Dump and Bake Chicken Parmesan Pasta

## The Laziest Delicious Dinner You Will Ever Make If there were a hall of fame for easy dinners, dump and bake chicken parmesan pasta would be a first-ballot entry. The entire concept is exactly what the name suggests: you dump everything into a baking dish and bake it. No boiling pasta on the stove. No cooking the chicken separately. No simmering sauce in a saucepan. You combine raw pasta, raw chicken, jarred sauce, and water in a single dish, cover it, and let the oven transform it into a bubbly, cheesy masterpiece. It sounds almost too good to be true, but the science is straightforward. The water and sauce provide enough liquid for the pasta to absorb as it cooks. The covered dish traps steam, essentially creating a miniature oven-within-an-oven that cooks the pasta to al dente perfection while simultaneously cooking the chicken through. When you pull off the foil and add the cheese, you get that golden, melty top that makes baked pasta dishes so irresistible. ## Why Budget Cooks Love This Recipe At $1.75 per serving, this feeds six people for roughly the cost of a single fast food meal. A pound of dried pasta costs about a dollar. A jar of marinara sauce runs two to three dollars. Chicken breast can be found on sale for three to four dollars per pound, and cheese rounds things out for another couple of dollars. The total comes to around ten dollars for a dish that will feed your entire family with possibly enough left over for lunch the next day. The other budget-friendly aspect is the time savings. Five minutes of prep means this is a recipe you can throw together even on your most hectic evenings. Come home from work, spend a few minutes dicing chicken and mixing ingredients, and then use those thirty-five minutes of baking time to help with homework, change out of work clothes, or simply sit down and relax. ## Getting the Best Results The most critical step in this recipe is covering the dish tightly with foil. If steam escapes, the pasta will not have enough moisture to cook properly, and you will end up with crunchy, underdone noodles in spots. Press the foil firmly around the edges of the dish to create a good seal. Stirring the mixture well before covering is also important. You want every piece of pasta submerged in liquid. If noodles are sticking up above the sauce line, they will not cook evenly. Use a spatula to press everything down and make sure the liquid covers the pasta. When you remove the foil after thirty minutes, give everything a good stir before adding the cheese. This redistributes the sauce and ensures even coverage. If the pasta seems slightly underdone, cover it again and give it five more minutes before adding the cheese topping. ## Variations Worth Trying Swap the chicken for Italian sausage, either removed from its casing and crumbled or sliced into rounds. Add a layer of ricotta cheese dollops under the mozzarella for a lasagna-like richness. Toss in a handful of fresh basil leaves after baking for a pop of freshness. For a spicier version, use arrabbiata sauce instead of marinara, or stir in a quarter teaspoon of red pepper flakes with the seasonings. A drizzle of pesto over the finished dish also adds a wonderful herby dimension. ## Leftovers and Reheating Leftover pasta bake stores well in the refrigerator for up to four days. It also freezes beautifully. Portion into individual containers for easy grab-and-go lunches. Reheat in the microwave with a splash of water to loosen the sauce, or cover with foil and warm in a 350°F oven for fifteen to twenty minutes. The pasta absorbs sauce as it sits, so a little extra water or sauce when reheating helps bring it back to life.