A pasta bake with plenty of thick, creamy tomato sauce….made with NO CREAM….all in ONE POT! Even the pasta is cooked right in the pan with the sauce! Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake with Chicken is the ultimate recipe for low-effort comfort food to feed a family or group of friends.
My mother makes an incredible Japanese pasta bake called Makaroni Guratan, which is basically Macaroni Gratin pronounced with a Japanese accent. It is soooo typical of the Japanese to change the spelling of English words to the way Japanese pronounce it. It’s an endless source of amusement for me!
As the name implies, it is macaroni baked in a classic french “gratin” style with a creamy white sauce made from a roux. It was a childhood favourite and I used to nag my mother to make it frequently, but she only ever treated us with it for special occasions. So I got to know Makaroni Guratan as a special occasion dish.
As I grew older and started to cook, I realised why she only made it for special occasions….because it is such an effort to make! It requires four separate pots/pans/dishes. FOUR!! A pot to cook the pasta, a saucepan to make the white sauce, a fry pan to sauté the chicken and mushroom and a baking dish to bake it all in.
Shoot me now.
It is worth the effort. But I only make it for special occasions…..(they do say daughters turn into their mothers….)
But I love saucy pasta bakes, so I invented my own creamy tomato one-pot version which is really convenient for midweek meals. I don’t like to cook with cream for midweek meals so this is made using a simple roux base (don’t let that fancy sounding word scare you, it’s just butter + flour that is used as a thickener for the sauce). Also, if you wanted to make a pasta bake as saucy as I’ve made this, you would need three cartons of cream….my arteries are hardening just at the thought!
This pasta bake is based on the same technique I use for my One Pot Saucy Creamy Mac and Cheese. It is not quite as saucy so it holds together better when you serve it, as opposed to the Mac and Cheese which collapses into a pile of cheesy creamy deliciousness.
I hope you consider trying it! It’s a great one for midweek. 🙂 I mean, seriously…check out all that creamy tomato sauce!! – Nagi
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
One Pot Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta Bake (no cream)
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small onion , diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 6 tbsp / 1/2 cup plain flour
- 2 cups milk (500ml)
- 2 cups tomato passata (500ml) (Note 1)
- 1 cup water (or chicken or vegetable broth) (250ml)
- 2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 3 cups dried ziti / penne pasta (uncooked)
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Pepper
Garnish (optional)
- Fresh basil leaves
- Freshly grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Melt butter in a deep fry pan or skillet (Note 2) over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the flour and stir to combine, then cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the milk and whisk for 1 minute, in small circles around the fry pan, until it starts to thicken. Then add the tomato passata, water, salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium high and cook for around 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon (see photo below). Whisk occasionally for the first 3 minutes, then whisk constantly for the last 2 minutes.
- Do a taste test and add 1 to 2 tsp of sugar if it is a bit sour (depends on quality of passata you use).
- Add the ziti/penne, chicken and cheddar cheese and mix through. Leave it to cook for around 1 minute on the stove, then take it off the stove.
- Scatter with mozzarella cheese. Cover with a lid or foil (Note 3) and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the lid/foil and bake for a further 5 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with fresh basil leaves and grated parmesan, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
SaveSave
Amazing ! So easy to make ! I substituted the chicken for spinach and added some parmesan aswell (we love cheese) and was delish! And triple bonus to being yum ! Minimal dishes ! And the kids (2&6) loved it ! Adding to my collection.
Perfect Rebekah! N x
You mention pepper in the recipe but not what kind and it’s never mentioned in the recipe steps when to add it. DId anyone else notice this?
Hi Jenn, just regular black pepper – it’s added in step 3 🙂 N x
Giving this a try for dinner tonight, but wondering what the gram sizes would be for the pasta, chicken and cheese?
Hi Yinz, let me confirm and come back to you on that! N x
Yet another brilliant recipe that is simple to cook, and makes me look like a hero. This is another one added to my repertoire. Thank you again Nagi!!
This recipe is absolutely amazing! I always revert to this recipe when I’m craving a delicious comforting pasta dish! Thank you!!
You’re so welcome Andrea!!
This looks great, so going to give it a go!
Please can I ask for the pasta and chicken you use cups as the measurements, are you able to tell me what these would be in grams? Many thanks
Caroline
Hello Nagi,
Can this dish be frozen?
Hi Leanne, I find this one splits when defrosted unfortunately – N x
I didn’t have chicken so used some bacon and ham. Wonderful, as always! Thank you!!
Hi Nagi. Looks great, I think I’ll make this tonight. I might add a cup or two of shredded silverbeet with the chicken, do you think that will make it too watery?
That’s awesome Adele, thanks for the feedback ❤️
Holy moly this recipe is great! Pretty easy to make and my husband was just raving about it!!
Hello Nagi…
Thanks again for yet another DELISH recipe! I have a suspicion this would be my hubby’s no.1 of everything I’ve tried from your website lol.
And that brings me to suggest an EASY POST IDEA for you 😉 … Ask all your readers to comment with their own No.1 recipes from here!
All the very best and please keep it up!
Cheers,
This is excellent! We loved it. But would this work with shrimp instead of chicken?
Yes!! Still a wonderful dish in 2018. I just made this and it is delicious!! Thank you for this recipe.
Allison
Ha! I love it!!
In case you were wondering, it’s still delicious in 2018! So glad my search for a chicken pasta bake led me here. 🙂
Great to hear Michele! Thank you for taking the time to let me know! N x
This pasta recipe is amazing!!!!!! My boyfriend has always thought pasta bakes were”boring” until I made this for him! Now he is begging me for more haha! My mam also said this is the best pasta bake she has ever tried!
Thank you!!!
What wonderful feedback Ashlee, I’m so pleased to hear that, thank you! N xx
Just made this for work lunches for me and my partner. I did ours veggie, with courgette (Zucchini for any Americans out there), tomatoes and a pepper instead of chicken. I also used semi-skimmed milk and light cheese and its still really creamy. Although, we might be a bit greedy as I have split this into 4 large portions not the recommended 6. It is absolutely delicious! 🙂
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it Leoni! Thank you for letting me know – N xx
Hi
Just wondering how much a ‘cup’ is in either grams or ml? 🙂
many thanks!
Hi Abigail! A cup is 250ml 🙂 I will update the recipe!
OMG we love this dish! I’ve made it three times – serves about 6 people with leftovers. So easy if you just pick up a rotisserie chicken. I have had to bake it a little longer each time, though, to get the pasta cooked through. Other than that, another favorite from Nagi!
I’m SO GLAD you enjoy this Catherine! Thank you for letting me know!!
brilliant loved it left overs tonight, will pass it on. perfect with salad. will do again and again.
I’m so glad you loved it Lucilla!! 🙂
I commented here before to say how much I love this recipe.. but I must say so again! I use this sauce recipe so much with different variations – i’ve made it with chicken, chicken and bacon, just bacon, meatballs and recently I made a veggie version for my vegetarian friend! Its such a lovely creamy tomato sauce without the calories and fat of cream! I’m currently eating a big bowl of it. Yum!
Thank you so much Laura! I’m so please to hear that you love it!! N x
Hi Nagi!
I’d love to include this creamy tomato chicken pasta bake in a chicken roundup I’m doing for Parade Magazine!
If you’re cool with that, could I use one of your photos with a link back to your original post (https://salesdock.info/one-pot-creamy-tomato-chicken-pasta-bake-no-cream/%3C/a%3E%29?
Thanks so much!!
I would be honoured Felicia! Thank you! N x