I decided to take my husbands favorite (we’re talking EVERY time we go out to eat) salad and turn it into our Easy Caprese Pasta Bake.
With busy nights and cold weather, warm comfort food that’s quick and does not require a lot of time or effort are all I’ve been making.
Make sure to try our Easy Caprese Salad HERE!
How to make Easy Caprese Pasta Bake:
- Start with your noodles. I started with my favorite Penne noodles, but any kind of noodle will work in this recipe.
- Prepare your noodles. I boiled my noodles for about 5 minutes, not quite cooking them all the way, but softening them.
- Combine your ingredients. I then added about 2 tablespoons of shredded basil, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 2 cups shredded chicken, 1 cup chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups of chopped cherry tomatoes.
- Add some garlic. Once all of that was mixed together I sprinkled some garlic salt and powder over the noodles andgave it one more stir to combine all of the flavors.
- Transfer it to the pan. Then I dumped the noodle mixture out of the bowl and spread it out evenly on the pan. A lot of the heavier toppings, like the chicken and tomatoes kind of stuck together or ended up at the bottom, so make sure to spread those out.
- Add the chicken broth. I poured a little more chicken broth in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan, and sprinkled just a little more basil.
- Top it off. I topped our Caprese Pasta Bake with some fresh sliced Mozzarella cheese (the cheese counter at your Kroger store has the BEST fresh cheeses.)
- Add the drizzle. Added a quick drizzle of balsamic and olive oil, a little more cheese (no shame) and popped it in the oven for about 30 minutes.
I love how simple this dish is to make. It only requires a few simple ingredients, but has the most amazing taste.
It’s also a fairly healthy meal, that doesn’t’ require much of your time. If you have salad or pasta lovers in your life, you need to make them this.
“I have so much time!” -No mom ever
Let us give you your time back. With the Six Sisters’ Meal Plans, we do the dinner planning, grocery ordering, and then all you have to do is decide whether to pick them up or have them delivered.
What’s for dessert?
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Looking for more pasta recipes?
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Easy Caprese Pasta Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 ounces penne pasta, 1 box
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 1½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 1¼ cups chicken broth, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup Fresh sliced Mozzarella cheese
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add noodles and boil for 5 minutes, then run under cold water to stop additional cooking.
- In a bowl, combine cooked noodles, chicken, tomatoes, basil, 1 cup chicken broth, garlic, powder, garlic salt, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Pour remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan.
- Add noodle mixture and spread evenly in pan.
- Top with sliced mozzarella cheese, covering the top as much as you can.
- Drizzle top of casserole with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese begins to bubble and turn golden brown.
Notes
- Any kind of noodles can work in this recipe
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.Recipe Inspiration: The Seasoned Mom
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Recipe says to use mix half of the noodles with shredded chicken, etc. Domyou use the other half of the noodles?
The recipe says to add the “half cooked” noodles. (all of them) If you read at the top of the post it explains how you cook the noodles half way. But you definitely use all the noodles called for in the recipe ingredients.
Hi Can this be frozen, and if so, do you freeze it before cooking or after
For a freezer meal you would want to freeze it right before baking. When ready, thaw in the fridge and then bake.
Can dryed basil be used instead of fresh and if so how much?
Two tablespoons of chopped fresh basil, you can substitute the quantity with one tablespoon of dried basil leaves.
Can you use baby spinach in this recipe?
Can this be made with sliced larger tomatoes? I have a lot of leftover sliced tomatoes.
Yes, this is one of those recipes that you can adapt to your likeness and taste. You can easily add more tomatoes.