Chicken and chorizo pasta bake is a delicious, simple and quick to make family dinner recipe. This filling dinner can be on the table in just one hour!
Tasty dishes like this chicken and chorizo pasta bake are pretty common in our household.
Pasta bakes are also amongst some of my most popular recipes.
For example my chicken broccoli stilton pasta bake has been one of my most clicked on recipes for quite a long time now.
However, this new pasta bake is just so special.
I mean what’s not to like about a big bowl of pasta accompanied with chunks of meaty chicken and delicious chorizo?
Plus this bowl of pasta has been made even more delicious.
It’s baked in the oven in a delicious spicy tomato sauce and covered in melted cheese too!
Just look how vibrant and colourful this pasta bake is.
The colours remind me of warm sunny days.
Wouldn’t you want a dish like this served up on your family dinner table? So bright and appealing?
Especially in the depths of winter.
It’s just shouting out loud how flavoursome it is. You’ll soon be putting any winter blues behind you as you get tucked into this!
Hints and Tips For How To Make This Chicken And Chorizo Pasta Bake
- What’s the best pasta to use for this pasta bake? I use penne pasta because it’s chunky but any kind of pasta like that would do.
- How long will this pasta bake keep in the fridge? You can cover and keep this dish in the fridge for a couple of days max.
- Can I freeze this pasta bake? Yes. Don’t leave it in the fridge for longer than 2 days. If you’re not going to eat it within that time frame then portion it up and freeze in individual containers. Just make sure you defrost thoroughly before eating. You can easily re-heat it in the microwave.
- This chicken pasta bake is also excellent served cold and great for taking to work as a packed lunch!
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Other Popular Pasta Bake Recipes You Might Also Like
- This super easy vegetarian quorn pasta bolognese bake takes just under an hour to prepare and can serve up to six people.
- Sausage pasta bake with baked beans is a quick and easy to make delicious family casserole recipe. Using lower calorie ingredients means this dish can be an aid to slimming too.
- Cheesy bacon pasta bake with green beans is a really tasty and simple family recipe. On the dinner table in less than one hour, this is a terrific quick healthy meal that requires hardly any effort at all!
Coming Thursday on Neil’s Healthy Meals
Folks, I hope you enjoy this cheap and easy family chicken pasta bake with chorizo recipe!
As we’re at the end of January next Thursday, I think most folks will be sick of their diets!
So let’s have a bit of cake but one that’s still relatively healthy.
Hope you can join me then for a great new Chocolate Chip Banana Loaf Cake recipe!
Chicken and Chorizo Pasta Bake Recipe
This chicken chorizo pasta bake is great served with a simple side salad or some steamed broccoli.
I’d love to hear what you think of my recipe in the comments below and please do rate my recipe 5* if you like it! 🙂
Chicken and Chorizo Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 200 g penne pasta
- 100 g chorizo sausage chopped
- 450 g chicken breast fillets chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 300 ml skimmed milk
- 2 tbsp flour
- 300 g passata
- 1/2 teaspoon dried red chilli flakes optional
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- 75 g low fat grated cheddar cheese
- 1 handful Fresh basil chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180C Fan.
- Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, stir in the pasta and return to the boil. Turn down to simmer for 8 minutes. Then drain and set aside.
- Whilst the pasta is cooking, in a large pan, heat the chorizo to release its fat for about 4 - 5 minutes then remove the chorizo with a slotted spoon. Leave the fat and juices in the pot.
- Add the chicken and cook in the chorizo juices stirring until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper and cook for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir Chorizo back in and then remove from pan from the heat.
- Add the milk and flour into a medium sized saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil, then turn it down to simmer and whisk it thoroughly until you have a smooth and thickened white sauce. Then stir in the passata and chilli flakes. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season to taste.
- Add drained pasta and sauce to the large pan containing the chicken and chorizo and mix well.
- Pour the contents of the large pan into an oven proof dish, sprinkle with the cheese and place onto the middle shelf of your oven.
- Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until the cheese has browned slightly and is bubbling.
- Once cooked, serve with chopped basil sprinkled on top.
David @ Spiced
You can definitely say that again about being sick of our diets! We’re doing well over here, but it’s getting old. I love that this pasta bake is totally reasonable in the calorie count. That makes it a perfect option for these cold January days! Pass me a plate, please!
Neil
Thanks David! Yes there’s lots of warm hearty flavours in this pasta bake to cheer us all up this January. Plus as you say it’s not too bad on the calorie count either. 🙂
Ron
Howdy Neil, I hope you guys enjoyed your break. Pasta bakes are in our regular rotation, but I’ve not made a chicken and chorizo pasta bake. I will remedy that soon. Also, thanks for the link to your Chicken broccoli stilton pasta bake as that one sounds awesome as well.
We always freeze our leftover pasta bakes. I freeze them into a block and then vacuum pack them. They keep for weeks and weeks. When ready for a fast meal, I turn the sous vide machine to 60C and pop the frozen leftover vacuum bagged pasta bake in the water bath for an hour or two. Bingo, just open the bag and slide out the warm pasta bake from the bag and Bob’s your uncle…
Neil
Thanks Ron! Yes, Lynne and I had an excellent break. We miss the light and heat. You really notice the light when you come back to Scotland. It’s so dark under the clouds in winter.
Glad you like the recipe. And yes that chicken broccoli bake is delicious too. Your pasta bake rotation system sounds very like mine. Ha ha! 😀
Mimi
This is wonderful. I love chicken together with any kind of sausage, but chorizo is really special! Can’t wait to put this pasta bake together!
Neil
Chicken and sausage (of any kind) do go together really well don’t they Mimi?
Thanks and I hope you get a chance to make and enjoy this pasta bake as much as Lynne and I do.
Kelly | Foodtasia
Neil, I’m so craving this pasta bake! So much flavor with the chorizo and that yummy sauce. And of course the cheese! Perfection!
Neil
Thanks Kelly. Yes, you can’t miss out the cheese can you? Well you could but then it really wouldn’t be quite as tasty! 😉
sherry
i do love a bake! chicken and chorizo sounds good.
Neil
Thank you Sherry. Glad you like my recipe and hope you get a chance to make it! 😀
Jeff the Chef
This is a great recipe. Thanks for the tip about eating it cold. Taking leftovers to work is very big in my book.
Neil
Me too Jeff. If I can avoid having to make something seperate for work, or having to defrost some soup by taking leftovers instead, then it’s a “win win” situation as far as I’m concerned!!
Saif
This pasta looks delicious. Will the taste be different if I use other kinds of milk instead of skimmed milk?
Neil
Hi Saif, you could use full fat milk no problems. That just means the recipe would be slightly richer and have more calories. I wouldn’t use any other kinds of milk like almond or soya milk to create the cheese sauce, no.
Laura
Neil, this looks and sounds super-tasty! I really appreciate how you portion the less healthy ingredients to add flavor without overdoing the fat and calories! Well done, I love this recipe!
Neil
Thanks Laura! A small bit of Chorizo goes such a long way. 🙂
Shannon
Yessssss! What a great idea! Pasta bakes are so much fun, and your Chicken Chorizo one looks particularly amazing! I always love and appreciate meals that come together quickly, so the fact that this deliciousness can be on the table in an hour makes it even more perfect! Your pictures are absolutely mouthwatering YUM! Another fabulous recipe Neil!
Neil
I must admit Shannon, that Lynne and I could quite happily live on Pasta Bakes! My freezer always has some portions of my previous pasta bakes frozen in there. I just find pasta bakes easy and less time consuming to make. As well as being delicious of course. Glad you like my recipe. Thank you! 🙂
Matt - Total Feasts
I do like a pasta bake, but I’ve never actually made one from scratch properly (and I rarely have them, as I don’t like the jarred sauces). This looks delicious, and something I’d hoover down in a heartbeat, as would my kids. Pinning for later!
Neil
I think your kids would love this Matt, thanks!
And agreed. I’m not a fan of jarred sauces either. I don’t trust what’s in them!