This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.
Easy Chicken Penne Pasta is a one-pot dinner that’s ready in under 30 minutes. It’s cheesy, full of flavor, packed with chicken, and picky-eater approved: exactly the kind of simple skillet meal I need on busy weeknights.
Simple Chicken Pasta with Few Ingredients
Coming up with dinner ideas is always harder for me than planning dessert, so I rely on recipes made with easy-to-find ingredients and as few dishes as possible. This chicken pasta is a variation of my Cheesy Penne Casserole, a recipe I’ve made for countless potlucks, but adding pantry staples like rotisserie or canned chicken turns it into a filling weeknight meal the whole family can enjoy.
How to make Chicken Penne Pasta
- Use any kind of pasta you like. I often like to use whole wheat pasta or a pasta substitute, like Banza Pasta.
- Penne pasta cooks fast and is perfect with red sauce because all the little grooves and the hollow center grabs up all the deliciousness.
- I love red sauce with penne pasta and like my baked penne, this one pot meal has lots of cheese. It’s full of mozzarella cheese, of course, but has a secret ingredient that packs even more protein: cottage cheese. It sounds weird but it works: trust me. The kids WILL eat it.
- This recipe is done in under 30 minutes because I started with already shredded chicken. You can use rotisserie chicken or use leftovers! I love making a big batch of my Instant Pot Chicken or Instant pot shredded chicken and using it all week in meals like this or my Enchilada Skillet.
- This is one of my favorite canned chicken recipes because it’s simple to use that and no one will know. Canned chicken is often cheaper (and shelf stable).
SAVE THIS RECIPE
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Easy Chicken Penne Pasta
Video
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne pasta
- 24 ounce jar pasta sauce, use your favorite
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup small curd cottage cheese
- 2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Boil water in pot or large skillet and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Add pasta sauce, pressed garlic, pepper flakes and cottage cheese to skillet and heat until bubbly and hot. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken is heated through. Stir in the pasta and mozzarella cheese. Taste for seasoning, add salt and/or pepper as needed.
- Serve hot with parmesan cheese.
Notes
- I am loving Banza Pasta, which is a chickpea pasta and low-carb. It’s in an orange box and tastes like regular pasta!
- Use my meal prep chicken or instant pot chicken or shredded chicken, or you can use a rotisserie chicken.
- To start with raw chicken: Cook pasta as directed in step 1. Then add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Cook until brown on all sides and almost cooked through, 8-10 minutes (depending on size of pieces). Add the sauce to the pan with the garlic and cook until chicken is fully cooked through. Stir in cottage cheese, pasta, and mozzarella.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Crazy for Crust. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization is strictly prohibited.
Did you try this recipe? Click here to rate the recipe below.
FAQs
I love using red sauce with this recipe because it satisfies most picky eaters. However, alfredo or pesto would be fantastic too.
You absolutely can use canned chicken in this easy skillet dinner.
The pasta is awesome just finished cooking it and it was amazing
Why would you mention starting with raw chicken outside of the recipe? I just lost all those ingredients because I tried to cook the chicken in the sauce…
I mention it because not everyone has cooked chicken on hand or wants to take the time to cook the chicken first. We eat this as an easy leftover meal with leftover chicken, but you can start from raw, following the detailed instructions I left in the notes section of the recipe for how to do it.
So delicious and easy! Thank you for this awesome recipe! I did only use Parmesan in place of the cottage cheese and mozzarella, but it turned out stretchy and yummy. Exactly what we were looking for when neither of us felt like cooking π
Made this for a picky eater that said he would never eat cottage cheese. Loved it and wanted seconds! I increased ingredient quantities by 1/4 and made the entire 16 ounce package of pasta. Used frozen processed grilled chicken that I had on hand, but Iβm sure would be much better with real chicken. Also added a large tomato, some basil and half an onion. Just be very careful not to overcook the pasta like I did! My second attempt at this is sure to be awesome now that Iβm familiar with cooking Penne! Thank you!
Hi Dorothy! Delightful chicken dish! Please come over and share this with the Food on Friday crowd over at Carole’s Chatter. Cheers
Donβt have cottage cheese, can I use Philly or cream cheese in lieu?
I’d use about half the amount or it might be too rich.
Featured In
Rate This Recipe
Recipe Ratings without Comment