BBQ Chicken Pasta Bake.
I’ve had some requests to share more of our dinners and meal ideas with you, so without further ado – here is a recent dinner Mr. How Sweet hogged we shared.
See that cheesiness up there? You can’t go wrong with BBQ and chicken and cheese and pasta and caramelized onions and… well, it just doesn’t get any better. Oh wait, yes it does. Add some panko for crunch.
And of course I used smoked cheese. I have a mild obsession with smoked cheese. I just can’t get enough of it. Especially when it comes to BBQ dishes – it adds even more of the smokey flavor and compliments the BBQ sauce perfectly.
We had a little smorgasbord of pastas going on in this casserole. I wanted to use up the remainders of a few boxes, so into the pot went elbow macaroni, penne and rotini. Ideally, I think penne would work best here. Perhaps this would also be tasty made into cupcakes?
Mr. How Sweet and I both agreed that this could not be classified as mac and cheese. When I think of mac and cheese, I think of a delicious pool of artery-clogging cheese and heavy cream sauce. The cheese sauce I made was very light (I used skim milk, a little butter + flour) and I only added about 1/4 of a cup to the entire dish to simply act as a “glue.” You can skip it entirely, but I think it helps hold the whole thing together.
Not that I really needed to worry about holding it together, considering Mr. How Sweet ate this entire dish in one sitting. And when I say “one sitting,” I really mean about 10 minutes. He is a walking garbage disposal. Sometimes he even sounds like one too.
serves 2-3
4-5 ounces boneless chicken breast, shredded
3 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup skim milk
2 ounces shredded smoked cheese (I used cheddar, gouda and gruyere blend)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare pasta and shredded chicken and set aside. In a small sauce pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sliced onions with a sprinkle of sea salt and let caramelized – about 10 minutes. Â During this time, combine shredded chicken with 2 tablespoons bbq sauce. Once onions are caramelized, set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour to create a roux. Immediately add skim milk and turn down to low heat. Add 1 ounce cheese and stir until cheese is melted and mixture thickens – about 2-3 minutes.
In the casserole dish, alternate layering pasta, bbq chicken, and onions. Add cheese mixture about 1-2 tablespoons at a time, throughly mixing to act like glue and hold the pasta together. Top with additional cheese sauce, remaining shredded cheese, BBQ sauce drizzles and panko bread crumbs.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
Yes, Mr. How Sweet finished this whole dish. No, I didn’t even get one bite. But I was way ahead of him and made a second small casserole dish that he didn’t even know about. So I got my share.
But when I say that it serves 2-3? Just make sure we aren’t coming for dinner that night. Because in that case, it serves 1.
99 Comments on “BBQ Chicken Pasta Bake.”
whoaa the flavors in that dish are insaneeeee I love your creativity! :)
I think Mr. How Sweet and I should have an eating contest. I’m sure I could put him under the table. ;)
Really? You are going to call out Mr. How Sweet on his wife’s blog??
Think you gon’ get away with it? Not up in here!
Not up in here!
It’s on like Donkey Kong.
Just bring it, Ms. Braise The Roof. Unless you want to challenge me to a lasagna eating contest. Then I’m out. I don’t like that stuff.
Yum yum, just….YUMMM! My bf is still drooling over the little pasta cupcakes you made a while back. I promised to cook him dinner on Friday, so this just might be the perfect thing to make! I’ll let you know if I do ;) Thanks for the great ideas, as always!
I think my husband would love this. Therefore, I will make it when he is out of town. :)
I’m obsessed with smoked cheese too!
Oh. MY. GOODNESS. That looks amazing! I love chicken, BBQ and cheese! I think I may use this recipe within the week. Looks awesome! Great job!
Yummy Alert!! Can’t wait to try it! (PS – Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about my favorite food blogs and OF COURSE you were included!! Love your blog & I’ve saved so many of your recipes!)
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve been looking for a good casserole recipe that doesn’t involve a can of cream of something soup. My husband also eats like a horse. I’m so jealous of his metabolism. But he is a working man, while I’m a cubicle girl :)
BBQ meets cheese? Meets pasta? I wish they had this dish at Texas Roadhouse :)
Ok, your hilarious writing and portrayal of your husband are killing me. I should be sleeping right now, but I’m up reading your blog and laughing out loud instead. Thanks for making my evening:)
PS oh and I’m super excited about this whole vegetable frontier you’re conquering day by day. Pretty impressive…
That looks beyond delicious!! I don’t think my husband likes BBQ flavor too much, he’s so weird, lol. I’d make it for myself, though! YUM :D
Wow, this looks amazing! Is it wrong of me to think this might be great with buffalo chicken sauce too??
OMG love your blog and this looks amazing!!!
xoxo
b
engagedtobengaged.blogspot.com
oh my gosh, please come make dinner at my house!!!
Fantastic! Yes to smoked cheese. ;)
I love one dish meals–casseroles are so fun to make & personalize. I like the sounds of yours!!
That is one sick recipe girl. Mr. FoodnFashion would probably buy me a present if I made him that.
i want this. right now.
whats your chicken shredding process?
I love anything slathered in BBQ sauce – this looks absolutely delicious! :-) Add cheese and I’m in heaven! ;-) Haha!
I made this for dinner last night, I had some random pasta left over as well. It was super yummy!! Thank you for sharing!
I starred this recipe as soon as I saw it and I just made it tonight. THIS IS DELICIOUS! Just a few modifications, based on the kind of cheese and noodles I had on hand, and it was AWESOME! Thanks for all your tasty recipes!
YUM! That pasta looks soooo good. My hubby would be in heaven.
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Love your pictures! Everthing looks so yummy!
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Oh my gosh!! I just laughed out loud to your entire post!!! thank you for that! and this looks amazing and simple (yay for simple!) I can’t wait to try the recipe!!
Just stumbled upon this when looking to do something with the contents of our cupboard.
Delicious !
Thank you for the recipe.
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I bet this would be fantastic with crumbled bacon on top too! Mmm.
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I just made this. I wish I could make my stomach grow so I could eat the whole thing without vomiting. Next time I might use crumbled cheddar potato chips instead of bread crumbs.
This was the 4th recipe of yours that I’ve cooked successfully! It was delicious and I’m starting to feel like a real chef :)
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OMG! I just made this because you posted it for the 4th. I didn’t have any smoked cheese, so i just went with sharp cheddar. this is probably my new favorite meal! thanks so much!
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WOW, made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit w/ my family! Sooooo delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe!!!
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I’m going to try this for dinner, so I don’t have any feedback yet (except my deep love for smoked gouda) but I did want to say that I love your site. I saw it a while back, and looked at it a bit, but I find myself coming back again and again. Keep the greatness coming please!
I made this for dinner tonight and a double recipe for a friend who lost a child this week. It’s delicious and I know it’ll help bring some comfort to my friend. Thanks for sharing.
We just finished eating. My boyfriend loved it. Success :)
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Serve warm with a slice of piecrust over top of
the fruit. As soon as the fried chicken is already cooked, remove them from the
skillet and arrange them in a pan, then cover with paper towels to keep them warm.
The final decision to use a roasting method to cook the chicken is a good one because this
type of cooking will allow us to compose the item in one large single batch and place
them on sheet pans for the oven.
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I know this is a really old post, and I ordinarily wouldn’t bother commenting, but I just made this for dinner last week and it was SOOOO unbelievably good. I’m a little obsessed with it and can’t wait to make it again. I really was hesitant but thought I’d try it b/c it was at least something different and I just loved it. I used all smoked gouda and really good BBQ sauce and it was divine. So thank you! I’m not sure how I stumbled upon the recipe or your website but I’ll definitely be looking into your recipes and following you! Thanks!