The World’s EASIEST Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake!
This is comfort food for busy people, dedicated to all those back home in Australia and everyone else around the world suffering through a blustery cold winter! The method I use for this Ultra Lazy Healthy Chicken Pasta Bake certainly is unorthodox. Just plonk flour, uncooked pasta, raw chicken, vegetables, milk and chicken broth into the baking dish, give it a quick stir, then pop it into the oven. Pull it out partway through cooking, stir through cheese, then finish baking. And what comes out is quite extraordinary. When you crack through that golden topping, you will be greeted with perfectly cooked pasta smothered in a creamy sauce that you’ve just made without a single drop of cream, without having to make a roux on the stove the traditional way béchamel and cheese sauces are made. Not a hint of flouriness (thanks to the gluten in the pasta which also helps thicken the sauce) and the pasta is perfectly cooked – I blame my Japanese mother for raising me as a total snob about overcooked rice and this snobbery extends to pasta. There is actually sauce (hands up if you’ve suffered through dry pasta bakes!), and it’s a complete meal that’s light on the pasta, and heavy on broccoli + lean chicken.
I’m going to be completely honest with you about the difference between this and the traditional way of making creamy pasta bakes. My “go to” way is to start with a roux – like in this Seafood Gratin Pasta Bake, my Baked Mac and Cheese and my mother’s Chicken and Mushroom Macaroni Gratin ( «— Childhood favourite, right here!). The sauce is silken and there’s more of it compared to this Ultra Lazy way. If you look very closely, you will see that the sauce is a tiny bit split on the base of the baking dish. But you need to look really close to see it and it doesn’t taste split. Very, very small compromise for a quick meal, in my humble view. 🙂 (Here’s a close up – you can see what I am describing in the bottom left corner)
I didn’t create this Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake as a hack. It came about because of the homeless man at the local dog park who I regularly take hot meals to. He always insists that I mustn’t go out of my way to bring him meals, and that in itself plus me being me just feels some sort of obligation to ensure I take meals to him regularly. I had skipped a few days and I was standing in my kitchen, flustered at the mound of dirty dishes and peeved because of a failed video shoot and wanted to make something quickly. Threw this Ultra Lazy Pasta Bake together using leftover vegetables thinking it “should be ok”, was blown away how well it actually worked, got the thumbs up from the homeless man, had it myself for dinner then decided to share it here. 🙂 – Nagi x
More big, juicy pasta bakes
Baked Ziti – the mother of all pasta bakes! Tuna Pasta Bake – the highest and best use for canned tuna! Seafood Gratin Pasta Bake Baked Mac and Cheese – and try the Shrimp version! Chili Mac Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper) Browse all pasta recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ultra Lazy HEALTHY Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake recipe video!
More chicken and broccoli recipes
For those of you who, like me, find yourself putting both of these in your trolley week after week…
LIFE OF DOZER
I always joke about how when I’m away, Dozer doesn’t miss me at all because he’s too busy enjoying his own holiday with a Golden Retriever boarder. But apparently, when she takes Dozer to the beach, he breaks away from the pack and sprints up to “dark haired people of my shape”, then bolts back when he realises it’s not me. I didn’t know what to react to first – pleased as punch at the first sign that he does actually seem to miss me, or bursting into laughter at her delicately phrased description that Dozer only runs towards vertically challenged, dark haired women with generously sized bottoms!!!
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