Marry Me Chicken Pasta Casserole is the family-style version of the viral TikTok dish that’s filled with chicken, pasta, sundried tomatoes, basil, spices, and creamy cheese sauce!
Bake up another trendy TikTok-inspired dinner, such as this Chicken Cobbler that’s just as delicious as this one!
Marry Me Chicken has been going viral on TikTok, so we decided to make it into a more “potluck/party” style meal with this pasta bake/casserole version.
This Marry Me Chicken Pasta Bake Is Amazing!
Taste: Seasoned chicken and al dente pasta combined in a cheesy sauce with a foundation made of jarred Alfredo sauce and shredded parmesan cheese. The addition of sun-dried tomatoes, garlic paste, and fresh mozzarella topping leaves you with a flavor-packed dish that instantly makes your mouth water!
Texture: Bite by bite, you’ll fill up on perfectly cooked pasta and tender, moist chicken that’s smothered in creamy, cheesy sauce! The finishing touch is the incredibly melty, stringy mozzarella cheese that’s on top!
Marry Me Chicken Pasta Ingredients
- penne pasta or pasta of choice
- chicken
- olive oil
- alfredo sauce, we prefer Bertolli d’italia or Rao’s Homemade
- julienne-cut sundried tomatoes in oil
- shredded Parmesan cheese
- pasta water
- garlic paste
- fresh basil leaves
- paprika
- Italian seasonings
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- red pepper flakes
- fresh mozzarella ball
Marry Me Cheese Sauce
Though this dish is filled with deliciously tender bites of chicken and comforting pasta, the flavor is found in the sauce! Starting out, this cheese sauce is a jar of plain alfredo sauce as opposed to garlic or other flavors.
We prefer to use Bertolli D’Italia or Rao’s Homemade, but again, as long as it’s plain, it will be fine! From there, the cheese sauce builds with the addition of ingredients such as sundried tomatoes, garlic paste, basil leaves, and paprika.
The final result is the signature marry me taste that’s rumored to have you saying, “I do”! Or just going for a second helping; either way, it’s absolutely mouthwatering!
The full printable recipe and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How To Make Marry Me Chicken Pasta
Step 1: Cook the pasta according to package directions for al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water before draining.
Step 2: While the pasta cooks, cut the chicken into pieces and sear in a skillet with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika.
Step 3: Once cooked, add the pasta and cooked chicken to a large casserole dish and pour in the alfredo sauce, reserved pasta water, sundried tomatoes and oil, garlic paste, basil, and spices, and stir together until completely coated.
Step 4: Crumble up the mozzarella ball and sprinkle over the top of the casserole before baking.
Step 5: Garnish with more fresh basil and serve hot!
Recipe Tips When Making This Marry Me Chicken Casserole
- Chicken – Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or cutlets work best in this Marry Me chicken. Before cooking, you can either cut them up into pieces or cook them whole and cut them up afterward. To ensure the chicken cooks evenly for the same amount of time, make sure to cut the pieces of chicken up similar in size. Or, if cooking whole, you may want to pound the chicken down to an even thickness using a kitchen mallet.
- Pasta Water – After the pasta has cooked, don’t forget to reserve a 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water before straining the pasta. This starchy water is used later in the sauce recipe!
- Tomatoes – When grabbing a jar of sundried tomatoes, make sure to grab ones that are julienne-cut. If not, they’ll need to be sliced up before adding them to the recipe. It’s also important to note that the entire jar, including the oil, gets dumped into the sauce recipe!
- Combining – Once the pasta, chicken, and cheese sauce have all been made, you’ll need to combine them! To do this, you can carefully toss them in the baking dish or add them all to a large bowl to mix together. Make sure to thoroughly mix it all up so that the flavor and cheese sauce is evenly dispersed throughout the dish!
- Cooking – This Marry Me dish doesn’t bake for long since all of the elements have already been cooked. Therefore, keep a close eye on it! You want to bake it long enough for the cheese on top to melt and bubble, with a few spots starting to turn brown.
Not only is this Marry Me Chicken Pasta delicious, but it’s also hearty and filling! Just the way every pasta dinner recipe should be!
Once you check out this Chicken Lo Mein and Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta, you’ll be sliding another tasty pasta dish into your weekly menu!
However, if you’re still looking for ideas to use up that package of chicken that’s sitting in your fridge, then you’ll want to consider this Pizza Chicken or Fiesta Lime Chicken!
Storage Instructions For Leftover Marry Me Pasta
Transfer cooled leftovers into an airtight container and store them in the fridge to enjoy for an additional 2 to 3 days. To reheat leftovers, pop a serving into the microwave!
Marry Me Chicken FAQs
Instead of using penne pasta, you could use any small pasta such as rigatoni. If you’d like to use fettuccini, I’d suggest breaking the pasta in half before cooking. Doing so will make it easier to serve!
Kosher salt can be swapped out for sea salt or table salt. However, you’ll need to reduce the salt by half to start the recipe. If, in the end, you taste it and feel it needs more salt, you can add more to taste.
Marry Me Chicken Pasta Bake
Equipment
- Large pot
- Skillet
- Cutting board
- chef knife
- casserole dish
- collander
- Rubber Spatula
- heat proof measuring cup
Ingredients
Pasta
- 4 cups penne pasta or pasta of choice
Chicken
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Sauce
- 1 (16 oz) jar alfredo sauce we prefer Bertolli d'italia or Rao's Homemade
- 1 (8.5 oz) jar julienne-cut sundried tomatoes in oil
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese see notes
- ½ cup pasta water reserved from cooking the pasta
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste We like Gourmet Garden
- 1 ounce fresh basil leaves roughly chopped, plus more for topping
- 1½ teaspoons paprika plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasonings
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella ball see notes
Instructions
Pasta
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cook the 4 cups penne pasta according to package directions for al dente. Use a heat-proof measuring cup to remove ½ cup pasta water and set aside. Strain the pasta and set aside until ready to use.
Chicken
- While the pasta is cooking, cut 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast into cubes and season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, and ½ teaspoon paprika. (You can also cook the chicken in thin cutlets and chop up after cooking if preferred).
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir frequently until cooked through and starting to brown.
Sauce
- Once the pasta and chicken are done cooking, transfer them to a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
- Add in the 1 (16 oz) jar alfredo sauce, the 1 (8.5 oz) jar julienne-cut sundried tomatoes in oil (including oil), 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, reserved ½ cup pasta water (you can add the water to the sauce jar first and cover and shake to loosen up any remaining sauce), 1 tablespoon garlic paste, 1 ounce fresh basil leaves, 1½ teaspoons paprika, ½ teaspoon Italian seasonings, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
- Toss until all of the ingredients are evenly coated. If it's easier, you can mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl or in the pot used to cook the pasta before adding it to the baking dish.
- Shred or crumble the 8 ounces fresh mozzarella ball and sprinkle it over the top of the pasta. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the cheese is melted and bubbly and some spots are starting to brown.
- Garnish with fresh basil and serve hot.
Notes
- I recommend using a plain alfredo sauce for this recipe as opposed to garlic or other flavored. You can use your favorite brand, we prefer Bertolli d’italia or Rao’s Homemade.
- You can use pre-shredded parmesan cheese or shred your own. However, I highly recommend shredding fresh mozzarella for the top for the best texture and meltiness.
- Make sure that the sundried tomatoes are julienne-sliced. Otherwise, you’ll need to slice them. You’ll also want to chop up the basil. Having smaller pieces of these ingredients allows their flavor to be distributed better in the dish.
- Because this recipe uses jarred alfredo sauce, this makes for great leftovers with minimal breaking to the sauce. Simple reheat in the microwave.
- We have doubled this for large groups and baked it in a 10x14x4-inch aluminum foil pan.
- I recommend using small pasta like penne or rigatoni for this recipe. If you’d like to use fettuccine, I recommend breaking the pasta in half before cooking, making it easier to serve.
- If using sea salt or table salt in this recipe, reduce the salt by half to start.
- Once everything is mixed together before baking, give the sauce a taste and add more salt, pepper, and paprika as desired. The flavor can vary depending on the brand of sauce and tomatoes and it may require more seasoning than stated above.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
Ruthie says
Loved the chicken but I thought the pasta was a little dry. Maybe reduce the amount of pasta so there is more sauce?