Experienced cooks will raise their eyebrows when they see how this HEALTHY Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake is made. But don’t judge until you try it – it works!!! Made from scratch, not a drop of cream, this is a complete meal that takes 5 minutes to prep, made in ONE baking dish and it’s absolutely delish. {350 cal per serving!}
The World’s EASIEST Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake!
This is comfort food for busy people, dedicated to all those back home in Australia and everyone else around the world suffering through a blustery cold winter!
The method I use for this Ultra Lazy Healthy Chicken Pasta Bake certainly is unorthodox. Just plonk flour, uncooked pasta, raw chicken, vegetables, milk and chicken broth into the baking dish, give it a quick stir, then pop it into the oven. Pull it out partway through cooking, stir through cheese, then finish baking.
And what comes out is quite extraordinary. When you crack through that golden topping, you will be greeted with perfectly cooked pasta smothered in a creamy sauce that you’ve just made without a single drop of cream, without having to make a roux on the stove the traditional way béchamel and cheese sauces are made.
Not a hint of flouriness (thanks to the gluten in the pasta which also helps thicken the sauce) and the pasta is perfectly cooked – I blame my Japanese mother for raising me as a total snob about overcooked rice and this snobbery extends to pasta. There is actually sauce (hands up if you’ve suffered through dry pasta bakes!), and it’s a complete meal that’s light on the pasta, and heavy on broccoli + lean chicken.
I’m going to be completely honest with you about the difference between this and the traditional way of making creamy pasta bakes. My “go to” way is to start with a roux – like in this Seafood Gratin Pasta Bake, my Baked Mac and Cheese and my mother’s Chicken and Mushroom Macaroni Gratin ( <<— Childhood favourite, right here!). The sauce is silken and there’s more of it compared to this Ultra Lazy way.
If you look very closely, you will see that the sauce is a tiny bit split on the base of the baking dish. But you need to look really close to see it and it doesn’t taste split.
Very, very small compromise for a quick meal, in my humble view. 🙂
(Here’s a close up – you can see what I am describing in the bottom left corner)
I didn’t create this Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake as a hack. It came about because of the homeless man at the local dog park who I regularly take hot meals to. He always insists that I mustn’t go out of my way to bring him meals, and that in itself plus me being me just feels some sort of obligation to ensure I take meals to him regularly.
I had skipped a few days and I was standing in my kitchen, flustered at the mound of dirty dishes and peeved because of a failed video shoot and wanted to make something quickly.
Threw this Ultra Lazy Pasta Bake together using leftover vegetables thinking it “should be ok”, was blown away how well it actually worked, got the thumbs up from the homeless man, had it myself for dinner then decided to share it here. 🙂 – Nagi x
More big, juicy pasta bakes
- Baked Ziti – the mother of all pasta bakes!
- Tuna Pasta Bake – the highest and best use for canned tuna!
- Seafood Gratin Pasta Bake
- Baked Mac and Cheese – and try the Shrimp version!
- Chili Mac
- Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper)
- Browse all pasta recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ultra Lazy HEALTHY Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake recipe video!
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Ultra Lazy Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 300 - 400 g / 10 - 14oz chicken tenderloin (raw) , breast or thigh, cut into 1.5cm / 3/5" pieces
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or other herbs and/or spices of choice)
- 250 g / 8 oz spiral pasta, uncooked (See Note 1 for other shapes)
- 1 1/2 cups / 375 ml chicken broth/stock , preferably warmed
- 2 cups / 500 ml milk , preferably warmed (any fat %)
- 1 large garlic clove , minced
- 1 - 2 tbsp /15 - 30g butter (optional)
- 1 large broccoli or 2 medium broccoli or cauliflower , broken into small to medium florets (Note 2 for subs)
- 100 - 150 g / 1 - 1.5 cups shredded cheese , any melting type (Note 3)
- 1/4 cup / 35g flour (all purpose / plain)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan forced / convection).
- Sprinkle chicken with salt (be generous), pepper and thyme, toss to coat.
- Spread pasta in a baking dish. Sprinkle over flour.
- Pour over milk and broth, add garlic and butter. Stir.
- Spread chicken over the top, then broccoli.
- Cover with foil, bake for 15 minutes (or 20 minutes if milk & broth were cold).
- Remove foil, STIR WELL. Add most of the cheese, then STIR WELL again. Top with remaining cheese.
- Return to oven. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until top is golden and sauce is thickened (See note 4 for troubleshooting).
- Stand for a few minutes then serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More chicken and broccoli recipes
For those of you who, like me, find yourself putting both of these in your trolley week after week…
LIFE OF DOZER
I always joke about how when I’m away, Dozer doesn’t miss me at all because he’s too busy enjoying his own holiday with a Golden Retriever boarder.
But apparently, when she takes Dozer to the beach, he breaks away from the pack and sprints up to “dark haired people of my shape”, then bolts back when he realises it’s not me.
I didn’t know what to react to first – pleased as punch at the first sign that he does actually seem to miss me, or bursting into laughter at her delicately phrased description that Dozer only runs towards vertically challenged, dark haired women with generously sized bottoms!!!
Use whole meal pasta so it took an extra 20 mins to cook so the broccoli was over done! My fault- tastes absolutely gorgeous anyway 🙂
Hi Suzanna, yes wholemeal pasta does take longer unfortunately. If you want to use it, you may need more liquid too – N x
Lovely flavour as usual. Another hit with my family
The taste of the dish was lovely but the sauce was split and thin. I followed the recipe in detail. Any ideas what went wrong?
Hi Eliza, sorry you had issues here, did you use full fat milk? N x
Wow Nagi! That was the quickest and most delicious Sunday night dinner !
I took the super easy tip of a tin of tuna and frozen veges ! I’m sure heating the stock and milk helped it turning out perfectly! Winner winner tuna dinner !😀
Made this tonight and it is great! I did make a couple of changes but only for GF reasons. Loved it!
That’s great to hear Jenna!! N x
Hi Nagi, would this work with the pasta and chicken being precooked?
Hi Kate, no it won’t sorry – the cook time and liquid ratio would be wrong. N x
Greetings from Singapore Nagi! I followed your recipe (in metric) to a T, except put it in a square baking dish. Instead of a sauce, I ended up with soup! I had to bake for an additional 40mins to rid of the moisture and this turned my pasta mushy. The sauce was also very split. How can I correct this next time? Thanks!
Hi AJ, sorry you had issues here – sounds like there may be a problem with your oven thermostat! N x
Ahh, I thought so but the pasta and chicken were cooked at the 20min mark, and after that I baked a cake without issues. Wondering if I should reduce the liquids next time?
would this work using gluten free pasta and flour?
When using the frozen broccoli for this? How much do I need to use? Either grams or cups is fine. Thanks so much
Hi I have made this as above and it’s delish but Just wondering if I can use almond milk and dairy free cheese instead, would it work?
Hi Cathy, the flavour would be slightly different but that should work fine! N x
Thisbis delicious but ni way has 348 calories with amount of cheese ive put in 🤣
Hi Monique, shhhh I wont tell anyone! N x
Hi I am making this tonight bit do not have chicken stock.. can I just use water instead yo replace it?
Hi Natalie, water wont have enough flavour – do you have stock powder that you could use? N x
Or some ramen flavor paquets if you’re really desperate 😅
Thank you for such a quick homemade dinner. I really did need something ultra-lazy after cooking and baking a lot for the 4th of July and this came together so fast. Plus? It tastes good!
Hi Nagi, Could I cook this with cashew milk instead?
Hi Katie – yes that will work fine. N x
Made this today and it was amazing. My 15 month old even had a second helping. I altered the recipe slightly and used whole wheat pasta and wholemeal flour and I added a tablespoon of quark instead of butter. Definitely a new favourite.