Chicken bacon alfredo?

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rodentraiser

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I'm going to try something new for tomorrow night. I want to make a casserole with chicken and pasta noodles with bacon in Alfredo sauce baked in the oven. And I have a couple of questions. A lot of them, actually.

Here's how I was going to cook it: Cut up the chicken breasts and put the raw pieces in with the uncooked noodles, pour the Alfredo sauce (two jars) over everything, and sprinkle the bacon on top. I was going to cook it at 350 for...until it looked done.

Can I just cut up the raw chicken and put it in the casserole to cook? Or do I have to cook it first. I'm going to assume I don't need to pre-cook the pasta if it cooks in the Alfredo sauce? The bacon will definitely be pre-cooked. Is 350 a reasonable temp? Should I cover it or not? And how long do you guys think it should cook? Should I add regular cheese on top, or sour cream, or Parmesan cheese before or after I bake it?

I'm putting probably 2 to 3 chicken breasts in (in pieces - depends on what fills the dish), about a pound of bacon (diced and cooked), and not many twisty noodles because that's all I have left.

Normally I'd just wing it, but this is a lot of food for me and with prices the way they are, I want to make sure this is edible. I'm also trying to use up chicken, noodles, and bacon.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.
 
I don't think the noodles will cook in just the sauce. I'd at least partially cook the chicken seasoned with S and P in the bacon grease, not sure it will get done if not. 350 to 375 for probably about 20 minutes until it's bubbly, top with more parm if you want last 5 minutes or so.
 
I agree with medtran. 20 minutes is probably long enough for the chicken to be safe. If you have an instant read thermometer, then you can check that the chicken is warm enough to be safe 160°F (71°C) or higher. Then you will get a better idea of when it is actually ready and how long it takes your oven to do that. I also think the Alfredo sauce is probably too thick to give off enough liquid to the pasta for it to cook nicely.
 
Sounds really good RR.
Here's my take on it:-
I would probably bring a pot of water (or broth) to a boil, cut the breasts into 3 or 4 chunks each and simmer them for about 10 minutes. Take out, put aside, bring the water back up to a boil and do the pasta. Meanwhile chunk the chicken into bite size pieces. Drain the pasta, actually you could throw in any vegies you might have hanging around just to take the edge off them. Then mix altogether - meat, pasta, bacon, (vegies), sauce, most of the cheese. Sprinkle the last of the cheese on top. bake at 350 for about 20 to 35 minutes, depending on the size of your dish.

Let us know how you do with it!
 
I like the idea of poaching the chicken first and then using that water for the pasta. If the chicken is poached, it won't be as wiggly as raw chicken, so it will be easier to cut into the size of pieces you would like.
 
Yes, but it's chicken breasts. Poaching them in water will pull out flavor, which you don't want with chicken breasts especially.
 
If this is your first try with this recipe, why don't you make a smaller portion? Cut down the recipe ingredients to use just one chicken breast.

Also, I would cook the ingredients separately then assemble it and heat it all together with the sauce in the oven.
 
You could pan fry your breasts (That's not sounding right. Sorry) ;(
Third cup of coffee is kicking in. Have a lawn to mow.

But anyways, going with Andy's suggestion you could make a small dish to test the waters.
I've made Chicken Alfredo with bacon casserole before it was pretty good. The only thing I'd suggest you do is not cook the noodles fully. Drain and rinse the noodles under cold water then add the sauce, chicken and noodles to your dish.
Keep in mind the sauce will soak up the extra sauce while it cooks in the oven.
You could top it with mozzarella cheese. Put the chopped bacon on top. Bake at 350 foiled tent until bubbly. If you want the cheese to brown a little the bacon to crisp up remove the foil or omit it completely.
It also make a nice pizza sauce.
 
I'm going to try something new for tomorrow night. I want to make a casserole with chicken and pasta noodles with bacon in Alfredo sauce baked in the oven. And I have a couple of questions. A lot of them, actually.

Here's how I was going to cook it: Cut up the chicken breasts and put the raw pieces in with the uncooked noodles, pour the Alfredo sauce (two jars) over everything, and sprinkle the bacon on top. I was going to cook it at 350 for...until it looked done.

Can I just cut up the raw chicken and put it in the casserole to cook? Or do I have to cook it first. I'm going to assume I don't need to pre-cook the pasta if it cooks in the Alfredo sauce? The bacon will definitely be pre-cooked. Is 350 a reasonable temp? Should I cover it or not? And how long do you guys think it should cook? Should I add regular cheese on top, or sour cream, or Parmesan cheese before or after I bake it?

I'm putting probably 2 to 3 chicken breasts in (in pieces - depends on what fills the dish), about a pound of bacon (diced and cooked), and not many twisty noodles because that's all I have left.

Normally I'd just wing it, but this is a lot of food for me and with prices the way they are, I want to make sure this is edible. I'm also trying to use up chicken, noodles, and bacon.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

  1. You should sear the chicken and then deglaze. Whisk in the alfredo and use this as the base for your dish. You can deglaze with white wine, stock/broth, or even water if that's all you have.
  2. Pre-cook the bacon and mix into the dish instead of sprinkling over. Better flavor and it will prevent the bacon from burning.
  3. Pre-cook the pasta to just under al dente. Do not throw in dry.
  4. I would add the parm after. Broil the top first for a couple of minutes to get it nice and golden brown, then sprinkle on the parm when you remove it from the oven.
 
I've cooked chicken breast before in a dish partially filled with water that I flavor with bay leaf, thyme, whatever spice I have in the oven and that was pretty good. I'm not sure of the word poach. Isn't that boiling the water? Obviously I don't eat poached eggs. LOL

But I think I'll cook the chicken through, then do the pasta. That's because I still have to do the bacon and that will take a couple hours. I'm dicing and cooking 3lbs so I'll have bacon crumbles for scrambled eggs and whatnot, and that will take at least two hours. I do it slowly.

The only reason I'm doing so much at one time is because the chicken is nearing its end date and has to be cooked ASAP. I'd rather take a chance on this dish than toss 2 chicken breasts.
 
OK, it's been fun. The chicken has been cooking and is ready to come out. Naturally, I didn't have any bay leaves, so it was parsley, thyme, and basil, plus salt. I poke the chicken all over with a fork and then pour the water in with the spices. I have it covered with foil as well. I haven't done that before so we'll see if that's better. I'll do the noodles when I get home form the store.

The bacon is cooking and will probably be another hour or so, maybe longer. I don't think I have enough Alfredo sauce, so I may get another jar when I go pick up my prescriptions.

This might even be edible!

Everyone, thank you for the suggestions. Next time I plan on having the bacon done the day before so I can cook the chicken in the bacon grease. That would be so good.
 
rr, I understand having to cook all of the chicken before its end. Go ahead and do that, but you can now put some of that aside for another dish and not make it all up in the Alfredo Sauce. Divide the bacon up too. As you don't have a lot of pasta, well continue to use it all in the first dish.
With the rest, you now have two more breasts and some bacon to make a completely new dish.
How are you for freezer space?
 
When I have chicken breasts that are nearing their best before date and I don't have a plan for them, I often just poach them by simmering in just barely enough water to cover the breasts.

I don't know if it is true, but I keep reading it in comments on a Danish cooking site. I'll have to test for myself some time. They claim that if you want a lot of the flavour from the meat to go into the water, you start with cold water. If you want as much of the flavour as possible to stay in the meat, drop the meat into boiling water. One recipe even just called for the meat to be scalded before making the dish.
 
Very interesting taxy. Maybe we could do a .... experiment with the Forum?

Everyone try both ways and post their opinions?
I fully understand that "taste" is subjective but it would be interesting, no?

Unless, of course, Kenji has already done it - then some of our opinions would be compromised :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
Upon occasion, we've visited Noodles & Company. They were better when they fist started...but here's a link to their take on an Alfredo & Chicken dish. They "grill" the chicken separate and top the noodles with it. Completely different, but still worth a look-see?
 
Well, I had the chicken Alfredo tonight and the best I can say about it is it's edible. Otherwise it's sort of meh and pretty bland.

I used 3 chicken breasts, 1 1/2 pounds of bacon (about a cup and a half), 2 cups of noodles, 3 jars of Alfredo sauce (not the best, obviously), garlic and some sour cream all mixed with Parmesan, with Parmesan cheese on top, topped by a scattering of more bacon and some parsley. It looked great, but I don't know what to do to kick it up a little. I think the sauce was the problem. It just lacks that good taste.

I'm going to freeze the rest. I suppose it could have been worse. Ginny, I'll take a look at that dish and see where I went wrong.
 
RR, Alfredo sauce is a simple sauce, but tricky at the same time. I'm sure you could do a much better job with a homemade sauce. Then, use the chicken and bacon (cooked separate) at toppings...could be super yummy!
 
Ginny - looks and sounds great! - I CMT'd that tout suite! Thanks for the lead.

When do you freeze? before or after?
 
When I have chicken breasts that are nearing their best before date and I don't have a plan for them, I often just poach them by simmering in just barely enough water to cover the breasts.

I don't know if it is true, but I keep reading it in comments on a Danish cooking site. I'll have to test for myself some time. They claim that if you want a lot of the flavour from the meat to go into the water, you start with cold water. If you want as much of the flavour as possible to stay in the meat, drop the meat into boiling water. One recipe even just called for the meat to be scalded before making the dish.
I would never boil chicken. The high heat hits the outside, causing the meat fibers to tighten. This shrinks the edges, making them tough.

Their theory sounds like the one that has been disproved, where people thought that searing meat "sealed in flavor." I think it's unlikely.
 
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