This Triple Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake is the perfect winter comfort food. Lighter than most cheesy pasta dishes, this dish is deceptively rich and hearty.
One chilly snowy day recently, I whipped up this Triple Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake for dinner. I happened to have leftover roasted chicken in my freezer, an extra box of mushroom gravy from the holidays, and fresh mushrooms that I had picked up on sale from the store.
Although this recipe is lightened up with cottage cheese and reduced-fat cheddar cheese, you’d never know it. It’s creamy, rich tasting and hearty, and pure comfort food in the thick of winter.
My kids loved this Triple Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake and never suspected that I had whizzed a box of mushrooms into the sauce. Mushrooms are so good for you (did you know they’re cancer-fighting?), but my boys don’t like them in big pieces, so I often chop them up nice and small and toss them into sauces and chili.
This recipe makes a large casserole and can probably feed a family of eight. My boys are big eaters, so we had just a few spoonfuls left for our family of six. All you need is a simple green salad to go along with this meal.
Today, I’m participating in Food Network’s Comfort Food Feast. Please be sure to check out what my fellow foodie friends made this week:
Feed Me Phoebe: Jalapeno-Scallion Mac n Cheese
Dishing With Divya: Baked Mediterranean Macaroni and Cheese
Weelicious: Green Mac and Cheese
The Heritage Cook: Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese
Taste With The Eyes: Macaroni and Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Gravy
Red or Green: Mac & Cheese with Tuna and Green Chiles
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Mac & Cheese with Roasted Cauliflower and Leeks
Virtually Homemade: Ham and Cheese Mac and Cheese Bites
Domesticate Me: Skinny Mac with Cauliflower Cheese Sauce and Chicken Sausage
The Sensitive Epicure: Cauliflower ‘n Cheese (Gluten-Free)
Devour: Mix-Ins for Macaroni and Cheese
From My Corner of Saratoga: Queso Mac and Cheese
FN Dish: 10 Ways to Make Mac and Cheese
Triple Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 16-ounce container low-fat cottage cheese
- 7 cups hot cooked whole grain or gluten-free pasta 13.25 ounces uncooked
- 4 cups shredded roasted chicken
- 1 cup 4 ounces shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup 2 ounces grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup reduced fat milk
- 1 container organic vegan mushroom gravy
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, oregano and black pepper; saute 4-5 minutes until vegetables are tender.
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Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process until very smooth. Combine cottage cheese, cooked pasta, chicken, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk and gravy or soup in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a large casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Cooking Light
Jeanette – love how you healthified this recipe with cottage cheese and low fat milk instead of full fat cream! My daughter loves mushrooms and will eat them from the package before I even get to use them – she would love this dish! Thanks for sharing
This looks so insanely delicious Jeanette!!
This looks sooo yummy, I was thinking about what to have for dinner tonight and now I know. Thank you 🙂
Abbie – hope you enjoy this!
If there’s one thing I love more than anything in the world it’s cheese! This cheesy bake looks fantastic, it’s as if the bowl is right in-front of me!
Thanks Layla – it’s hard to resist anything with cheese.
Wish I had found your recipe sooner! I had some leftover chicken last night that I didn’t know what to with. This looks so delicious!
Karen, hope you have a chance to try this next time you have extra chicken – it’s very hearty and comforting.
Oh…how I miss cheese with this dairy allergy, Jeanette! You’re making me hungry. 😉 I think I need to invent coconut milk cheeses and cream cheese, LOL. At least the probiotics I am taking are helping, so there’s hope I may enjoy dairy again some day. Your photo is definitely drool worthy. Pinning (of course)! xo
Stacy – not being able to eat dairy is one of the hardest allergies I think. Daiya does make dairy-free cheeses that work pretty well, and I’ve made vegan ricotta cheese using cashews, nutritional yeast and a pureed onion/garlic mixture before. It’s quite a bit of work, but well worth it for days you’re craving cheese.
I love cheesy anything and this looks so delicious. I need a bowl of this right now because this is mouth watering. Crave worthy!
I am in love with everything and anything pasta. This looks fantastic
Pasta dishes are such comfort food aren’t they.
Thank you for this lovely recipe, Jeanette.
Liz – I’m glad you like this recipe – it’s great comfort food.
This looks so yummy! Love how healthy it is too!
Such a hearty and delicious pasta bake!
What a hearty and comforting pasta dish. Love how you lightened it up too, it looks fantastic:)
Although we have no snow here, and no cold weather in sight, this looks delicious & something my kids would love too-small, chopped up mushrooms and all 🙂 Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks EA – this is super kid-friendly. I’ve been using finely chopped/processed mushrooms in so many recipes lately – loving it as a way to get my kids to eat them.
What is it about kids and mushrooms? My kids also don’t want to see big chunks but small are fine. This dish is ready to pop in the oven for tonight and I know it will be a hit! Thanks for the recipes!