I was a brave soul. I found a recipe for this Cheesy Chicken Pasta. I’d never eaten it before, but it sounded so good, I decided to make it for a friend who had just had her baby. I made a double batch. One for her family and one for ours. I’m just hoping her family liked it, because everyone but one person in our family LOVED it. The one who didn’t like it complained about the melted cheese. Sometimes she loves melted cheese, other times, she doesn’t. I’m never quite sure when it will turn her off….or what exactly she doesn’t like about melted cheese! I happen to love it a little TOO much!
This is my modified version of the original recipe. It calls for cubed or shredded chicken. I made it super easy on myself and put several chicken breasts in the crockpot covered with some Italian dressing and then shredded it when I was ready to put it in.
Cheesy Chicken Ranch Pasta Bake
Ingredients:
3 cups of milk
1 (1 oz) pkg. Ranch Dressing Mix (not the dip blend)
3 C. shredded or cubed, cooked, chicken (I used 3 breasts)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 box of Penne Noodles
3 Cups of Colby Jack Cheese (or cheese of your choice)Directions:
Mix the 3 cups of milk with the ranch dressing mix and pepper. Simmer on the stove for about 20-25 minutes. It should thicken. Stir frequently. While that is going, boil some water and cook your Penne noodles.
At the end of your 20-25 minutes add 1/2 of the cheese to the milk/ranch mix. This should help it to thicken a bit, but it will still seem too runny. It’s OK. Combine the sauce with the noodles and the chicken. Mix well. Pour into cake or lasagna pan. Cover with remaining cheese and bake long enough for the cheese on top to melt. Let cool and dig in!
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
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Stellacook says
Simple and yummy. Thanks.
Jules Rothacher says
Okay, so when this showed up in my inbox it was Quickly added to a save folder! This looks and sounds so yummy!!! Tonight…I tried it. I did have to make it with ziti noodles and colby monterey jack cheese bc that's what I had but it worked {aways messing with perfectly good recipies}. Then I severly underestimated your instructions to " Stir frequently" hehehe I turned back to look at my computer and spun back around to find a bubbling mess of what smelled like rotten milk was ooosing out of my sauce pan. ROUND 2: Watch Ranch/Milk mixture. It's gonna be Yummy!!!
Sidetracked Sarah says
oh no, Julie! Burnt on milk is never fun to clean up! I hope it went better the 2nd go round! Did your family like it?
asplendidtime says
Oh Sarah! So neat to find your blog! This recipe sounds perfect, simple and good! I just wanted to say how cute you and your baby are looking these days! 🙂
Your June 2011 due date buddy from MOMYS,
Rebecca ~asplendidtime
Sidetracked Sarah says
ahhh, thanks Rebecca! I've been meaning to get back to MOMYS to post an update! I hope all is well with you!