Pesto Ranch Rotini Bake

If you want an easy pasta dish but you don’t want to default to spaghetti, you just came to the right place. Whether you like squash or not, this recipe is a winner! Each bite is a cheesy, pesto-y, chicken-y bit of heaven. I love making this when I want something that is filling but not heavy, as the vegetables and pesto brighten it so that it is not too rich. The hardest part of this recipe is remembering to throw the squash and zucchini into the pot before the pasta finishes cooking. Altogether, with prep work included, the recipe can be done in about an hour with some downtime from baking and water boiling. Score!

Honestly, I make this dish year-round, but I especially crave it during spring and summer. I hope that you find this recipe becomes a year-round staple for you, too! If you really don’t like all the squash, you can also trade either the yellow squash or zucchini for broccoli. I have found that I am not a fan of the texture that the broccoli brings to this recipe, but the flavor is good. With all that said, let’s get cooking!

Chicken Pesto Rotini Bake

A creamy pesto casserole brightened by tomatoes and summer squash.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 8 people

Equipment

• 1 9 x 13 in casserole dish
• tin foil

Ingredients

  

• 1 box rotini pasta (16 oz)
• 2 cups chicken, shredded *See recipe notes
• 1 zucchini squash
• 1 yellow squash
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 cup ranch dressing
• ¾ cup pesto
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

 

Prep Work

• Preheat the oven to 350 ℉. Fill a large pot with enough water to cook the whole box of pasta and start heating it on high heat.
• Dice the tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash into small, bite size pieces, placing the cut zucchini and squash in a bowl separate from the tomatoes.

Cook

• Once the water is boiling, cook the pasta according to box instructions.
• While the pasta is boiling, make the pesto ranch sauce by combining 1 cup of ranch dressing with ¾ cup of pesto in a bowl or liquid measuring cup.
• Just before the pasta is finished boiling (about a minute or two if you set timers), dump the squash into the water to cook the contents slightly.
• Once the pasta is finished cooking, pour the contents of the pot into a colander. Then, once the water has drained, put your pasta and squash back in the pot.
• Quickly add the tomatoes, shredded chicken, pesto ranch sauce, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese to the pot. Stir until the contents are well mixed so the sauce and vegetables are evenly distributed.

Bake

• Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 in baking dish and top with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
• Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

Notes

• I usually just use a can of chicken of whatever size that I have on hand.
• If you do not love all the squash, the recipe can also be done with broccoli florets instead of yellow squash.
• I tend to top the casserole with more than just 1 cup of cheese because I really love cheese. If 1 cup seems a little stingy, definitely sprinkle more!

The Vegetable Chopper I Use

If you (like me) hate standing at the counter doing prep work and cutting vegetables, you should get a vegetable chopper. Here’s the one I use. They went viral a few years back so I got one, and I don’t regret it. It saves so much time and effort, and it’s dishwasher safe. SCORE!

Keyword Baked Rotini, Chicken Pesto Rotini Bake, Pesto Chicken casserole, Pesto Chicken Pasta, Pesto rotini