5 from 1 vote

Cheesy Baked Chicken Rigatoni Pasta

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This cheesy baked chicken rigatoni is an easy, cozy casserole featuring tender chicken, rigatoni pasta, flavorful marinara, and layers of ricotta and mozzarella cheese. You’ll love this family-friendly recipe for dinners or a potluck, it’s a hug on a plate!

A serving spoon lifting a portion of cheesy baked rigatoni from a casserole dish, with melted cheese stretching.


 

Why We Love Baked Rigatoni with Chicken

  • Cozy Dish – This recipe is cozy and comforting like a warm hug. This is a dish I have brought to help out another family when someone is sick or has a new baby and everyone will love this recipe.
  • Easy To Prep Ahead – I like to make this kind of dish on the weekend either for a Sunday dinner or to help us get ahead for the week. You can also freeze this dish to finish baking later.
  • Family Favorite Dish – Mostly pretty familiar flavors for kids in this dish, and the pesto is there for flavor without turning the dish a funny color. This cheesy baked pasta recipe is also fairly easy to modify to your own family’s tastes.

Ingredients For Baked Rigatoni with Chicken

Ingredients for baked rigatoni with chicken in bowls with text title labels.

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions below in the recipe card.

For The Pasta

  • Rigatoni pasta
  • egg
  • Ricotta cheese I used whole milk ricotta for a creamier bake
  • basil pesto
  • parmesan cheese grated
  • salt
  • pepper

For The Chicken

For Layering The Pasta

  • Marinara sauce divided, 32 ounces is 4 cups. Use your favorite sauce.
  • Mozzarella cheese shredded

How To Make Cheesy Chicken Rigatoni Pasta

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Start a large pot of salted water to boil.
  2. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water in a medium sized pot according to the package directions until al dente according to package instructions. (Usually about 10-11 minutes.) Drain the pasta well and set to the side, pouring it back into the large pot.
  3. Crack the egg into a large bowl and stir to break the yolks with a fork. Add ricotta cheese, basil pesto, parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Mix well until combined and set to the side.
A clear glass bowl full of unmixed ingredients including parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, pesto sauce, and black pepper for baked rigatoni.
  1. Cut the chicken into about one and a half inch pieces. Place in a large bowl and add Italian seasoning, garlic powder ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix well until the chicken is fully coated in the seasoning.
  2. Place the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Cook the chicken over medium high heat for 7-8 minutes, stirring as needed occasionally until brown
  1. Add the chicken and 2 cups of marinara sauce to the pasta. Stir until combined.
  2. Place 1 cup of marinara in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and spread over the bottom of the pan. Pour the pasta mixture into the pan.
  1. Top the pasta with 1 cup of marinara evenly over the pasta. Dollop the ricotta mixture evenly over the pasta sauce then smooth evenly with a spoon. Top the entire pan evenly with mozzarella cheese.
  1. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 23-25 minutes. When ready, the sauce will be bubbling and the cheese is melted and lightly browned on top. Let stand for five minutes, then serve. Sprinkle with fresh parsley or fresh basil if desired.
A white rectangular baking dish filled with baked rigatoni, topped with melted cheese.

Variation Ideas And Recipe Tips

This rigatoni bake recipe is pretty flexible, so don’t be afraid to adjust to your own tastes.

Add Vegetables – This is a great dish to add extra vegetables, especially to clean out the fridge or freezer. Vegetables like carrots, bell pepper, broccoli, corn, and mushrooms can all be diced small and be mixed into the pasta and chicken mixture.

Other vegetables that have more water in them such as spinach, zucchini or even onions will taste better if you sautee them in a pan first before adding them to the pasta. These vegetables tend to release more water as they cook and can make the pasta gummy. By sauteeing the vegetables first your pasta won’t become gummy when added to this chicken rigatoni recipe.

Swap Pasta Shapes – While we love rigatoni, you can swap any short noodle shape into this recipe. Try farfalle, penne, ziti, or rotini. I don’t recommend using a long pasta shape, like spaghetti or linguini for this easy pasta recipe.

Use Cooked Chicken – You can swap in precooked chicken, like rotisserie chicken, into this recipe. Just season the chicken, then add it straight to the pasta and sauce mixture, no need to precook.

Make It Spicy – Adding crushed red pepper flakes or a pinch of cayenne pepper to the casserole or at the table can give this recipe a little more spice. Also try adding a spicy marinara instead of regular marinara.

A bowl of baked rigatoni with chicken and cheese next to a baking dish in the background filled with more pasta bake.

What To Serve With Baked Rigatoni Casserole

This hearty dish is a meal on it’s own, but adding a few sides can help round out your meal. I often start with a vegetable like a bagged salad or fresh green salad is a great start.Honey roasted carrots, baked zucchini fries or keep it simple with some steamed broccoli.

Bread with Italian food is usually a hit. While a baguette or rolls work, these cheddar garlic biscuits or homemade garlic knots are always a welcome on the table. Or this pull apart garlic bread made with refrigerator biscuit dough is also tasty.

If I need an appetizer, Italian wedding soup, pizza dip or air fryer mozzarella sticks are always a win!

Can You Freeze This Baked Chicken Rigatoni Casserole?

Yes you can absolutely freeze this recipe, it freezes and reheats well. Please make sure you don’t skip the step where you add more marinara to top of the pasta before adding the ricotta cheese layer. This extra layer of sauce will help keep the ricotta from drying out.

When it’s time to heat up the frozen pasta expect it will take it much longer to cook through, expect 30-45 minutes so the whole recipes is gooey.

Cook everything in the recipes and layer everything in the pan when freezing. Then freeze it without heating up the whole pan, with the cheese still shredded and loose. This also works great in disposable aluminum pans.

Leftovers of this recipe can be frozen also after you bake it. I recommend if you are freezing leftovers that you freeze in individual portions to make it easier to reheat. Then microwaving is usually the easiest way to reheat.

How Long Will This Baked Rigatoni Recipe Last?

Expect this baked rigatoni with chicken will last about 3 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can also cover the pan with saran wrap or aluminum foil tightly.

More Pasta Recipes You’ll Love

A serving spoon lifts a portion of cheesy baked rigatoni with chicken from a baking dish with the mozzarella cheese pulling.
Recipe

Baked Rigatoni with Chicken


Course Dinners
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 8 Servings
Cheesy baked chicken rigatoni is a baked casserole featuring tender chicken, rigatoni pasta, and mozzarella perfect for a cozy dinner!

Equipment

  • 1 9×13 casserole baking dish can use pyrex, ceramic or metal
  • 1 large skillet
  • 1 Large pot with salted water for pasta

Ingredients  

For The Pasta

  • 16 ounces Rigatoni pasta
  • 1 large egg
  • 16 ounces Ricotta cheese I used whole milk ricotta for a creamier bake
  • ¼ cup basil pesto
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

For The Chicken

  • 1 ½ pounds chicken breast
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

For Layering The Pasta

  • 32 ounces Marinara sauce divided, 32 ounces is 4 cups. Use your favorite sauce.
  • 1 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese shredded

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Start a large pot of salted water to boil.
  • Cook the pasta in salted boiling water in a medium sized pot according to the package directions until al dente according to package instructions. (Usually about 10-11 minutes.) Drain the pasta well and set to the side, pouring it back into the large pot.
  • Crack the egg into a large bowl and stir to break the yolks with a fork. Add ricotta cheese, basil pesto, parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Mix well until combined and set to the side.
  • Cut the chicken into about one and a half inch pieces. Place in a large bowl and add Italian seasoning, garlic powder ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix well until the chicken is fully coated in the seasoning.
  • Place the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Cook the chicken 7-8 minutes stirring as needed occasionally until brown.
  • Add the cooked chicken and 2 cups of marinara sauce to the pasta. Stir until combined.
  • Place 1 cup of marinara in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and spread over the bottom of the pan. Pour the pasta mixture into the pan.
  • Top the pasta with 1 cup of marinara evenly over the pasta. Dollop the ricotta mixture evenly over the pasta sauce then smooth evenly with a spoon. Top the entire pan evenly with mozzarella cheese.
  • Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 23-25 minutes. The sauce will be bubbling and the cheese on top will be melted and lightly browned. Let stand for five minutes, then serve. Sprinkle with fresh parsley or fresh basil if desired.

Notes

If you use 2% ricotta cheese or fat free ricotta cheese I recommend adding an extra egg to the riccota cheese mixture or it can become too dry.
It is really important not to miss a layering marinara next to the layer of ricotta cheese as this helps to keep everything moist and juicy. If you miss adding the marinara before the ricotta cheese, add it on top of the ricotta cheese before adding the mozzarella. 
The layer of ricotta may seem on the thicker side. This is totally ok! When you scoop it for individual portions it will spread out a little more on the plate.
You could mix the ricotta in with the pasta before adding it to the baking dish. I found that because we are mixing green pesto into the ricotta, the finished dish looked prettier when I added the ricotta mixture on top.
When I tested it and mixed the ricotta with the basil pesto into the pasta with sauce, it made the cheese look a little grey, which I found just didn’t look as pretty. My family eats with their eyes, and loved this method better.

Nutrition

Calories: 581kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 126mg | Sodium: 1241mg | Potassium: 877mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1137IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 319mg | Iron: 3mg
Keyword chicken, chicken breast, pasta

Did You Make This?

I would love to see it! Share your thoughts with me in the comments below!

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Recipe Rating




One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    Well explained and easy recipe. It looks tasty. I will definitely try this one and let you people know about the worth.

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