Gluten-Free Chicken Alfredo Bake is one of our go-to pasta dinners. This gluten-free recipe combines simple ingredients like penne pasta, chicken, and creamy alfredo sauce. It is often made with cajun chicken or broccoli but we are going to skip this for easy prep and make it a quick weeknight dinner meal instead.
Serve the simple Chicken Alfredo Bake with a fresh green salad such as Cucumber Salad, Cabbage Salad, Pico de Gallo or Tomato Salad. Roasted asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower are always great and easy side dishes for any meal.
It’s an excellent fridge-cleaner dish as you can incorporate many veggies, and leftover chicken dinner in this pasta bake.
Everything goes in already cooked and you just have to bake until the cheese is melty and bubbly. The whole family will love the flavor with or without the extra veggies. Homemade alfredo sauce is the star ingredient in this dish.
Love one-pot dinners? This Chicken Quinoa Sweet Potato Skillet and Million Dollar Chicken Casserole are huge winners in our house, and can be in yours too! Incredibly fulfilling and indulgent.
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This was so delicious, took it to our potluck lunch and big hit, made it gluten free. Marion, Blog Comments
Easy Chicken Casserole Recipes
Ingredients
My few comments on the ingredients + don't forget to read the Tips section!
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
Today’s recipe is Gluten Free Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake. We'll need simple ingredients and little prep work. It's so worth it!
- Penne pasta - the most common gluten-free pasta that can be found in most stores is penne. This is our go-to favorite gluten-free pasta we have used for our Chicken Bacon Pasta and Chicken Fajita Pasta recipes. This is good as well in this dish as it holds up the creamy sauce well. Essentially any small pasta with nooks and crannies is your best bet here. My second favorite pasta choices are fusilli, ziti, and rotini, but these are rare finds if gluten-free.
- Flour - for this recipe, you can make a batch of my gluten-free flour blend or just use your favorite store-bought version. We like Schar or 1:1 Bob's Red Mill. Note: And of course, you can make the whole recipe with regular flour and pasta for non-gluten-free options.
- Alfredo sauce - this is the world’s easiest homemade sauce to make and you should have 0 excuses to not make it on your own. Jarred versions are bad for you and contain GMO and favorite enhancers that are just not needed at all. Just make it from scratch, it's easy!
- Chicken - any leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken from the store can be used here. However, I prefer making it fresh and cutting it into bite-size pieces. I do love boneless skinless chicken breasts but chicken thighs are always better than white meat thanks to their moist and tender texture.
- Whole milk and cream make the best delicious sauce - using both of these, will give you the creamiest, richest results. You can certainly use half and half instead of the heavy whipping cream or use more milk instead, but you get the idea of what’s best here.
- Cheese - as this dish holds the title of the best comfort food (in our house at least, well like many other pasta bakes) you should not hold yourself from using plenty of gooey melty cheeses. And here we need to use at least two types - good parmesan cheese (or similar hard cheese is fine too) and mozzarella. For convenience's sake, you can use pre-grated packaged cheeses but I prefer buying a ball of mozzarella and grating it myself. It melts beautifully!
- Garlic - in theory, you can skip this but it gives the alfredo sauce that needed a kick of flavor and makes it not too bland. I used just 1 ½ teaspoon of mixed garlic but feel free to double it, especially if you know the garlic that you’ll be using is not so strong.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Use leftover chicken or pan fry it for a couple of minutes until done.
Video tutorial: For more visual instructions, check the video in the recipe card below!
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Pour in the milk and cream in batches, then simmer, whisking constantly, until the sauce has just thickened.
The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Remove from the heat and stir in parmesan. Stir continuously until the cheese is melted.
In a large bowl combine pasta, and chicken and pour in the sauce. Combine and mix well until all the paste is nicely coated in the sauce mixture.
Grease a baking dish (I used 8x11) lightly with oil or butter. Transfer half of the pasta mixture to the dish and top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat with one more layer of pasta and cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes (uncovered), until cheese is melted and golden brown.
Serve with fresh parsley.
Sides For Chicken Alfredo
What to serve with Chicken Alfredo Pasta?
Serve the simple Chicken Alfredo Bake with a fresh green salad such as Cucumber Salad, Cabbage Salad, Pico de Gallo or Tomato Onion Salad. Roasted asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower are always great and easy side dishes for any meal.
And of course, to keep the Italian theme, you can always serve the pasta with homemade focaccia bread, gluten-free garlic bread, or baguette.
Tips
- Cooking this pasta dish for fewer servings is totally doable. Divide the main ingredients in half and bake in a smaller baking dish. The baking time may be slightly reduced to avoid overcooking.
- More herbs can be sued in the pasta such as marjoram, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil. Anything Italian will work here.
- Increase your veggie intake by adding blanched broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or spinach (frozen or fresh) right before baking.
- Don’t forget to salt your pasta water when cooking the pasta. Same goes for chicken, season chicken with salt and pepper while cooking.
JULIA'S TIP As the ingredients are going in already cooked, such as pasta and chicken, I recommend keeping an eye on the baking time. Avoid overcooking the pasta as it becomes mushy and soggy very easily after absorbing too much sauce when baking.
Freezing And Storing Instructions
You can make ahead the pasta bake, cover it and keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes or 1 hour. But pasta will start to absorb the sauce and maybe overcook once in the oven. It only takes a couple of minutes to assemble this dish so try to make it as fresh as it comes.
For storing. Any leftovers can be stored in the same casserole or an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Pasta will absorb the sauce as it sits and additional Alfredo will be needed during baking. Reheat in a warm oven until just warmed through. Or reheat individual portions in the oven.
I don’t recommend freezing leftovers as the pasta will become soggy and mushy once thawed.
More Pasta Recipes
ALL DINNER recipes.
Pasta recipes are widely popular and being gluten-free it's very easy to continue enjoying these delicious recipes. You'll need to make a couple of adjustments, and find your favorite pasta brand but it's totally worth it.
Some of our most popular bakes include creamy with crunchy buttery layer Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake, one pot dinner Chicken Broccoli Pasta and cheesy Gluten Free Chicken Alfredo.
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
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Recipe
Gluten Free Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
INGREDIENTS
- 10 ounces gluten-free penne pasta cooked al dente
- 3 cups diced cooked chicken
- 3 tablespoons butter or ghee
- 2 tablespoons flour (gluten-free if using)
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided use
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking spray
- 2 tablespoon parsley chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Use leftover chicken or pan fry it for a couple of minutes until done.
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the milk and cream in batches, then simmer, whisking constantly, until the sauce has just thickened. The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- Remove from the heat and stir in parmesan. Stir continuously until the cheese is melted.
- In a large bowl combine pasta, and chicken and pour in the sauce. Combine and mix well until all the paste is nicely coated in the sauce mixture.
- Grease a baking dish (I used 8x11) lightly with oil or butter. Transfer half of the pasta mixture to the dish and top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat with one more layer of pasta and cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes (uncovered), until cheese is melted and golden brown.
- Serve with fresh parsley.
Video
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
This recipe is inspired and adapted from here.
Julia
This gluten-free recipe combines simple ingredients like penne pasta, chicken, and creamy alfredo sauce. A delicious one pot meal for our weekly rotation!
Marion
This was so delicious, took it to our potluck lunch and big hit, made it gluten free.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Marion, thank you, glad to hear you made it for potluck!