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Home Collections Quick Dinner Recipes

Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake with Chicken (One Pot)

By:Nagi
Published:1 Apr '15Updated:21 Sep '22
127 Comments
Recipe v

A pasta bake with plenty of thick, creamy tomato sauce….made with NO CREAM….all in ONE POT! Even the pasta is cooked right in the pan with the sauce! Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake with Chicken is the ultimate recipe for low-effort comfort food to feed a family or group of friends.

A scoop of Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake With Chicken

My mother makes an incredible Japanese pasta bake called Makaroni Guratan, which is basically Macaroni Gratin pronounced with a Japanese accent. It is soooo typical of the Japanese to change the spelling of English words to the way Japanese pronounce it. It’s an endless source of amusement for me!

One Creamy Sauce Pot Mac N Cheese
This Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake is based on the same cooking method I use for my One Pot Saucy Mac N Cheese

As the name implies, it is macaroni baked in a classic french “gratin” style with a creamy white sauce made from a roux. It was a childhood favourite and I used to nag my mother to make it frequently, but she only ever treated us with it for special occasions. So I got to know Makaroni Guratan  as a special occasion dish.

As I grew older and started to cook, I realised why she only made it for special occasions….because it is such an effort to make! It requires four separate pots/pans/dishes. FOUR!! A pot to cook the pasta, a saucepan to make the white sauce, a fry pan to sauté the chicken and mushroom and a baking dish to bake it all in.

Shoot me now.

It is worth the effort. But I only make it for special occasions…..(they do say daughters turn into their mothers….)

But I love saucy pasta bakes, so I invented my own creamy tomato one-pot version which is really convenient for midweek meals. I don’t like to cook with cream for midweek meals so this is made using a simple roux base (don’t let that fancy sounding word scare you, it’s just butter + flour that is used as a thickener for the sauce). Also, if you wanted to make a pasta bake as saucy as I’ve made this, you would need three cartons of cream….my arteries are hardening just at the thought!

Grating parmesan over Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake With Chicken

This pasta bake is based on the same technique I use for my One Pot Saucy Creamy Mac and Cheese. It is not quite as saucy so it holds together better when you serve it, as opposed to the Mac and Cheese which collapses into a pile of cheesy creamy deliciousness.

I hope you consider trying it! It’s a great one for midweek. 🙂 I mean, seriously…check out all that creamy tomato sauce!! – Nagi

Overhead photo of Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake With Chicken

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A scoop of Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake With Chicken

One Pot Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta Bake (no cream)

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 30 minutes mins
Total: 35 minutes mins
Dinner, Pasta
4.77 from 26 votes
Servings6
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  • 1812
A pasta bake, cooked entirely in one pot! The sauce is creamy and tomatoey but is made without a drop of cream, making this a great midweek meal.

Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 small onion , diced
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 6 tbsp / 1/2 cup plain flour
  • 2 cups milk (500ml)
  • 2 cups tomato passata (500ml) (Note 1)
  • 1 cup water (or chicken or vegetable broth) (250ml)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • Black pepper
  • 3 cups dried ziti / penne pasta (uncooked)
  • 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Pepper

Garnish (optional)

  • Fresh basil leaves
  • Freshly grated parmesan

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
  • Melt butter in a deep fry pan or skillet (Note 2) over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the flour and stir to combine, then cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add the milk and whisk for 1 minute, in small circles around the fry pan, until it starts to thicken. Then add the tomato passata, water, salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium high and cook for around 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon (see photo below). Whisk occasionally for the first 3 minutes, then whisk constantly for the last 2 minutes.
  • Do a taste test and add 1 to 2 tsp of sugar if it is a bit sour (depends on quality of passata you use).
  • Add the ziti/penne, chicken and cheddar cheese and mix through. Leave it to cook for around 1 minute on the stove, then take it off the stove.
  • Scatter with mozzarella cheese. Cover with a lid or foil (Note 3) and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the lid/foil and bake for a further 5 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with fresh basil leaves and grated parmesan, if desired.

Recipe Notes:

1. Tomato passata is simply plain, pureed tomatoes. In America, it is also known as tomato sauce. In Australia, "tomato sauce" is the equivalent of tomato ketchup, so don't get the two confused!
In Australia, you can get tomato passata in the pasta section and starts at just over $1 for a large 700g bottle. You can also use pureed canned tomatoes.
You could also substitute the tomato passata with a store bought pasta sauce. If you do, then don't use as much salt as I have included in the recipe as store bought pasta sauce is seasoned and flavoured.
2. The fry pan I used was 26cm / 10" in diameter and 6cm/2.4" deep. It was JUST big enough for this recipe. Spillage during cooking was not the risk because this sauce doesn't splatter or bubble, but I had to be quite careful when stirring. It works better with a slightly deeper skillet / fry pan or a large casserole pot.
3. I don't have a lid for the fry pan I used but I have a lid for a larger pot which I just place on top. Otherwise, foil works just fine, or even a baking tray.
4. Nutrition assuming 6 servings.
One Pot Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta Bake (No Cream) Nutrition

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 344gCalories: 469cal (23%)Carbohydrates: 39.9g (13%)Protein: 33.8g (68%)Fat: 19.7g (30%)Saturated Fat: 10.8g (68%)Cholesterol: 94mg (31%)Sodium: 1261mg (55%)Potassium: 178mg (5%)Fiber: 2.8g (12%)Sugar: 8.4g (9%)Vitamin A: 1250IU (25%)Vitamin C: 13.2mg (16%)Calcium: 380mg (38%)Iron: 3.1mg (17%)
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.
One Pot Creamy Chicken Tomato Pasta Bake - all made in one pot with no cream!

 

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127 Comments

  1. Hilary says

    August 9, 2022 at 4:58 am

    Be amazing to add a section on how to cook ahead. I’ve been scratchin my head trying to figure out how to do it. Thanks. Love all your recepies x

    Reply
  2. Lee says

    July 22, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    I make this with pre-cooked lentil pasta and it’s so so good even my fussy eating daughter loves it (she doesn’t know that it’s not regular pasta!)

    Reply
  3. Tessy Diva says

    January 3, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    5 stars
    I LOVED this recipe! I had never cooked with Passata before and googled “passata recipe”. This was the first that came up and I had all the ingredients. I was a little cheeky and added a dash of white wine. Will be making again and again!

    Reply
  4. Shirley says

    March 22, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    Hi am able to freeze this recipe please ?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 23, 2021 at 2:36 pm

      Hi Shirley – yes you can definitely freeze. N x

      Reply
  5. Joanna says

    February 11, 2021 at 4:01 am

    5 stars
    I LOVEEEE this recipe!!
    I’ve done it several times now, but I’ve realized that the pasta should be pre-cooked or else it will be so raw (as it happened to me the first time I did it😅).

    Reply
    • Lolabb58 says

      April 23, 2022 at 8:32 am

      I agree, the pasta needs to be precooked for good results! The recipe is definitely a keeper!!

      Reply
  6. Dan says

    February 4, 2021 at 2:56 am

    3 stars
    We cooked this yesterday evening. The sauce was full of flavour. However, we followed the cooking times and found that the pasta was far from cooked properly! Other than that the dish was lovely, but definitely needs an extra 10 minutes in the oven, or to pre-cook the pasta.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      February 4, 2021 at 7:40 pm

      Sorry you had issues here Dan – soundalike your oven may run a little on the cool side if it took longer! N X

      Reply
  7. Nicky says

    January 7, 2021 at 10:07 am

    5 stars
    Yum – Such a brilliant way to use up leftover roast chicken. Hubby had about 3 bowls of it. This ones a keeper! Thanks Nagi

    Reply
  8. Nicky says

    November 15, 2020 at 6:39 pm

    This is a winner – simple, easy & full of flavor. Easy to adapt – but yummy as is! Thanks Nagi

    Reply
  9. Chris says

    October 2, 2020 at 6:02 pm

    5 stars
    I just christened my new Le Creuset casserole pot with this – this recipe is a go-to in our household but I’ve adapted it slightly to use evaporated milk, jarred pasta sauce, long shelf life Tegel precooked and sliced chicken (I tend to keep a packet in the fridge because it’s so versatile) and I also like to add half a bag of baby spinach for maximum vegetableness 🙂
    I also find it takes much longer to cook, about 40 minutes in total but it’s well worth it! Tonight I added some Worcestershire, a half teaspoon of hot paprika and some fresh thyme and it was SO GOOD.

    It’s definitely comfort food – 20 minutes of prep in front of the stove and I always add the cheese on top after is mostly cooked but pulling out a hot, bubbly, pot of carbohydratey tomato cheesy goodness is always satisyfying!

    Reply
  10. May says

    September 29, 2020 at 12:04 pm

    Can this work with spiral pasta instead of penne/ziti? My son is not a fan of penne or any kind of thick pastas

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 29, 2020 at 7:12 pm

      Hi May – yes it will!! Enjoy! N x

      Reply
  11. Amy Sass says

    August 16, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    Delish! Tastes like jarred pasta bake sauce but soooo much better. Took a bit longer to cook the pasta than the recipe described but it was worth the one-pot! 😉

    Reply
  12. mishl says

    July 23, 2020 at 12:14 pm

    This had great flavor but the pasta was not cooked in this time frame. It was hard still..

    Reply
  13. Bob says

    July 8, 2020 at 5:47 am

    3 cups dried ziti / penne pasta – does this mean uncookedpasta or pre-cooked and drained?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 8, 2020 at 6:40 am

      Hi Bob! Uncooked 🙂 Just added that in the recipe so there’s no confusion – N x

      Reply
      • Bob says

        July 8, 2020 at 6:51 am

        That’s what I did but the pasta was a little chewy. It was gluten free pasta so maybe that was the reason. We still enjoyed the dish.

        Reply
        • Victoria Khera says

          October 14, 2020 at 9:20 am

          I got a regular ziti and at 20 min it was still not fully cooked. I added 20 more min and it was done.

          Reply
        • Jacqui Callagher says

          September 5, 2020 at 4:29 pm

          Hey, We use gf pasta as well and I have to pre cook it a little:) I add less liquid to the main dish though. So perfect!

          Reply
  14. Maria says

    June 7, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    If I don’t have penne pasta, what other shape pasta would you recommend I could use?

    Reply
  15. Alison Johnston says

    June 4, 2020 at 1:25 am

    Hi would like to try this recipe but would it be possible for you to give me the measurements in grams or mls instead of cups please? Many thanks.

    Reply
    • Hong says

      December 8, 2022 at 2:28 pm

      Can I make this the night before, cooking everything minus putting it in the oven and then put it in the oven the next day?

      Reply
  16. Rebekah Freeborn says

    May 24, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing ! So easy to make ! I substituted the chicken for spinach and added some parmesan aswell (we love cheese) and was delish! And triple bonus to being yum ! Minimal dishes ! And the kids (2&6) loved it ! Adding to my collection.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 25, 2020 at 10:27 am

      Perfect Rebekah! N x

      Reply
  17. Jenn says

    April 9, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    You mention pepper in the recipe but not what kind and it’s never mentioned in the recipe steps when to add it. DId anyone else notice this?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 9, 2020 at 7:02 pm

      Hi Jenn, just regular black pepper – it’s added in step 3 🙂 N x

      Reply
  18. Yinz says

    February 20, 2020 at 11:17 pm

    Giving this a try for dinner tonight, but wondering what the gram sizes would be for the pasta, chicken and cheese?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      February 21, 2020 at 11:50 am

      Hi Yinz, let me confirm and come back to you on that! N x

      Reply
  19. Martin Bond says

    February 5, 2020 at 6:04 am

    5 stars
    Yet another brilliant recipe that is simple to cook, and makes me look like a hero. This is another one added to my repertoire. Thank you again Nagi!!

    Reply
  20. Andrea Green says

    December 3, 2019 at 5:30 am

    5 stars
    This recipe is absolutely amazing! I always revert to this recipe when I’m craving a delicious comforting pasta dish! Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      December 3, 2019 at 9:28 am

      You’re so welcome Andrea!!

      Reply
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