This Tuscan Chicken Mac and Cheese is comfort food, but fancy! Delicious flavors and cheesy goodness will make this dish a family favorite in your home, too.
Mac and Cheese but Make it Fancy
Who doesn’t love a good mac and cheese?! But this isn’t just ANY mac and cheese recipe — this tuscan chicken mac and cheese takes traditional mac up to a fancy pants level of deliciousness.
Make this mac and cheese if you want to bring your mac and cheese game to the next level. Don’t get us wrong, we love a classic mac and cheese recipe and really love this garlic parmesan pasta, but sometimes it’s fun to do a spin off of a classic recipe.
simple
Mac and Cheese Sauce
Want to learn more about how to make a simple mac and cheese sauce? Check out the best mac and cheese sauce, ever.
How to Make Tuscan Chicken Mac and Cheese
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to make this delicious mac:
Prepare the Noodles
Good news for you is that you can use pretty much any kind of noodle your heart desires for this recipe. We went with cavatappi noodles (the fun pasta in these photos!), but here are some of our other faves. Just remember, you’ll need about 8oz. pasta:
- linguini
- angel hair
- bow ties
- macaroni
- penne
- fusilli
- bucatini
To make your pasta, bring water and salt to a boil. Once boiling, add in the pasta. Check the back of your pasta box for the proper cook time. Cook until al dente.
Time for chicken prep
Next, add the salt, pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes into a bowl and mix. You’ll use this for your chicken seasoning!
Place the raw chicken on a cutting board, and then place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the chicken. Pound the chicken with a meat cleaver until the chicken is the same thickness throughout (about 1/2 inch thickness).
Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoning, and be sure the entire chicken breast is covered with the seasonings.
Cook the Seasoned Chicken: Next, heat a large skillet over medium/high heat, and add olive oil from the sun dried tomatoes — this provides such great flavor! Sear each side of the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side or until the chicken reaches the internal temperature of 165ºF.
Remove chicken from the pan, let cool, and then cut the chicken into chunks.
Saute those veggies
Keep the olive oil and chicken juices in your skillet — again, do it for the flavors! Add:
- onions
- garlic
- spinach
- thyme
- oregano
to the juices and cook for 4-5 minutes. Then, add the sun-dried tomatoes, toss and remove from heat.
Time for cheese sauce
Prepare the cheese sauce by heating a large pot over medium/high heat, and then adding butter.
When the butter is melted add flour to the butter and whisk until a crumble or paste forms.
Turn heat to medium and slowly add the milk to the pot, stirring constantly until the milk thickens. When the milk thickens, add:
- salt
- thyme
- oregano
- cheddar
- parmesan
- mozzarella
- olive oil
to the sauce and stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce is thick.
how to
Thicken Pasta Sauce
We generally use three different techniques when we need to thicken a pasta sauce. Check out all the details here.
enjoy, cheese lovers!
Finally, add the noodles, vegetables, and chicken to the cheese sauce and mix until combined. Heat over medium/high heat until everything is hot.
Season with salt and pepper and enjoy this delicious tuscan chicken mac and cheese!
Chicken Mac and Cheese FAQ
We highly recommend serving your mac and cheese with chicken. We love chicken in this Tuscan chicken mac and cheese, bbq chicken mac and cheese, and buffalo mac and cheese.
Mac and cheese is also delicious with BACON.
We suggest using mild cheeses that melt well. You can use a Monterey jack cheese, pecorino romano, or mozzarella cheese. Get creative and use different cheese combinations.
Yes, chicken thighs would be delicious in this recipe. It will add flavor and extra moisture.
You can add mushrooms, sautéed kale, wilted spinach, or sautéed peppers to this chicken mac and cheese.
How to Store Mac and Cheese
Store this mac and cheese in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
Reheating Mac and Cheese
The key to reheating mac and cheese is to add a little moisture (milk works great!) since the noodles continue to absorb moisture even after it’s originally cooked, and to reheat low and slow to avoid the cheese breaking down and changing texture.
If you have time to reheat your mac and cheese in the oven, that is a great method! Simply add a little milk (start with a tablespoon, and go up from there depending on how much mac you’re reheating!), and stir thoroughly before covering an oven-safe dish and placing in the oven at 350°F.
You’ll need 10-20 minutes of reheating time, depending on how much mac you’re reheating.
Tuscan Chicken Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cavatappi noodles
- 1 teaspoon salt separated
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
- 8.5 oz. Bella Sun Luci Tomatoes with Italian Herbs, Julienne Cut, drained from the olive oil
- 3 tablespoons olive oil from the sun dried tomatoes separated
- 1 medium white onion minced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups packed spinach chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
Cheese Sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups 2% milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
- 1/3 cup shredded white sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil from the sun dried tomatoes
Instructions
- Being by cooking the noodles. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add the noodles, stir, and follow the direction on the back of the package. Strain the noodles and set aside.
- Next, add the salt, pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes into a bowl and mix. Set aside.
- Prepare the chicken breast by placing the raw chicken on a cutting board. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the chicken. Pound the chicken with a meat cleaver until the chicken is the same thickness throughout (about 1/2 inch thickness).
- Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoning in the bowl. Be sure the entire chicken breast is covered with the seasonings.
- Next, heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add olive oil from the sun dried tomatoes. When the olive oil is fragrant add the chicken to the pan. Sear each side of the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side or until the chicken reaches the internal temperature of 165ºF. Remove chicken from the pan, let cool, and then cut the chicken into chunks. Set aside.
- Keep the olive oil and chicken juices in the skillet. Add onions, garlic, spinach, thyme, and oregano to the juices and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes, toss and remove from heat. Set aside.
- Prepare the cheese sauce by heating a large pot over medium/high heat. Add butter.
- When the butter is melted add flour to the butter and whisk until a crumble or paste forms.
- Turn heat to medium and slowly add the milk to the pot, stirring constantly until the milk thickens. When the milk thickens, add the salt, thyme, oregano, cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella, and olive oil to the sauce and stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce is thick.
- Finally, add the noodles, vegetables, and chicken to the cheese sauce and mix until combined. Heat over medium/high heat until everything is hot.
- Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!
Looks yummy! Just be sure to add the noodles to the ingredients list on the recipe!
Good catch! For some reason, it wasn’t rendering on the live site. FIXED!
Hello, could you please provide the measurements for the ingredients to the cheese sauce? I know the cheese sauce consists of butter, flour, salt, thyme, oregano, cheddar, parmesan, and mozzarella, but the recipe doesn’t say how much of each. Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth! Thanks so much for catching this 🙂 We’ve added the ingredient amounts for the cheese sauce in the recipe card.
Thank you for the ingredient amounts! I made this tonight, and my family liked it! The sun-dried tomatoes are a nice break from the usual jarred spaghetti sauce and it’s a great recipe to use up spinach!
You are so welcome! SO glad the fam loved it 🙂