Try this Chicken Alfredo Baked Penne recipe, or contribute your own.
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 8 ounces penne (i use a combo of white & whole wheat)
- 2-3 chicken breasts + salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cups heavy cream or milk (i used fat free half & half)
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese divided
- optional: parsley for topping
- Carbohydrate 8.22719811906006 g
- Cholesterol 37.2773437598108 mg
- Fat 14.1039309412012 g
- Fiber 0.0692999973297119 g
- Protein 7.78004531253879 g
- Saturated Fat 8.94082125234399 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (95g)
- Sodium 419.09214325545 mg
- Sugar 8.15789812173035 g
- Trans Fat 0.720784687759092 g
- Calories 189 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add penne noodles to a large pot, cover noodles with water.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil until easily pierced with a fork.
- Drain and set aside.
- Pound chicken to ½ inch thickness and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook in a greased skillet over medium heat 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through.
- Chop into 1 inch pieces and set aside.
- In the skillet where you cooked the chicken (you can just wipe it out with a paper towel to get rid of any leftover tidbits from he chicken) melt the butter over medium heat.
- Once melted, sprinkle flour over the butter and stir til it clumps together.
- Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth.
- Stir in garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper) Add â…“ cup parmesan cheese and stir until melted and completely incorporated.
- In a large bowl combine cooked penne, chicken, and the sauce and stir to combine.
- Transfer mixture to a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melty and begins to brown around the edges.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley if desired and serve.
Standard ingredient lists omit the chemical reality of building an alfredo sauce from scratch using a roux foundation rather than traditional Roman technique. Butter and flour cooked together create a starch matrix that stabilizes dairy, preventing the heavy cream or milk from breaking under high oven heat at four hundred degrees. Restaurant kitchens rely on this cooked paste to hold fats and liquids in suspension, yielding a velvety coating rather than a greasy pool.
Cream sauces originated as a rich variation of fettuccine alfredo, though baking the pasta introduces a casserole format unknown in traditional Italian trattorias. Combining cooked penne with protein and dairy before a ten to fifteen minute oven finish allows the starch from the pasta to further thicken the sauce while the parmesan cheese forms a golden crust along the edges of the nine-by-thirteen-inch dish.
Protein preparation requires careful attention to thickness and timing before mixing into the pasta. Pounding chicken breasts to a uniform half-inch thickness ensures even cooking across the muscle fibers when seared in a skillet for five to six minutes per side over medium heat. Cutting the meat into one-inch chunks distributes the protein evenly so every serving receives equal portions.
Altering the dairy components changes the structural integrity of the final bake significantly. Substituting whole milk or fat-free half-and-half for heavy cream reduces the overall fat content, which directly lowers the sauce resistance to curdling under direct heat. Maintaining a steady whisking motion while pouring liquids into the butter-flour mixture prevents lumps and guarantees a completely smooth emulsion.
