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There is not much I love more than a simple and easy crock pot recipe. This Crockpot Chicken Alfredo Casserole Recipe can be assembled in no time at all. It has quickly become a family favorite in my household.
Easy Crockpot Chicken Alfredo Pasta:
Easy Crockpot Chicken Alfredo Casserole is one of our favorite crock pot pasta recipe to make. It is easy to make with simple ingredients. We love to make this recipe when we have leftover chicken.
This recipe is crazy simple to make but is packed with flavor. This slow cooker chicken alfredo recipe with jar sauce is my go to for a busy weeknight. It is also perfect for a lazy weekend or if we are having guests over.
All my recipes have simple ingredients that I bet you either already have in your pantry. Add a side salad and some garlic bread and your meal is complete. This easy pasta recipe is the perfect comfort food recipe. Check out more easy Italian recipes.
How to Boil Chicken and Shred:
You can buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the chicken for an easy way to make this dinner. However, we have the perfect post on How to Boil Chicken Breasts that is just as easy. Plus it is a great way to save money.
I am using cooked chicken in this recipe to make it a very simple meal. In my family I like to cook chicken in huge batches, freeze it, and save it for simple dinner ideas.
However, you can easily cook your chicken in the crock pot. See Crock Pot Shredded Chicken.
Ingredients:
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Cook the Chicken and then Shred
- Alfredo Sauce ( I really like Bertoli brand but definitely use your favorite type)
- Minced Garlic or garlic powder
- Salt and Pepper
- Penne Pasta
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
- Parsley (optional)
How do you make Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta Casserole?
- Combine Ingredients – First in a large mixing bowl, combine the Alfredo sauce, water, salt, pepper and minced garlic.
- Add Pasta to Mixture – Next stir in the penne pasta. Make sure the pasta is completely coated in the sauce recipe that you created.
- Spray Cooking Spray – Then spray your favorite slow cooker with a non stick spray. This prevents sticking so that serving this recipe will be easier.
- Layer Ingredients – After this, carefully place half the pasta mixture in the bottom of the crock pot. Then place half of the fully cooked chicken on top.
- Top with Cheese – Next top with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and ⅛ cup pf the grated parmesan cheese.
- Continue Layering – Then add the pasta mixture again using whatever is left. Then layer on top with the remaining chicken. Then top with the cheeses again (the same measurements).
- Cook Chicken Alfredo – Cover and cook on low for approximately 2 ½ to 3 hours. You can also try cooking on high for only 1 1/2-2 hours. Cooking time will vary.
- Add More Cheese – After it slow cooks, top the entire casserole with 1 more cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Serve and Enjoy – Place the lid back on to allow this cheese to melt. Finally, top with the fresh chopped parsley and serve immediately.
What to Serve with Chicken Alfredo:
I like to keep things simple when I prepare this recipe.
- Steamed Broccoli – We love to make steamed broccoli with this recipe. Since Chicken Alfredo is a hearty meal, I like to keep the side light.
- Garlic Bread Cheese Sticks – You definitely need to serve garlic bread with this meal. We love dipping our bread in the alfredo sauce.
- Caesar Salad – Complete this meal with a side of Caesar Salad. Easy to make with simple ingredients.
Variation Ideas:
- Add in Vegetables – Add in spinach, broccoli, sun dried tomatoes, or mushrooms for additional flavor.
- Change the Pasta – We love changing the pasta to what we have on hand. Bow tie pasta or rigatoni noodles would work great for this recipe.
- Change the Cheese – For a different flavor change the cheese to Romano or asiago cheese.
- Add in Shrimp – Add in some shrimp or replace all the chicken with shrimp.
- Other Meats – If you like a savory flavor, mix in some bacon or some prosciutto.
- Fresh Herbs – If you have some fresh herbs it would a great addition to this casserole. We recommend chives, thyme or fresh basil.
- Ravioli – Instead of using penne pasta, you can use cheese ravioli or tortellini for that extra cheesy flavor.
Tip for Chicken Alfredo Pasta Casserole:
- Cooked Chicken – This is a great recipe to use leftover chicken or get a rotisserie chicken.
- Shredded Cheese – We recommend using freshly shredded cheese. The pre-shredded cheese has other ingredients that may cause the cheese not to melt as well.
- Alfredo Sauce – We love this recipe because you can use jar alfredo sauce. But you can easily make your own.
How to Bake Chicken Alfredo Casserole:
If you would prefer to bake your Chicken Alfredo Casserole, it is just as easy and you use the same ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat your pan with a cooking spray to prevent your casserole from sticking.
- On your stove top, heat your skillet to medium high heat. Once you have your skillet medium heat add your alfredo sauce, cooked chicken, and the remaining seasoning and heat together.
- Cook the noodles while your sauce is heating.
- Once your noodles are done cooking, mix together with the alfredo mixture.
- Then place in baking dish.
- Top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes uncovered.
- Serve and Enjoy this pasta bake.
This chicken alfredo bake is easy to make!
How to Store Leftovers for Easy Chicken Alfredo Casserole:
To store leftovers, place in an airtight container and refrigerate. This chicken alfredo will last up to 3 days if store properly.
To reheat, place in a microwave safe dish and reheat in the microwave. Heat in 1 minute increments so everything heats thoroughly.
Why we love this Easy Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo Casserole Recipe:
- Easy Recipe – Ingredients are easy and making it in the crock pot makes this a perfect weeknight meal.
- Create a Second Meal – If you have leftover chicken, use it to make this recipe. Most of the time all I need to get at the store is the jar of alfredo sauce.
- Family Friendly – My family loves this recipe. It is full of flavor and even my pickiest enters don’t complain.
Print your Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo Casserole recipe below:
Crock pot Chicken Alfredo Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
- (2) 15 oz Jars of Alfredo sauce (I really like Bertoli brand)
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 16 oz penne uncooked
- 3 cups Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- chopped parsley (optional)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the Alfredo sauce, water, salt, pepper, and minced garlic.
- Stir in the uncooked penne pasta until evenly coated.
- Spray a 6 quart crock pot with non stick spray.
- Place half the penne and alfredo mixture in the bottom of the crock pot.
- Place half the chicken on top.
- Top with 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese and an ⅛ cup of parmesan cheese.
- Layer the remaining penne mixture, then the remaining chicken, another cup of mozzarella cheese, and the parmesan cheese.
- Place the lid on top and cook on low for 2 ½ to 3 hours.
- Remove the lid and top with another cup of mozzarella cheese.
- After it melts. Sprinkle with some parsley (optional) and serve.
Oh I love the idea of caramelized onions!
One poster commented on how crunchy the edges got and that was honestly my favorite part! I forgot to lower the crockpot to “Warm” and left it on “Low.” Loved, loved the ease of this, the taste was amazing, got tons of compliments. I made one addition. I like onions and I caramelized one whole onion and about an hour before the cooking time was done, I sprinkled the onion strings all over the top of the dish and it added another layer of flavor. All in all, this will go into my “repeat recipes” file. And this recipe is perfect for using whatever you have in the fridge. Delicious!
I did mine different as I did not have every ingredient on hand… I used uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts I did not cut up or shred.. I sprayed down my crockpot and placed 6 chicken breasts in the crockpot…I then used 3 Jars total of alfredo sauce.. 2 jars was 4 cheese alfredo and the last jar was roasted garlic alfredo sauce and i poured them over top the chicken and instead of adding some water as i normally would for dishes in the crockpot eh i wasn’t too keen on that one so I poured some milk in and mixed with the alfredo sauces put lid on and cooking now on high… I make a chicken pasta alfredo bake in the oven similar to your recipe and it is very delicious thanks for sharing your recipe…. I will update n let you know how my dinner turns out later on :^)
Absolutely love chicken Alfredo. Only difference between yours and mine is I go through the trouble to make my Alfredo sauce from scratch. Takes awhile but it’s worth it!
Tastes delicious! Edges got too crunchy even with shorter cooking time. Also needs more Alfredo sauce.
Thank You and God Bless
I used a 6 quart slow cooker.
I used a 6 quart crock pot.
3 to 4 hours on hi or low in crackpot and what size crackpot please
3 ans half or 4 hours on low or high and what size crock pot does it take
Carrie, made this recipe for our supper, absolutely delicious!!
I added some fresh basil, chopped up.
I really enjoy getting your recipes!!! Keep up the great work!!!
This casserole was very easy to make and turned out scrumptious! My husband loved it. I’m looking forward to making it again for the entire family.
Yes, as long as all the ingredients can fit into your crock pot.
Can this recipe be doubled?
Five stars …so juicy and great tasting plus very simple to make! My family enjoyed and thought and slaved over the hot stove all day~I think NOT??Thanks again
You should not need to add more water with whole grain pasta and the cooking broth should work great in this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
I’m using whole grain pasta. Do I need to add more water?
I also decided to try and use the broth from cooking the chicken because I used Better
Than Bouillon and wanted the extra flavor. Hope it works!
I would make this on the slow cooker setting and the time would be the same. Thanks.
I have a Power LX air fryer that slow cooks can I use it and how long would I cook it
Really good and simple!
Yes, you can use a rotisserie chicken. I would use 2 cups shredded chicken and eliminate the salt from the recipe.
Have you used a shredded rotisserie chicken with this? How many cups do you recommend if I use that? I’d probably eliminate any added salt if I do that. Thoughts?
Yes, you definitely can use a crock pot bag with this recipe.
Can I use a crock pot bag in the bottom instead of spraying non stick spray?
No, you can make this in any size crock pot. Thank you!
Does it have to be a 6qt crockpot?
Could you use the broth you cook the chicken in to mix with the alfredo?
Do you use parmesan cheese that is fresh/shredded or the kind in the plastic jar with the green lid?
Should the noodles be cooked if making a oven casserole? If it only bakes for 20 minutes.
Thank you so much for including the instructions to cook in the oven. My husband says when I cook in the crockpot, it tastes funny. Go figure ?
Want to double this recipe to feed 12. I assume that adding the cup of water is to aid in cooking the U.N. cooked penne, correct. Will the water make the daily e runny when it is done? I’m hoping it will be creamy and thicker.
how many cups is a serving?
Nicole, I would use 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded, for this recipe which is generally about 2-3 cups. Thank you!
If I wanted to use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe how much would I need? How many cups would you suggest? Thanks!
Can I make this without so much cheese added or will it come out dry?
thank you
My box of pasta is only 12oz. Would you change any of the liquid ratios?
Yes, you can use canned chicken as well. I would use 1-2 12 oz cans based on how much chicken you would prefer. Thank you.
The penne is uncooked. Thank you.
Sue, I boil the chicken until it’s completely cooked through. The entire chicken will be a white color when it’s done. Thank you.
If the noodles are already cooked, I would reduce the water to 1/2 cup and cook in the crock pot for only 20-30 minutes. Thank you.
How long do you boil the chicken for
How about using canned shredded chicken? How much do you think would be needed?
When you add the penne pasta to the crock pot at the beginning, is it cooked or uncooked?
Yes, I think that would work as long as you have a crock pot with a delayed start feature or a timer on it.
Yes, I think that would taste good as well.
So I cooked the noodles cause I didn’t see to use uncooked til now. How long do I cook it for now?
I don’t care for Alfredo sauce; do you think it would be good with a tomato-based sauce?
Yes, I would cook for half of the cook time if you using the high setting. Thank you!
Yes, that would be delicious!
Can you make this ahead of time say put it together before you leave and have the timer turn it on later
could you use tortellini or fettuccine noodles instead?
Can I cook this on high in the crockpot?
.
Hi I’m using gluten free noodles, if I boil noodles first will that mess the recipe up? I’m nervous they won’t cook correct if I put them in uncooked
For this recipe, I cook my chicken in the instant pot or boil it. I don’t add any seasoning as it soaks up the flavor of the other ingredients in this recipe when I combine them all for the casserole. Thank you!
I wouldn’t do that as the pasta doesn’t take as long to cook as the chicken does so the pasta would be mushy. I recommending using already cooked chicken for this recipe. Thank you!
Hello.. Can I cook the chicken, and pasta mixture uncooked at the same time? For 6 hours on low??
What do you use to cook your chicken? Flavor wise.
Thank you!
I just made this and it was AMAZING!! Even my pickiest kid gobbled it down! And so easy! I cooked the chicken in the crockpot first as suggested and it was so easy to shred. Plus no additional mess. This is a must try for anyone wondering about this recipe. It checks off all the boxes that I look for as a single mom working two jobs and still trying to put homecooked food on the table. Easy! Cheap! Full of flavor! Family friendly! If I could give it more than five stars I would 🙂
Nancy – I used a full 16 oz box of penne pasta for this recipe. Thank you!
Can you update the recipe to show how much pasta you used?
I haven’t tried it Heather. I would cook a little bit longer than normal and it should work out great!
Has anyone used whole grain pasta in this recipe? That is what I prefer and it takes longer to cook/boil, so I am curious if using whole grain uncooked in this recipe if it would need longer cooking time?
Cindy – I would use uncooked pasta also. Thank you!
If you cook this in the oven would you cook the pasta or just put it in there uncooked also?
On the instant pot, I would cook for half the cooking time recommended for the pasta that you use in the recipe on high pressure and then do a quick release once it’s done.
How long does need to cook in the instant pot?
Jennifer – Yes, you can use rigatoni pasta instead of penne. That would work great. Also, yes, you can cook this casserole in the oven. You would still use pre-cooked chicken and layer in the ingredients in a 9X13 baking dish. Then I would bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes. Thank you and I hope it turns out great!
Making this tonight 🙂
Can I use Rigatoni pasta instead of penne? Also, can I cook the chicken in the oven first instead of crockpot? How long would you cook the casserole in the oven instead of crockpot?
Awesome – I’m glad you liked them.
You don’t need to make any other changes but double all the ingredients. I do that all the time as I have a large family.
Yes, but I wouldn’t cook the cauliflower rice in the crock pot as it might get mushy. I would cook it separately and then mix it in the sauce once the chicken is done.
I made this tonight! Used Ragu Alfredo sauce & added a bag of California blend frozen vegetables (broccoli, carrots and cauliflower) . superb!
Could you make with cauliflower rice?
I’m thinking I may have to double the recipe as I will be feeding 3 adults and 4 kids all under the age of 9. What changes would have to be made to double it? I’m new at crockpotting and love it!
I would cook it for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Thank you!
If i was going to cook the chicken in the croc pot first how long would i cook it for?
Tracey – Yes! That would be amazing!
can you use homemade Alfredo sauce instead of sauce from a jar?
Carrie – In this recipe, the chicken is already cooked but the pasta is not. Thank you.
The chicken & pasta can both go in the crock pot un cooked?
No, just put in uncooked and try to make sure covered with sauce,
Do you boil the pasta first ?
Does the pasta need to be cooked?
Can this be frozen?