Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Bake
There’s nothing I love more than a baking dish of cheesy, full flavored, lightened up comfort food. It’s kind of my thing. I got a reader request to give this recipe a lightened up makeover, so I want to give a big shout out to Pamela Lynne Wilkinson for making the suggestion on my Facebook Page. Y’all know what I like!
This Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Bake is SO GOOD. It’s basically like thick, creamy, decadent macaroni and cheese but chock full of a hearty portion of chicken and ham and covered in buttery Parmesan bread crumbs. Instead of using canned cream of chicken soup like the original recipe called for I thought it would be yummier to make a swiss cheese sauce, and I’m so glad I did. The sauce is creamy, cheesy and delicious and it takes less than 10 minutes to make. This recipe is a really fun and tasty way to get all the flavors of chicken cordon bleu in casserole form and it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. Don’t forget to check out my Easy Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken post- the perfect way to make shredded chicken for this recipe! To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 8 oz uncooked wheat pasta, I used penne
- 4 tablespoons light butter, divided (I use Land-O-Lakes)
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups skim milk
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 oz 2% Swiss Cheese slices, torn into strips
- 1/3 cup fat free sour cream
- 2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken breast
- 6 oz lean cooked ham, diced (I used Smith’s Ham Steaks)
- ¼ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350. Lightly mist a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- While the water is boiling for step one, melt 3 tablespoons of the light butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour to the butter and stir to combine. Add the milk a little at a time and whisk the flour mixture into the milk until smooth. Add the salt and pepper and stir to combine. Turn the heat up to medium and add the swiss cheese to the milk mixture. Whisk together for about 5 minutes until smooth and thick.
- Combine the cooked pasta, chicken, ham, sour cream and cheese sauce and stir until well mixed. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.
- Place the remaining tablespoon of light butter in a skillet over medium heat until melted. Add the bread crumbs and Parmesan and brown breadcrumbs for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle the bread crumb/Parmesan mixture over the top of the casserole and bake for about 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.
Notes
9 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) Adapted from allrecipes
This recipe looks like a winner, and I’d like to make it this week. One problem though is my daughter won’t eat ham! There are 4 in my family, so I’m going to cut the recipe in 1/2 to start with, then put it together without the ham and pour into 4 individual baking dishes. I can stir the ham into 3 of the dishes, and leave DDs without. Can’t wait to try it! Thank you for the recipe Emily, and congrats on your newly updated site!
Sounds like a good way to do it! I actually am not usually much of a ham fan myself but it tastes great in this. I hope your whole family loves it!
Hi! What is the serving size? How much can you have and how many servings? Thanks-looks amazing!
The number of servings and size are now located right under the recipe title in the recipe section of the post! 🙂
This just might be our Easter lunch!
It’d be perfect for Easter! Hope it’s a hit 🙂
This looks delicious. I’m going to make it tonight!
Yay, let me know what you think!
This looks like the perfect weeknight dinner. My family loves creamy casseroles and the fact it’s healthy is a bonus!
Hope you love it! 🙂
This sounds wonderful but my husband does not like swiss cheese. How do you think it would taste if I substituted with mozzarella cheese?
I’ve never tried making a sauce like this from Mozzarella but it would probably work, though it may not have as strong a flavor. Let me know how it turns out!
I make it with 6oz part-skin mozzarella and 2 oz reduced fat parmesan since it’s hard for me to find reduced fat Swiss. And it’s so, so good!
Thank you so much for your delicious recipes! I never have to change or alter any of your recipes they are to a T delicious! Making this tonight! 🙂
I hope you love it! 🙂
Sounds delicious and a good way to use up some leftover Easter ham.
I pre-made this today as prep for this week and it’s delicious! The cheese sauce is perfect! I can’t wait to actually try it baked and bubbly with the bread crumbs on top.
Looks like a great recipe to premake for soccer practice nights
This is so good, as all of your recipes are. I was worried for a couple of minutes about the cheese sauce being clumpy but then it all just did exactly as it was supposed to do. I added steamed broccoli to mine because i had it and that worked very well. You rock!
I made this tonight and it was a big hit with the family! This will definitely be a repeater for us. Thanks!
Silly question: How would one pre-make this? I would love to put together Friday night dinners on Thursdays to prevent me from being rushed on Friday nights but I’ve never prepared anything and not cooked it right away. Love the blog, btw, I signed up for your emails too so I got excited when I saw this one on Saturday 🙂
Yay, thanks for signing up for the emails! I haven’t pre-made it either but I think you could probably make the sauce, chop up the chicken & ham, cook the pasta and mix them all together the night before. Then you’d just have to do the breadcrumbs and bake it Friday night. Let me know if it works out!
Looks fab. I’m doing the classic weight watchers and came up with 7 points. My family will love this!!
This was beyond amazing! I put it together the night before, breadcrumbs and all, and had hubby bake it the next day. It turned out great and was so delicious. Thank you so much for your site! The majority of of our meals come from here. Thanks!
Making this tonight but subbing bacon instead of ham (all I have in the house!)
This was amazing!! I scooped my serving in a bowl and the plopped a tsbp of Dijon mustard on it bc I like a tang with the ham and then mixed it together. Ohhh so so good
I jacked this recipe all up, but it was still yummy! I decided to make it and didn’t want to go to the store. So I used tuna instead of chicken and laughing cow cheese instead of Swiss and sour cream. Hopefully next time I can plan ahead and have the chicken version 😉
I put this together the night before and refrigerated, but added the breadcrumb mixture right before cooking the following night. It took maybe 45 minutes to heat it thoroughly the next night. DH liked it and thought it was “fattening.” I never told him it was a lightened up dish. The sauce was rich tasting and easy to make. I think I will try making the sauce using Parmesan cheese for fettuccine Alfredo. Thanks for the recipe.
Looks yummy!! Can nonfat greek yogurt be used in place of the sour cream?
Sure, it just has a slightly stronger flavor
This look really good, I am on weight watchers and I am also trying to make a monthly meal plan to see if I will save money in grocery’s (this will go on my rotation menu). If anyone is on weight watchers, I just added the menu in the recipe builder on line and it is worth 7 points if you are using the points plus program. I think I will make this for dinner Sunday.
Kind of a stupid question: did you use the Swiss cheese slices that are like Kraft Singles (the individually wrapped single slices of processed cheese), or did you use a reduced-fat slice of actual Swiss cheese?
My store didn’t have any option that appeared to be just what the recipe called for. I went with a 6 oz. package of 50% reduced-fat Swiss cheese slices (not processed). It was delicious!
Mine were real cheese slices (not the individually wrapped processed slices). I used my store brand but I know Sargento has them as well
This looks delicious and I’ve been happy with all your recipes so far so I’m making this tonight. Not doing lightened up, though — real swiss and sour cream. Can’t wait to try it.
This was amazing! So creamy and cheesy; it hit the spot. Every time I’ve made a cheese sauce it never worked, but this came out great! Very easy and delicious.
I’m happy this one was a success! Thanks for letting me know you loved it 🙂
sounds really good!!
could the sour cream be substituted for something else? (we don’t like cream cheese or sour cream here). Would provolone work in place of swiss? 🙂
thanks!
You could probably use plain yogurt instead of the sour cream. I haven’t made it with provolone but I’m sure you can!
Just reporting back that I pre-made everything but the breadcrumbs on Thursday night and then topped it and popped it in the oven on Friday night and it was a HUGE hit! Thank you so much for such a devilishly delicious casserole that I can have while on WW!
I made this last night and we’ll have it tonight. It looked delicious and was easy to prepare. To make preparation easier, I bought a rotisserie chicken and used the white meat in the dish. I will serve with broccoli and salad to add color to the plate. I’m thinking that broccoli or carrots could be added to the casserole too to make a one dish meal.
OMG…I have had this on my list to make since you posted this recipe, and I finally got to it last night. This was AMAZING!! It didn’t taste healthy at all! I loved the smokiness of the ham in it…YUM! Another great one that will be on my rotation!
Funny…I just read a few of the other comments and realized I left out the sour cream! It was great, so I don’t know that I’ll use it when I make it in the future.
I make at least one recipe from your site on a weekly basis and they are all delicious – but this one was out of this world delicious – I couldn’t find the Swiss so I went with a reduced fat Monterey Jack blend – I don’t have enough adjectives to describe how excellent this dish is. Thank you and keep them coming,!
I made this about a week ago and forgot to comment about how great it turned out. I had 4 guests come over for dinner on a Saturday night and this was the perfect meal to feed everyone. They were all very full and happy when they left. I love your blog and use your recipes all the time. Keep up the good work and keep the mouth-watering recipes comin! Thanks Emily!
This was super good! I had a panic attack while making the cheese sauce because it was so clumpy! But I just turned up the heat and let it melt a little longer and it turned out a-okay. As it was baking my husband kept saying, “whoa, that smells sooo good! Was is it?!” I will definitely be making it again!
I made this two nights ago and my husband and MIL loves it! My husband almost ate the whole thing! Thanks for sharing! I love your site!!!
Family loved this! Would be great for a potluck too!
I still can’t get enough of this recipe! Thanks for helping me find a way to enjoy my fav casserole without the guilt. You seriously ROCK Emily!
I’m so glad you love it!
THIS HAS GOT TO B THE MOST DELICIOUS MEAL I HAVE EVER TRIED. I LITERALLY JUST ATE IT AND HOPPED ON HERE TO TELL YOU. I HAVE 3 PICKY CHILDREN AND THEY DEVOURED THEIRS! I DIDN’T CHANGE A THING. I AM NOW A FOLLOWER
Yay, picky children approved! I’m thrilled you loved it so much! Thanks for all your kind words 🙂
I really do love this dish (and so does my boyfriend). Thought I’d let you know an interesting twist I took on it this week. I’m trying very hard to cut back on grocery spending and part of that is avoiding food waste. I had some ham and turkey lunch meat to use up (a lot of it), so that went in instead! I will admit it isn’t as totally awesome as your original recipe, but in a pinch or to avoid wasting meat (so expensive these days!) it works. 🙂 Did not add any additional salt though because of the sodium in the meat.
Has anyone tried this using a cheese other than Swiss? Know that’s the Cordon Bleu flavors but I’m not a huge fan of Swiss. Let me know, thanks!
Any cheese should work :). I actually am not a swiss lover myself, but this sauce was great – you may want to try it!
Best thing ever! I am so glad I finally made this! Once again you nailed it!
Thank you for this amazing recipe! I just started WW and my teens are being super supportive of me and my diet. This recipe is so good. It makes this once foodie realize there is really great recipes out there and my teens loves your everything I’ve made off your site for far. Can’t wait to try more.
Thanks!
That’s so great to hear, Cynthia! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
I made this last night and it was so good! The cheese sauce was nice and creamy and the end results was amazing. My husband even said that he liked the cheese sauce so much that he wanted me to make it and put it on all other types of food. This one is definitely a winner!
Made this last night and WOW!!! It was so good! Emily, your recipes are just amazing…this one, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Chicken Tamale Bake, Thai Chicken Biscuits…they are on regular rotation in our house. Thank you!!
HI! I love your recipes! My boys have no idea they’re eating moms ‘Weight Watcher food’! Ha! Trying to make the most of my snow days!.. Quick question – I have made this many times, but have never tried to freeze it. Have you (or anyone) tried to make this as a freezer meal? Thanks!
I’ve never tried to freeze it either – it never lasts that long! Hopefully someone else reading has and can answer 🙂
I’ve made this twice now & just wanted to let you know how much my family LOVED it! This is so good! When I cook a whole chicken I freeze up the leftover cooked chicken into 2 cup portions since many recipes call for it. This is a great recipe for leftover cooked chicken. YUM 🙂
How many points do you think this recipe would be without the pasta?
Hm, I’m not sure, though I bet it would be quite different. I’d suggest running it through the Weight Watchers recipe builder with your changes – I only calculated it the way it’s listed here. I’m not sure how it will turn out without pasta though unless you replace it with something else – it’s a pasta bake! 🙂
Made this with rice instead of pasta and halved the recipe since there is only my bf and I. I also let the butter brown a bit until fragrant before adding the flour for the sauce mixture. I received the ultimate stamp of approval on this one. And I agree, this was so good! I love the quick sauce and it’s much better than anything store-bought or a Campbell’s soup, imo.
Sometimes I follow the recipe as is, lightened up (and it tastes amazing) and sometimes I use the real thing (like regular sour cream or butter). I have made 3 things from your blog so far and not one has disappointed, thank you.
I’m so happy to hear you both loved this one! I’ll have to try it with rice sometime. Thanks so much for letting me know it was a hit 🙂
Looks delicious, making this tonight for my family. Looking forward to a yummy meal! Thinking about pairing it with some steamed veggies on the side.
Has anyone ever made this and tried to freeze it before baking? I’m adding to my list of freezer-friendly meals, and wondering if I can add this meal to that list.
This is currently in the oven, and I know it’ll be delicious. We’re making it with Canadian bacon instead, because it’s so few points and you can buy it in bulk at Costco! But the other thing I’d change is that I’d use a 7 x 11 instead of the 9 x 13, because it seems a bit thin!
Thanks for making our home’s WW journey a little bit easier!
Emily, this is by far my favorite recipe I have made from your site, and that is saying a lot because I swear my husband and I have tried at least one a week since I started WW at the end of January! We had already taste-tested this recipe (both loved it!) and tonight my small group will be having it for dinner. I pre-made everything and kept it covered in the fridge last night; tonight, my husband will put the topping on and have it bake in the oven before our group. Thanks for such a yummy meal – it is always a relief to be able to track what I eat ahead of time, and to know I’m going to enjoy every bite!
Great recipe! And a great way to use some the the leftover Easter ham!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fabulous!! My son is doing WW with me and he asked if I would make it weekly! Thank you so much for such an amazing blog and IG acct! You are changing lives 🙂
I’m so thrilled you both loved it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
WOW is this good!! Will make again and would be great to bring to a pot luck function. YUM!
This recipe is SO GOOD! My family has it at least 2x per month, and we all love it. The “We” also includes a 2-year-old toddler, by the way! Sometimes we’ll make two at a time and use one for lunches for the week. I can’t recommend it enough.