley, the Zatarain’s is a necessity!
I used 1 jar of Bertolli premade Alfredo sauce to speed up the process. Although home made is always better, premade speeds up the process for working moms and dads. Equally awesome.
Everyone ate this in my family and I mean all three kids, even the picky one. My oldest son (6) said I needed to enter a chef contest. He didn’t understand that is was someone’s else’s recipe! Needless to say he had the leftovers for lunch at school the next day…and ate that too! I made the homemade alfredo as well.
★★★★★
I am so glad everyone loved the recipe Heather!
my favorite
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