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This Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti recipe is made with a lightened-up alfredo sauce, it’s easy to customize with extra veggies and seasonings, and it is always so comforting and delicious.
This time of year, when everyone seems to be craving warm pasta dinners around the table on chilly winter nights, this chicken alfredo baked ziti recipe always goes viral here on the blog. And this time of year, when I make a batch for myself, I’m always reminded how unbeatable this Italian casserole will always be. I mean, creamy alfredo sauce, savory chicken, hearty pasta, two delicious kinds of melty cheese — what’s not to love?! There’s a reason why this one will always be a classic.
That said, while this recipe already features my lightened-up alfredo sauce recipe, there are all sorts of other ways you can make this comfort food a bit healthier if you’d like. From subbing in whole wheat pasta (this one is my go-to), to adding in your choice of veggies (we’re quite partial to broccoli in our house), to making it all gluten-free if you’d like (easy to do with a few simple tweaks), options to customize this casserole abound. And bonus, it can be ready to serve a big crowd in less than 45 minutes.
Who’s ready for a helping?
My original photo for this recipe from 2014.
Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti Ingredients:
To make this Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti recipe, you will need:
Pasta: Feel free to use any shape (ziti, penne, fettuccine, etc.) and variety (classic, whole-wheat, gluten-free, etc.) of pasta that you prefer.
Shredded, cooked chicken: I either shred a rotisserie chicken, or use leftovers from this baked chicken breasts recipe.
Shredded mozzarella cheese: Feel free to use part-skim or full-fat.
Alfredo sauce: We will use my lightened-up alfredo sauce recipe, made simply with olive oil (or butter), garlic, flour, chicken stock, low-fat milk, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Also, this recipe is not naturally very saucy. So if you would like, many of our readers recommend doubling the sauce.
Toppings: Freshly-grated Parmesan is a must, in my book. And feel free to sprinkle on some chopped parsley for extra freshness and flavor.
Also, see below for suggestions on other delicious ingredients you can add in to this easy baked ziti. (Here’s lookin’ at you, broccoli and Cajun seasoning. ♡)
How To Make Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti:
Alright, let’s talk about how to make baked ziti! Simply…
Prepare the alfredo sauce. To make the alfredo recipe, just sauté some garlic in olive oil (or butter). Stir in some flour to thicken, add stock and milk and bring to a simmer. Then stir in the Parmesan, season with salt and pepper, and you’re ready to go!
Cook the pasta (and chicken). Meanwhile, do some multi-tasking and cook your pasta according to package instructions in a large pot of generously-salted water. Also, if you are cooking your chicken from scratch (vs. using leftovers or shredding a rotisserie), go ahead and cook it while the pasta and sauce are being prepared.
Layer everything together. Once your pasta, sauce, and chicken are all ready to go, it’s time to combine everything! In your pasta pot, stir together the pasta, alfredo sauce and chicken until combined. Then spread half of the pasta mixture out evenly in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle on half of the mozzarella. And repeat with the remaining pasta mixture, and remaining half of the mozzarella.
Bake. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake (uncovered) for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and has started to brown a bit on top.
Add toppings. Remove and sprinkle with lots of freshly-grated Parmesan and finely-chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Serve. Then dish it up while it’s still nice and warm, and enjoy!
Possible Variations:
There are so many ways to customize this chicken alfredo bake! For example, feel free to…
Add in veggies. Broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, cauliflower, and any number of other veggies would be delicious added to this chicken alfredo recipe. Just note that they won’t get cooked much during the 20 minutes of baking time. So if whatever veggies you add require a longer cooking time, feel free to toss them into the boiling water with the pasta for a few minutes or sauté (or roast) them for a few minutes before adding them to the casserole.
Add in extra Italian herbs. If you would like an herbier chicken alfredo pasta, feel free to add some dried Italian seasoning or chopped fresh Italian herbs into the alfredo sauce. (Or, you can also sprinkle some chopped fresh basil on top of the pasta after baking.)
Nix the protein. Not into chicken? Feel free to use shrimp in this recipe instead. (Or make it vegetarian and add in some extra veggies instead.)
Make it spicy. I really love sprinkling lots of crushed red pepper into (and on top of) this casserole to give it a bit of a kick.
Make it cajun. To give this recipe a Cajun twist, feel free to stir 1-2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (to taste) into the alfredo sauce.
This Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti recipe is made with a lightened-up alfredo sauce, and is always so comforting and delicious. See notes above for possible ingredient variations.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken Baked Ziti Ingredients:
12 ounces uncooked ziti (or any pasta shape)
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (about 2 small chicken breasts)
1 batch alfredo sauce (see below)
1 1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
toppings: lots of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, finely-chopped fresh basil or parsley
Cook the pasta al dente in a large stockpot of well-salted boiling according to package instructions. Drain. Return pasta to the stockpot and add chicken and alfredo sauce. Gently toss to combine until the pasta is evenly coated.
Pour half of the pasta into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of mozzarella. Layer the remaining half of the pasta evenly on top. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and just barely starts to turn golden. Remove and serve immediately, sprinkled with additional toppings if desired.
To Make The Alfredo Sauce:
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute one minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine. Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.
Slowly add chicken broth, whisking to combine until smooth. Whisk in milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let cook for an additional minute until thickened, then stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until the cheese melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
I just made this. I got home from a weekend away and was looking for a quick family-happy recipe. It was great! I used burrata (sinfully delicious) instead of low fat mozzarella, simply because that’s what I had in the house. Thanks for a great recipe!
Just made this tonight. It was a hit! My boys gobbled it up and gave tons of compliments. My oldest asked, “Mom, how long did this take you to make?” since it seemed like one of those meals that take a while to prepare. This is a keeper recipe!
I made this recipe tonight for dinner. The flavors were GREAT. If I decide to make this again I would double the alfredo sauce as it seemed a little dry and hardly covered the pasta to my liking. Other than that, I enjoyed it. (Was not a favorite for my kids) thank you for sharing.
B —
I out a regular jar of Alfredo, seemed to do a lot better then homemade Alfredo. :)
Hi Ali! If you wanted to make this a freezer meal, would you prepare ant freeze or prepare, bake and freeze? Also, if frozen, what temperature would you recommend for baking? Thank you.
My husband and I look for simple recipes to make together (He is the cook, I am very blessed). This looks simple enough to try on our daughter and 6’8 230 lb son-in-law coming over tonight! Will try a bit more chicken and use different pasta. Will let y’all know how it goes!!
Just reading the intro brought me back! I grew up in the same time as you apparently becuase I can vividly remember my Lisa Frank collection and the necessity of a Jansport backpack! Wow how time flies! On another note-love the recipe! Didn’t change a thing just added the little extra that my hubby likes and it was great! Such an awesome way to spend Sunday watching football and eating good!
I love pasta with red sauce and my partner loves it with white sauce, so I’m always looking for recipes that will make us both happy and the photos of this were irresistible! I have it in the oven right now! It made so much food that it didn’t all fit in my casserole dish, so I put the overflow into a bowl and it’s my lunch :) Followed the recipe closely, added broccoli and a splash of white wine to the sauce. The sauce isn’t quite as flavorful as I’d hoped but probably that’s what makes it so kid- and husband-friendly. Thanks for the fabulous idea and recipe! (Hoping to make your red sauce baked ziti next month!)
I made this last night with some tweaks and thought it was excellent. Based on some of the comments I upped the amount of sauce by 50% Also added 1 cup of the mozzarella to the Alfredo sauce so it would be better distributed, added a package of thawed, quartered frozen artichoke hearts, and some chopped prosciutto I crisped in the olive oil before adding the flour and garlic.
I just love your blog pictures and look. It is clean, simple yet beautiful.
I made this tonight but I had a jar of Alfredo (Signore gourmet) and I made my own sauce also to thin out jar and make it enough for a little over a pound of ziti. I added provolone to the middle layer and just mozzarella on top. Also Parmesan . I was thinking adding green peas or some steamed spinach would have been good too. Never made this before. The family loved it. Not too creamy. Thank you!
Made this the first time for friends get together. Kids and adults both loved it! I would say it’s a bit dry, I was very careful not to overcook, so I will probably increase the alfredo to 1.5 the original recipe. Making it again tonight for dinner! Thanks for sharing :)
This looks wonderful, pretty sure it will be a total hit at my house. Also wanted to mention I LOVE the site design and your photography. I adore all the white space (both on the site) and in your photography. It really makes the food pop!
I just made this today. It’s tasted really good. Lots of flavor without the after meal heaviness. For my personal taste, i’d add in red pepper flakes next time.
I made this tonight! I loved the flavor of the alfredo but mine came out a bit lumpy since i didnt add the flour and broth together well. I would only like to improve my technique in achieving a smoother sauce and I too would double the volume since it was such a great flavor and mine just barely covered the pasta! Thanks!
This was awesome. Two teenage boys gave two thumbs up! It was great easy to get done in a hurry and there are plenty of leftovers. I didn’t bake w cheese just boiled pasta, poured sauce over and served. Thanks!!!
I have a hard time finding recipes that my picky 5- and 7-year-olds both like. I just made this, and it was a hit with both of them -and my husband as well! Found your site through Pinterest -looking forward to browsing and finding some other meals to try. Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was delicious, but wish I would have read some of these comments prior. It was a bit too dry for me as well. I will increase the Alfredo sauce next time, which by the way, was my first attempt at homeade sauce and im feeling pretty proud of myself! I also enjoyed the ideas about adding fresh spinach or artichoke hearts. Overall, great recipe.
This sounds perfect for my lunch company this weekend! :) I’m wondering…would it be ok to put this together before they arrive and place it in the fridge for a while (30mins-hour)before putting it in the oven?
Love this dish! So simple, yet so filling, and everyone loves it! I used jarred Alfredo sauce and doubled it – I find that with baked pasta dishes, it tends to dry out (unless I’m just using too much pasta!). I didn’t add any veggies to the pasta, but will try it with some frozen broccoli next time!
That was the best ziti recipe ever, and I’ve tried lot of different recipes. Delicious! My family told me it’s a keeper! I’m so glad I found your page. I’ll be trying out many more of your other recipes soon.
I’m a newbie at cooking so my sauce was lumpy too :( but it still tasted a million times better than the store-bought stuff in a jar! I subtracted some pasta and added broccoli, and my husband and I really enjoyed it. After cooking the chicken, the pasta, sauce, and broccoli it was 4 pans, tons of measuring stuff, and over an hour of crusty cheesy cleanup though. I’m exhausted! But it was yummy and now we have leftovers for tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe :)
Yes, although this would be extremely rich and creamy. If you want to keep them a bit lighter, you could whisk in a little water with your whipping cream.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I added broccoli and it turned out well and the kids even ate their veggies. Thank you for a great recipe that will be added to our dinner rotation.
Have you ever made this recipe without he chicken? I am looking for a good side dish pasta to go with a roast pork tenderloin I am making.
I haven’t, but it would still be great without chicken. It will be similar to fettuccine alfredo. :)
Sure — it’s still great without the chicken!
Brilliant recipe…stroke of genius
I just made this. I got home from a weekend away and was looking for a quick family-happy recipe. It was great! I used burrata (sinfully delicious) instead of low fat mozzarella, simply because that’s what I had in the house. Thanks for a great recipe!
Made this tonight and was absolutely delicious!!
Making this right now so my hubby and I can take it to work and o…my…yum…the alfredo smells amazing! Thank you for the yummy recipe!
Just made this tonight. It was a hit! My boys gobbled it up and gave tons of compliments. My oldest asked, “Mom, how long did this take you to make?” since it seemed like one of those meals that take a while to prepare. This is a keeper recipe!
I do a lot of freezer cooking. Can I assemble and then freeze for a later time? Not sure how the alfredo sauce will hold up.
I made this recipe tonight for dinner. The flavors were GREAT. If I decide to make this again I would double the alfredo sauce as it seemed a little dry and hardly covered the pasta to my liking. Other than that, I enjoyed it. (Was not a favorite for my kids) thank you for sharing.
I out a regular jar of Alfredo, seemed to do a lot better then homemade Alfredo. :)
Hi Ali! If you wanted to make this a freezer meal, would you prepare ant freeze or prepare, bake and freeze? Also, if frozen, what temperature would you recommend for baking? Thank you.
I hope this tastes as great as it looks – those pictures are AMAZING!!
Can’t wait to make this for our company this weekend. Do you think this would freeze well? THank you!
Looking for the nutrional information please.
Excellent recipe. I’ll try it with cubed chicken breast.
Excellent leftovers. Great recipe.
My husband and I look for simple recipes to make together (He is the cook, I am very blessed). This looks simple enough to try on our daughter and 6’8 230 lb son-in-law coming over tonight! Will try a bit more chicken and use different pasta. Will let y’all know how it goes!!
Made this for dinner “DELICIOUS”!!! I’ll make it again!!!
Just reading the intro brought me back! I grew up in the same time as you apparently becuase I can vividly remember my Lisa Frank collection and the necessity of a Jansport backpack! Wow how time flies! On another note-love the recipe! Didn’t change a thing just added the little extra that my hubby likes and it was great! Such an awesome way to spend Sunday watching football and eating good!
Tried this today and it was super yummy! Though I had to tweak it a bit, because I don’t have an oven but nontheless !!!!
I love pasta with red sauce and my partner loves it with white sauce, so I’m always looking for recipes that will make us both happy and the photos of this were irresistible! I have it in the oven right now! It made so much food that it didn’t all fit in my casserole dish, so I put the overflow into a bowl and it’s my lunch :) Followed the recipe closely, added broccoli and a splash of white wine to the sauce. The sauce isn’t quite as flavorful as I’d hoped but probably that’s what makes it so kid- and husband-friendly. Thanks for the fabulous idea and recipe! (Hoping to make your red sauce baked ziti next month!)
I made this last night with some tweaks and thought it was excellent. Based on some of the comments I upped the amount of sauce by 50% Also added 1 cup of the mozzarella to the Alfredo sauce so it would be better distributed, added a package of thawed, quartered frozen artichoke hearts, and some chopped prosciutto I crisped in the olive oil before adding the flour and garlic.
I just love your blog pictures and look. It is clean, simple yet beautiful.
I made this tonight but I had a jar of Alfredo (Signore gourmet) and I made my own sauce also to thin out jar and make it enough for a little over a pound of ziti. I added provolone to the middle layer and just mozzarella on top. Also Parmesan . I was thinking adding green peas or some steamed spinach would have been good too. Never made this before. The family loved it. Not too creamy. Thank you!
I love this recipe. Thank you.
Tried this recipe this week. It was fabulous!!! It was even great warmed up for leftovers!
Made this the first time for friends get together. Kids and adults both loved it! I would say it’s a bit dry, I was very careful not to overcook, so I will probably increase the alfredo to 1.5 the original recipe. Making it again tonight for dinner! Thanks for sharing :)
This recipe has some serious yummy-ness going on! Looks and sounds delicious!
Love, love this recipes! I added red bell peppers and it was a hit; thank you for posting!
Hi, I was just wondering at what temp to you bake it at? I’m making it torrid and I’m so excited, it looks so good. Thank you for the receipe
375 degrees F. Enjoy!
This looks wonderful, pretty sure it will be a total hit at my house. Also wanted to mention I LOVE the site design and your photography. I adore all the white space (both on the site) and in your photography. It really makes the food pop!
Thanks so much, Michelle! :)
I am making this tonight and I want to add spinach. Should I use fresh or frozen??
I would recommend using fresh baby spinach, but either would work. Enjoy!
Your pictures are always so beautiful. Do you mind of I ask what Camera you’re using?
Yep, a Canon 6D! :)
I love pasta,its yummyyy i will try that one.
I just made this today. It’s tasted really good. Lots of flavor without the after meal heaviness. For my personal taste, i’d add in red pepper flakes next time.
I made this tonight! I loved the flavor of the alfredo but mine came out a bit lumpy since i didnt add the flour and broth together well. I would only like to improve my technique in achieving a smoother sauce and I too would double the volume since it was such a great flavor and mine just barely covered the pasta! Thanks!
Is this something that could be put together as a freezer meal? I am make some for the college family members so they have something awesome to eat.
This was awesome. Two teenage boys gave two thumbs up! It was great easy to get done in a hurry and there are plenty of leftovers. I didn’t bake w cheese just boiled pasta, poured sauce over and served. Thanks!!!
This recipe is perfection! Super easy to make and delicious.
Thank you!
I have a hard time finding recipes that my picky 5- and 7-year-olds both like. I just made this, and it was a hit with both of them -and my husband as well! Found your site through Pinterest -looking forward to browsing and finding some other meals to try. Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was delicious, but wish I would have read some of these comments prior. It was a bit too dry for me as well. I will increase the Alfredo sauce next time, which by the way, was my first attempt at homeade sauce and im feeling pretty proud of myself! I also enjoyed the ideas about adding fresh spinach or artichoke hearts. Overall, great recipe.
Im making some right now before the kids come home from school, Im so excited to see if the kids will enjoy this.
This sounds perfect for my lunch company this weekend! :) I’m wondering…would it be ok to put this together before they arrive and place it in the fridge for a while (30mins-hour)before putting it in the oven?
I added chopped tomatoes, chopped bacon, chopped leeks to the recipe. It added color and much more flavor.
If I use Alfredo sauce from a jar, how much is recommended? Thanks!
Love this dish! So simple, yet so filling, and everyone loves it! I used jarred Alfredo sauce and doubled it – I find that with baked pasta dishes, it tends to dry out (unless I’m just using too much pasta!). I didn’t add any veggies to the pasta, but will try it with some frozen broccoli next time!
That was the best ziti recipe ever, and I’ve tried lot of different recipes. Delicious! My family told me it’s a keeper! I’m so glad I found your page. I’ll be trying out many more of your other recipes soon.
Sounds delicious! Is it freezable?
I actually don’t recommend freezing this one, but technically you could.
so delicious food, my mouth is watering
I’m a newbie at cooking so my sauce was lumpy too :( but it still tasted a million times better than the store-bought stuff in a jar! I subtracted some pasta and added broccoli, and my husband and I really enjoyed it. After cooking the chicken, the pasta, sauce, and broccoli it was 4 pans, tons of measuring stuff, and over an hour of crusty cheesy cleanup though. I’m exhausted! But it was yummy and now we have leftovers for tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe :)
Could I use whipping cream instead of milk??
Yes, although this would be extremely rich and creamy. If you want to keep them a bit lighter, you could whisk in a little water with your whipping cream.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I added broccoli and it turned out well and the kids even ate their veggies. Thank you for a great recipe that will be added to our dinner rotation.
is there anyway you can ballpark a calorie estimate per serving?