This Chicken and Roast Pumpkin Pasta Bake recipe can be made ahead of time, making it the perfect meal for feeding a hungry crowd on a busy weeknight.
This dinner is delicious! Chicken, bacon, roast pumpkin, and macaroni tossed through a delicious cheese sauce then baked with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese – what’s not to love?! Normally speaking I’m not a fan of pumpkin so I rarely cook with it, but when roasted like this its flavour enriches, and it becomes the perfect addition to this Chicken and Roast Pumpkin Pasta Bake.
I poached and shredded the chicken breast as a budget-friendly option, however, you can use a BBQ chicken instead if you prefer to save time instead of money.
I made this during the day, then placed it in the fridge just before the final step. Once home from work I simply popped it into the oven. I had it in the fridge so heated for 30 minutes instead of the recommended 20 minutes.
I love dinners like these that can be made ahead of time and then heated just before eating – it helps takes the stress and chaos out of busy nights. Serve this meal with salad and there will most certainly be enough left over for everybody for the following night.
With the cold weather setting in, it’s a great time to start creating home-cooked meals like this one. For more hearty dinner ideas, be sure to check out my new cookbook!
20 comments
This sounds delicious! Pumpkin is the only form of squash my husband and son will eat, so I definitely must give this recipe a try. Thank you so much for sharing it!
Made this last night and we all loved it. I have a lactose free child which is sometimes difficult to feed because she still thinks some things will make her sick. I adjusted the recipe for her and she loved it. So great that we could all enjoy the same thing.
That is wonderful that she was able to enjoy it too!
Sounds so yummy any ideas what to replace bacon with? Daughter is allergic.
It was delicious, you could omit the bacon and add more vegetables, broccoli, onion?
Thanks for this recipe, it has been a hit with the family. Which is fortunate, as I took a risk and made four times the quantity, and froze them for later. They defrosted and reheated really well, and are on my list for my next bulk cooking day.
Maybe the bacon could be replaced by some feta cheese?
Ooh that does sound yummy, Liz. I like the sound of that variation.
Will try it and see…sounds yummy
I’m also allergic to bacon and plan on replacing it with a chicken sausage.
Fantastic idea, Bronny!
Possums thanks for answering my never ending question of – can I freeze it??
ps. seeded mustard adds a little kick to pumpkin if people can’t do the bacon or feta. I vote feta every time – but then I would use bacon also 🙂
Will try this dish on the weekend. I have made an all in one dish in the past where I baked the bacon on top of the rest of the food in the oven ,it crisped up and I didn’t have to dirty a frying pan!
Hi,
At which step would it be good to pop into the freezer please? Just before the final step? Just checking 🙂 First time making a meal for the freezer lol
Myra I would recommend covering and freezing before the final step, and then simply pulling it out when you were ready and popping it in the oven. Alternatively you can freeze once cooked, but this tends to have better results with tomato based bakes instead of creamy ones. Hope this helps! Kat x
Hi, just wanting to check if it’s the grated cheese that is added when making the sauce and then the parmesan sprinkled on at the end or the other way round?
Hi Amanda, apologies for the confusion. The parmesan cheese gets sprinkled on at the end. I have amended the recipe above to correctly reflect this now 🙂 Thanks, Kat.
Totally love the chicken and roast pumpkin pasta bake. This is the second week I’ve made. Tastes just as great for lunch the next day. Love your recipes and weekly meal plans ?
That’s so lovely to hear Dee! Thank you. Kat x
Yumbo! Didn’t have any bacon – national disaster. But replaced with some Pepperoni which gave it a nice lil kick.