Creamy Chicken Penne with Broccoli, Roasted Corn & Crispy Bacon
We all have those type of recipes that we throw together with the ingredients we have in our pantry, well this was one of those! I planned for a good healthy week of meals, but my husband has completely refused to eat healthy this year! For now I’m just trying to force veggies into our diet! Anyone else deal with this problem?! Truly, every time I say the words, chicken sausage, spaghetti squash, quinoa – his response is “so what are we eating”, So annoying! Maybe 2022?!
Any who, this one is so easy to customize with whatever veggies you like and you can also lighten it up by using Greek yogurt in the sauce! It makes it so creamy but lightens it up a ton! Of course, we didn’t do that, but I’ve done it before and it’s great! Also, I’ve learned to just throw in as many veggies as I can because that way they’re disguised! I used broccoli but cauliflower, snap peas, carrots, or even spinach would also be great in this!!
Creamy Chicken Penne with Broccoli, Corn & Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lb penne pasta
- 2 cup roasted corn trader joes frozen is great
- 4 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- 1/2 cup broccoli chopped, sub any green veggie
- 4 oz cream cheese could sub greek yogurt
- 1 cup pasta water
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tbsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Start by boiling the water for the pasta! I find that this always takes the longest!
- Prep the rest of the ingredients! If using raw chicken, cook it now and chop into 1 inch chunks! Cook bacon if needed, and chop broccoli (this will cook in the pan).
- Add that pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions! Save 1 cup of pasta water before draining!
- Add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan and toss in the chopped broccoli! Cook for about 5 minutes until a little charred! Add in corn and bacon and the pasta water! Bring to a simmer then add in cream cheese! Stir to melt.
- Add in chopped chicken and cooked pasta! Cook together for about 3-5 minutes and season with salt and pepper! Turn off the heat and stir in parmesan cheese! Serve and enjoy!
Did you make this?! Please leave a comment below and let me know how you liked it!
XO, Caroline
Me and my husband loved it!