I had to ring in my first recipe post with a tried and true fave- Chicken Spinach Pasta Bake. My eldest requests this meal all the time. It’s stupid-easy to make, but what I like most about this meal is the prep aspect! You can get all the ingredients tossed together in the morning, and just throw it in the  the oven after you get home from picking the kids up! My kids are ravenous when they get home from school, but a lot of times they’ll fill up on snacks and by the time dinner is ready, they’re “full”…. yeah okay. 😆 I’m sure I’m not the only one that experiences this.

Another reason I like this recipe is because not only can you just use what you have, but you can simplify it to match how much time you have! This mindset has helped me cook more dinners for my family. Some nights will be 3 ingredient dinners and some nights will be 15 ingredients dinners- balance.

No time? Shred a rotisserie chicken (or open a few cans of canned chicken breast) while your pasta boils, used jarred alfredo sauce (thin with milk because they be thick as hell), and a bag of frozen chopped spinach.

A little time? Boil/shred a few chicken breasts, if using frozen it’ll take a little longer (add a garlic clove & bay leaf to the pot if you’re feelin fancy!). Use jarred sauce but doctor it up with some butter, cream cheese, garlic, parmesan cheese and seasonings. Frozen spinach is as good as fresh spinach, fight me! Boil the pasta as all this is happening.

Enough time? In the morning throw some chicken breasts in the crockpot with seasonings of choice and a pat of butter, and let it slowcook on low for 5 hours before shredding, but PLZ LORD don’t overcook it! Make a homemade alfredo sauce (I will link mine later). Use fresh spinach if ya have it and need to use it up, but frozen spinach is honestly great for us since produce tends to go bad at our house before we can eat it, haha.

For noodles, I’ve used any kind from penne to rigatoni to cavatappi, the tube shape pastas tend to hold the sauce in it which makes for flavorful bites each time! Any noodle would be fine though. We don’t discriminate against carbs in this house. Make sure to cook it just to barely al dente since it’ll cook long in the oven!

For protein, I’ll usually do chicken breast (leaner protein to balance out all the yummy carbs and fats), but a chicken thigh would be so good too (probably even better). I like to shred mine, but chopped finely would work great too. If I have a rotisserie chicken around, PERFECT, but today I boiled 3 small chicken chicken breasts in a pot with chicken builloin. Smiths has a BOGO free sale on Tyson chicken breast right now so I had some ready to go in the fridge.

Sure, pasta with a cream sauce isn’t exactly the most nutritious dinner, but I feel a little better about this dish because I load it up with chicken so that the protein to carb/fat ratio isn’t terrible.

I used just about all Target brand “good & gather” ingredients, I love Target’s drive-up ordering for errands where my youngest just won’t behave in a store! 😆

Here are some links to items I recommend for this recipe, such as a good 9×13 pan! You gotta have one of those in your arsenal, and you can find them anywhere (Walmart, Target, thrift store).

https://amzn.to/44dPNXU

https://amzn.to/3MiNsEX

P.S. I do make a small commission off of these affiliated links. Thank you kindly 😊

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breast, shredded

16 oz pasta, tube shape preferred

2ish cups of alfredo sauce, jarred or homemade

Frozen or fresh spinach

Instructions: Mix pasta, chicken, spinach and sauce together and pour onto a greased 9×13 pan. Optional, but toast 1 piece of bread and crush it on top to give a crunchy top (could also add some cheese to the top). Cover with foil (spray the foil side that will touch the food), and bake at 375° for 20 minutes, take the foil off carefully, and cook for abother 15 minutes to crisp up the top. Remove from the oven when it starts to brown on top, and let sit for 5 minutes to the sauce really thickens. Serve it up how you like (I love crushed red pepper on mine), and make sure to save some for lunch tomorrow! It reheats pretty well, as long as you didn’t overcook the noodles and chicken breast.

K love you bye!