Chicken Penne Casserole Recipe
I love making a dinner dish with marinara sauce because it’s so versatile and goes well with pasta, it’s a no-brainer. For tonight’s dinner, I made a large patch of chicken penne casserole, which is a win-win for the entire family. Packed with cheese, and seasonal veggies and baked in marinara sauce. This chicken penne casserole makes dinner time easy. Bonus! When you make a large batch there will be leftovers, another win for busy moms. This chicken casserole has a fairly mild taste, which gives this dish a thumbs up to most picky eaters. If you want to appease the bread lovers in the family add garlic bread as a side. Or add a soup as a lighter side and get those extra nutrients.
Ingredients for chicken penne casserole
3 medium chicken breast sliced into cutlets ( cooks faster). Season with 1/4 tsp Oregano 1/4 tsp Chili powder 1/4 tsp Onion powder 1/4 tsp Garlic powder Sprinkle some cracked pepper. Set aside.
1/2 chopped onion
1 clove of garlic chopped
2 bay leaves
Handful of fresh parsley chopped
Large jar of marinara sauce (700ml-1L)
Italian seasoning
Handful of chopped mushrooms
3 small chopped zucchini
1/2 -1 cup cup Parmesan cheese
Ricotta cheese
1/4 cup small squares of Mozzarella cheese
2 cups Penne pasta
How to make chicken penne casserole
Season chicken
sear chicken on medium-high heat and then reduce heat, pull apart chicken with 2 forks
Add marinara sauce , sprinkle Italian seasoning and add 2 bay leaves
Add in onion garlic zucchini and mushrooms
Add more Italian seasoning
Cook for 15 -20 min on low heat
Remove bay leaves
Remove from heat place 3-4 tsp of ricotta cheese on top of chicken ( do not mix in)
Slightly boil pasta ( you don’t want it to be over done) and strain
Begin the layers in 9×13 baking dish (affiliate link)
(Make sure to cover pasta with sauce or it will be hard. )
Pasta- chicken sauce -mozzarella – Parmesan
Pasta chicken sauce-mozzarella – Parmesan
( if you want it extra cheesy add more Parmesan and mozzarella just remember cheese is very salty )
Bake 350 for 30-40 min or until cheese is melted
Sprinkle with fresh parsley
