Four Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake is a rich, creamy pasta bake made with four-cheese sauce, chicken, and noodles. Easy to prepare, even better to share.
Let me start by saying I was not a big cheese fan until I met my husband. His four major food groups in no particular order are meat, ranch dressing, cheese, and more cheese. It doesn’t matter what kind. He’s infamous at Colorado State University for hustling a giant 35 lb. cheese wheel from the staff at the Allison Hall cafeteria, which lasted him and his roommates all of 3 weeks. They even removed the lower two shelves from their fridge for the behemoth cheddar block to reside.
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He was also the first person to make me a blue-cheese sauce (for steaks of course) while we were dating. Although I already loved him, this definitely was an added bonus. All our kids, especially our girls, love cheese just as much as Jake if not a little more. But it was a dish at a fancy local restaurant, Jay’s Bistro, which inspired this recipe.
At my sister’s rehearsal dinner a few years ago, we realized there wasn’t a whole lot of kid-friendly selections, so we asked for the lobster mac and cheese, hold the lobster, for our little ones. When it came out, my husband tried it to make sure it wasn’t too hot. He instantly urged me to taste it. We ordered more and ended up eating it all. The kids can have the filet with port demi-glace – we get the mac n’ cheese.
I thought I would try something similar. To add some protein, I substituted chicken for the lobster because it’s such an easy thing to add to any dish. This turned out rich and creamy, and I ended up giving half of it to one of my pregnant friends who is due any day now. She later texted me that her husband ate most of it before dinner, and her two-year-old finished what was left that night.
Also check out a few of my other pasta bakes, like this Chicken Fettuccine Bake, Creamy Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Bake, Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake, and Chicken Tetrazzini Pasta Bake.
More easy pasta dishes
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Four Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 pound Fusilli Bucati Corti or any desired pasta, boiled to al dente and drained
- 9 tablespoons butter
- 4 1/2 tablespoons flour
- 14.5 ounces chicken broth 14.5 ounces chicken broth
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1 cup+ 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano grated
- 1 cup+ 2 tablespoons Gouda cheese grated
- 1 cup+ 2 tablespoons sharp white cheddar cheese grated
- 6 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 10 ounces cooked chicken breast sliced or cubed, I like grilled chicken
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese for topping grated
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350. Spray square 9×9 or oval dish with cooking spray. Cook pasta as directed and drain.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour. Gradually stir in broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce heat to low. Stir in mascarpone, white cheddar cheese, Gouda, parmesan and half-and-half. Allow all cheese to melt and meld together while continuously stirring. Once completely mixed together and cheese is melted, stir in chicken.
- Add pasta to chicken mixture; toss gently to mix well. Spoon into baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered about 15-25 minutes or until hot in the center. Enjoy!
Kids review: Sadly, when I made this all my kids were down with some horrible virus that we picked up while cruisin’ in the Bahamas. There were some leftovers that my daughter Jojo, the cheese addict, was able to try, and she loved it. My husband would always substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the white chicken meat, but he and I inhaled it for dinner, and lunch and dinner the next day it was so good.
How do you think asiago would work in this?
Yes I do, in fact I would make it a 5 cheese pasta bake with that in there! That is my favorite cheese. xo San
I love chicken pastas. This is making me really hungry! Yum!
Thanks Lexie! xo San
I added some spinach, tomatoes, kale and red pepper flakes touch of parsley as well… My son inhaled it… Great recipe!
I made this tonight but used about 2/3 pound of pasta and twice the chicken. It is very decadent and delicious. Could cut back on the butter a little as it was pooling on the top when I took it out of the oven. My whole family really liked it!
I am glad you all like the meal! xo San
I can’t wait to make this tonight! Looks so delicious:) But, I forgot to buy the white cheddar, can I use regular?
Melissa – That is fine. It will change the taste a bit and the color but cheesy pasta will be the end result and that can’t be bad.
Let me know how it turns out. xo San
I am so glad I live in Wisconsin.We have great cheese-yumm.
Holy Cow, I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing!!! My husband said it’s probably one of the best meals I’ve ever made him! Thank you, and I look forward to trying more of your creations!
is there a different kind of cheese you could use in stead of mascarpone? I have never cooked with that and wonder if I have another cheese on hand that would work. Thanks
Yes, you can try cream cheese. But mascarpone is much creamier and really easy to work with. xo San
Can this dish be baked and frozen?
Made this for dinner tonight. Delicious! Added some Italian seasoning, garlic powder and black pepper at the end. It was definitely a hit in my house!
Thanks Alicia for coming back and letting me know. I love the additional of the Italian seasoning, totally doing that next time. xo San
I made this for my family this morning and we will bake and enjoy it tonight! I added sea salt and black pepper to taste as well as fresh garlic and garlic powder. Can’t wait!
Very nice and tasty pasta. It looks too much mouth watering.
This is a family favorite. I add pepper, garlic powder, and seasoned salt along with diced red peppers, artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes! It’s amazing!!!!
What sort of recipe conversion is this??? 4 tablespoons equal 1/4 cup. To require 3/4 cup + 6 tablespoons is simpler said as ‘1 cup + 2 tablespoons.
Thank you for your insight. I have adjusted the recipe, hope this will help you.
i saw this this morning and started to drool.
Do you put the chicken into the chesse melt raw or do you cook the chicken first?
I made it, but had to substitute cream cheese for mascarpone. I will try bread crumbs mixed in and more chicken. But I have no idea how you were able to fit all of it into a 9×9! Overall tasty. I yielded about 8 servings. Thank you for the recipe!
This was amazing! I didn’t have mascarpone so I had to substitute it with about 3.5 ounces of smoked Gouda and a little extra white cheddar. Definitely going into my recipe book! Thanks!