Rotisserie chicken alfredo bake
Penne, broccoli and chicken in creamy alfredo sauce under a blanket of browned mozzarella, and it reheats beautifully.
- 50 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $2.35 a serving
- 650 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 2½ cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 12 oz penne
- 12 oz frozen broccoli
- 2 jars alfredo sauce, 15 oz jars
- ½ cup milk
- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 650 calories, 35 g protein, 56 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $2.35 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No penne? Rigatoni or elbow macaroni works.
- No frozen broccoli? Broccoli works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 375°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Fill a large pot with water, add the salt, cover and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
While it heats, the chicken into bite-size pieces.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Add the penne and cook 2 minutes less than the package says. For the last 2 minutes, drop the frozen broccoli into the same pot.
High heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: The pasta keeps softening in the oven. Pulling it early is what keeps it from going mushy.the pasta and broccoli well and tip them back into the pot.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
in the alfredo sauce, milk, chicken, garlic powder and pepper until everything is coated.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Spread it in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and scatter the mozzarella and parmesan over the top.
about 20 minutes, until it bubbles at the edges and the cheese is and in spots.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: To make it ahead, cover and refrigerate it before baking, then give it 10 extra minutes in the oven.Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Let it sit 5 minutes before serving so the sauce settles.
Timer: 5 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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