Healthy Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti

Healthy Chicken Alfredo Bake puts a healthy, veggie packed twist on a classic kid friendly meal. Using veggie Alfredo sauce, this picky eater recipe is simple, delicious, and healthier than its predecessor.

30 Minute Healthy Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti

Being a work at home mom to 3 kiddos, I love a good 30 minute meal with all of my heart.

How can you beat a full meal that takes little to no time? Okay, so you can beat it with take out and zero dishes.

But you know what I mean.

I’ve made more of an effort in the past 3 years or so to streamline our family’s favorite meals to as easy as humanly possible.

So, when I had leftover sauce from making healthy alfredo sauce I knew immediately where I wanted to put it.

This picky eater approved recipe utilizes a cauliflower alfredo sauce that is secretly packed with veggies. Even my picky husband loved it, so I promise it’s a win!

Tips for making Healthy Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti

• Most of this can be made ahead of time during any meal prep time you take. Make the sauce, grill up some chicken. You could even assemble the whole thing ahead of time and take it from fridge to oven.
• If you choose to assemble ahead, make sure you make your pasta VERY al dente and that everything is cooled before mixing in the pasta. You might need a few more minutes in the oven though.
• Any vegetable or protein will work here, but chicken and broccoli is pretty classic.
• Undercook your pasta. It will cook in the oven, absorb moisture from the sauce. If you don’t undercook your pasta to at least al dente, you’ll have major mushy noodles. I prefer to go a minute or two BEFORE al dente, especially if I’m planning on leftovers.
• Blanch your broccoli in the same pot as the pasta. Just toss it in the last few minutes of the pasta cooking. One less pot of water to boil and clean.

Healthy Chicken Alfredo Bake Recipe

Healthy Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti adds a twist of veggies to a kid classic, but without the hassle of begging them to eat their vegetables. The sauce is secretly packed with cauliflower, but surrounded by cheesy goodness, no one will be the wiser.

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Healthy Chicken Alfredo Bake

Healthy Chicken Alfredo Bake puts a healthy, veggie packed twist on a classic kid friendly meal. Using veggie Alfredo sauce, this picky eater recipe is simple, delicious, and healthier than its predecessor.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American, Italian, Kid friendly

Keyword 30 minute meal

Prep Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Author Morgan

Ingredients

• 1.5 – 2 cups of healthy alfredo sauce
• 1 pound of pasta*
• 1 large chicken breast grilled and diced.
• 2 cups of chopped fresh broccoli
• 1.5 cups shredded mozarella cheese
• .25 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Boil your pasta to al dente, according to the package. In the last 2 minutes, add your broccoli. Drain well and rinse with cold water.
3. Combine the pasta and broccoli, diced chicken, sauce, and 1 cup of cheese shredded.
4. Spoon into a large, oven safe pan that has been coated with olive oil.
5. Top with the rest of the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Recipe Notes

Any pasta is perfect for this, but I used veggie penne to get an extra punch of veggie. I think Penne, fusilli, or rigatoni would work best.

If you want to make this ahead of time, make sure your pasta is very al dente and cool everything before combining. You will probably need a few extra minutes in the oven as well.

If you’re looking for more easy ways to sneak some veggies into your kids’ diets you need to grab my picky eater cheat sheets which will teach you how to outsmart your picky eaters by sneaking veggies in kid favorites like smoothies, baked goods, and simple dinners.