Pesto Chicken Alfredo (FREEZER MEAL)
I LOVE pasta. I love it even more when it's really easy to put together and throw in the freezer for dinner another day.
This makes a great freezer meal. Just line your casserole with tinfoil and
then saran wrap. Assemble the Pesto Chicken Alfredo like normal but instead of
baking it, freeze it! To reheat, put the unwrapped frozen Pesto Chicken Alfredo
back into the pan you froze it in, and let thaw in the fridge. Once
thawed, bake as normal.
Pesto Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients
1 package (16oz) penne pasta- cooked and drained
4 cups cooked chicken, cubed
4 cups (16 ounces) shredded Italian cheese blend
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 jar (15 ounces) Alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups milk
1 container (5-8 ounces) prepared basil pesto
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
Step 1
In a bowl, combine the cooked pasta, cooked chicken, cheese blend, baby spinach, crushed tomatoes, Alfredo sauce, milk, and pesto.
Step 2
In a separate bowl, combine the olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs.
Step 3
Pour pasta mixture into two 8X8 pans. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the pasta.
Step 4
Cover pasta with tinfoil and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Comments
Brooke =)
Have you tried not baking your pasta beforehand? My MIL made us freezer meals and didn't ever cook the pasta before, just put it in hard with a little extra sauce and it came out great (lasagna manicotti, salmon bake).
Thanks!
PS - Love your testimony!
Lori- I'm sure it would fine without spinach too.
Anonymous- I sure do, I'm the The Virtuous Wife on there and I have this in my "food" board.
Thanks!
I do a lot of freezer cooking, and so many recipes do not turn out well in the end, or a sauce is too watery, always something. But this was fantastic flavor and texture. And stirring in the raw spinach was so easy and it bakes well, great way to get sneak greens in.
I overestimated my spinach when buying it, I ended up just using a whole bag of spinach, and it worked fine because it shrinks down so much.
For large batches of chicken, I like to grill them--can do so many at a time and the flavor is great.
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