{Low Cal}Three Cheese Chicken Penne Bake
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If you’re trying to watch your weight, you probably stay away from pasta dishes. Pasta isn’t exactly “diet friendly” with all of it’s calories, and a recipe like Three Cheese Chicken Penne Bake doesn’t exactly sound “low cal“.
But my family loves pasta dishes, and they’re usually quick and easy dish to get on the table, which I like!
So I was excited when I found this pasta recipe with only 460 Calories per serving! It was a big hit with my family, and I just giggled that I had a healthy pasta dish to serve them and they were clueless they were helping me stay on track watching my weight.
Table of Contents
Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake
Summary: Multigrain pasta, chicken, spinach, and low fat cheeses are tossed with a tomato sauce and baked to bubbly perfection. They will never know you’re serving them a healthy pasta dish.
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked
- 1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 tsp. dried basil leaves
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce
- 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
- 1 cup 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
- 2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- HEAT oven to 375ºF.
- COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt and adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute.
- COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min
- Stir in garlic,spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel.
- DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan
- Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish.
- BAKE 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake another 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.
Notes
Source: Slightly adapted from Kraft Recipes.
Weight Watcher PointsPlus™ program =10 points
Hi there, I'm Cheryl!
As a wife, mom, and caffeine enthusiast, my journey has taken me from bustling mornings with my family to sharing delicious recipes, home care tips, and heartfelt decorating insights with wonderful readers like you. My love for baking, photography, and tidiness shines through every post I craft. Dive into my world and discover the art of homemaking, one tidy moment at a time. Read more...
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This looks delish! I love pasta and cheese! Thanks for sharing!
Yum! My family would love this! Will be making this very soon 🙂
This looks awesome! Did I miss it, or is there a number of servings listed for this recipe? Just curious how many servings it was divided into…
love,
cathy b.
looks so good my family will love it I was looking for something good for tonight thanks for posting…
Yum~o~la!
I am LOVING that SPINACH in the PASTA!
I’d probably add 1000 times more SPINACH!
I over~dose on SPINACH!
How does your family like the mulit~grain pasta?
This is FAB that you are preparing HEALTHY family meals!
YEAH!
The Tiger Man needs all that SPINACH taming his TIGERS!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Looks YUM Cheryl!
Happy Day!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Hopping over from Mingle Monday. How have I not found you before?! Love your site and love this recipe. I make something similar, but not with the cream cheese. I can’t wait to try it this way.
Absolutely gorgeous photos, Cheryl! This looks great for a weeknight dinner.
That looks wonderful. I’m definitely going to bookmark it and make it soon 🙂 Thanks for a great dinner idea.
Cheryl thank you for sharing this recipe! It looks delicious, I just might have to make that tonight!! 🙂
I love dishes that are healthy but don’t taste like they are. This looks like it fits that category!
I love it! Dinner is DONE!
I have a similar recipe for chicken penne bake that I just love…it’s the perfect family-style dish that’s easy to make and perfect comfort food too!
Thank you! I printed a copy of this recipe for myself and my Mom.
Looks absolutely delicious! I would have to omit the spinach because my dh and dc would revolt.
Your photography is gorgeous (as usual) and the recipe looks great 🙂
Love the fact you got some spinach in there…it’s a good way to get veggies into kids meals. This looks really wonderful.
My husband loves pasta dishes of all kinds. This would be a great one to serve him. Thanks for sharing the low-cal recipe Cheryl.
How delicious – I love anything pasta and low points too? Yee-haw!!
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Love it! I’m definitely going to make this. So easy, and I love that there’s spinach in there. Thank you!!
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Drooling! Got to try this.
Hugs,
Kat
This looks so tasty! I am all about simple pasta dinners for weeknight meals!
Yum! I would have never guessed that this was considered healthy!
This looks wonderful! I would like to try it with fresh tomatoes to cut down on the sodium, that’s what gets me!
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looks so delicious
Looks delicious! Going to try this!
That looks wonderful. Will have to give it a try
I love pasta….I think i could eat it every night of the week. And maybe for lunch, too. Thanks, Cheryl!!
PS, I’m not sure how you did it, but you made a can of tomatoes look beautiful! Love ALL the the pictures!
This is a great pasta dish… And, I love that it’s low cal, too!
A low cal crab dish!? I’m all over it! YUM!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing! My husband and I couldn’t get over how good it was! Thanks for posting it!
This looks delicious, Cheryl! I’m going to make this very soon!
That looks delicious. I’m your newest follower. It would be great if you could stop by my blog Monday and add your project to The More The Merrier Link Party.
Your dishes look yum … loved the presentation of the food ! good work
They look very good. Good for the health!
I made this tonight and my boyfriend and I really enjoyed it. Very tasty! I will be making it again. I added a healthy dash of red pepper flakes for a little flavor. I did enjoy the whole grain pasta; I think I like it better than regular pasta. Thanks!
This was excellent! I made a couple batches for the freezer for after my baby was born and they thawed beautifully (although I did slightly undercook the pasta to ensure it wouldn’t be mushy after thawing). I didn’t low-cal it in any way since I’m breastfeeding and can use the calories, but I did add extra spinach. Delicious!