Chicken Florentine Pasta Casserole

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This Chicken Florentine Pasta Casserole is a super easy and flavorful pasta dish. It uses simple and easy to find ingredients and is freezer-friendly!

Overhead of casserole on a dark plate with fork off to the side.

Looking for a great meal to serve your family any night of the week? Enter pasta dishes! They are easy to make, most use pantry staples, and are great for sharing too!

We love simple easy to make pasta meals such as this Baked Ziti, American Goulash, or our family favorite (and reader favorite!) Homemade Hamburger Helper.

Top Reasons To Try This Tasty Pasta Dish

  • It’s kind of fancy but totally approachable
  • Loaded with flavor
  • Like mac and cheese but more of a company worthy version
  • Uses real ingredients
Ingredients: Chicken, tomatoes, cheeses, half and half, pasta, spinach, onion, garlic, flour, butter.

Ingredients

BUTTER, FLOUR, HALF AND HALF: All used to make a sauce, don’t worry it’s super easy!
ONION, GARLIC, TOMATOES, AND SPINACH: The veggies in the dish

PASTA: I like to use any short type of pasta for this casserole.
CHICKEN: For this recipe you will need pre-cooked chicken. You can use rotisserie, canned, or quickly cook some chicken in a skillet.

MOZZARELLA AND PARMESAN

Six pictures showing how to make the casserole: Cook the onion, and garlic in butter; stir in flour; stir in half and half; add remaining ingredients; top with cheese and bake.

How To Make Chicken Florentine Pasta Casserole

MAKE THE SAUCE: While the pasta is cooking; cook the onion and then garlic in melted butter. Stir in the flour and then whisk in the half and half to make a smooth sauce.

REMAINING INGREDIENTS: Add in the remaining ingredients and only 1 cup of mozzarella.

BAKE: Spoon into a lightly greased baking dish and top with remaining mozzarella. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Close up of chicken florentine pasta casserole from the oven.

How To Cook The Perfect Pasta

  • Use a large pot with plenty of water so the pasta can move around while boiling to reduce sticking.
  • Stir the pasta right after you add it to the boiling water. This will also help prevent it from sticking together.
  • SALT the water. This adds flavor to the bland pasta. Your water should be as salty as the sea.
  • Check the pasta a minute before the recipe says it’s done to prevent it from being overcooked. It should still have a slight bite to it to be considered al dente. For this recipe, you will want the pasta a little less than al dente because it will also continue to cook in the oven.

Tips and Suggestions

FREEZER-FRIENDLY: Wrap the completely cooled casserole in heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Can freeze casserole baked or unbaked.

VEGGIES: Add different vegetables like mushrooms or kale. Take note that adding more vegetables will affect how full your casserole dish will be.

WINE: You can also replace some of the half and half with white wine

Spoon pulling up the casserole showing a nice cheese pull.

Serving Suggestions

This would be great served with a simple side salad and breadsticks or these Garlic Cheddar Biscuits. However, if you would like to dress it up even more serve it with these Roasted Green Beans, or this Easy Greek Salad. And don’t forget about dessert!! Try my Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies for something simple yet different or try this Lemon Lush for something light and refreshing.

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5 from 1 vote
Overhead of casserole on a dark plate with fork off to the side.
Chicken Florentine Pasta Casserole
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
40 mins
 

This Chicken Florentine Pasta Casserole is a super easy and flavorful pasta dish. It uses simple and easy to find ingredients and is freezer-friendly!

Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: chicken florentine pasta
Servings: 8
Calories: 552 kcal
Author: Malinda Linnebur
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces (226g) ziti pasta
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup (35g) all-purpose flour
  • cups (590ml) whole milk or half and half
  • 8 ounces (226g) shredded mozzarella
  • 4 cups (141g) spinach
  • 3 cups (420g) cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
  • 2 cups (340g) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  • ½ cup (55g) grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook noodles until a couple minutes before al dente. Drain and lightly toss with a little oil to prevent sticking.

  2. Saute onion in the melted butter over medium heat until starts to soften. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.

  3. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup shredded mozzarella, drained pasta, spinach, chicken, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. Pour into prepared pan. Top with remaining shredded mozzarella.

  4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly and cheese is melted.

Recipe Notes
  1. FREEZER-FRIENDLY: Wrap completely cooled casserole in heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Can freeze casserole baked or unbaked.
Nutrition Facts
Chicken Florentine Pasta Casserole
Amount Per Serving
Calories 552 Calories from Fat 189
% Daily Value*
Fat 21g32%
Saturated Fat 11g69%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol 131mg44%
Sodium 676mg29%
Potassium 1270mg36%
Carbohydrates 41g14%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 7g8%
Protein 50g100%
Vitamin C 48mg58%
Calcium 594mg59%
Iron 5mg28%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the information shown is just an estimate.

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