One Pot Chicken Noodle Pasta
One Pot Chicken Noodle Pasta is ready in 30 minutes, making it a perfect dish for busy weeknights. Also makes great leftovers.
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UPDATED: 3/17/2025
When my husband and I were first married, we went out to Buffalo, NY, where he sold security systems for the summer. As a new wife, I was determined to make good, balanced meals for him, ready when he came home at the end of the day.
If you know anything about summer sales, you know that the time when your day ends is varied. On average, my husband didn’t get home until at least 6 (if he was lucky) and sometimes as late as 10 (not so lucky). As much as I wanted to provide a good, hot meal for him, I realized that trying to plan a time to have dinner ready each night was a losing battle.
This dish actually started out as a casserole, but has evolved into an easy one-pot dish that takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. There are some dishes that I come back to time and again when I’m doing my meal planning and this is one of them: one pot chicken noodle pasta.
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities, full instructions and tips for success.
One Pot Chicken Noodle Pasta
- Uncooked Pasta – Larger pasta works best, such as bowtie, spiral and penne.
- Cream of Mushroom – You can use regular or low sodium.
- Cream of Chicken – You can use regular or low sodium.
- Chicken – I’ve used canned chicken and rotisserie in this recipe.
- Shredded Cheese – You can shred cheese off the block or use the pre-shredded kind in a bag.
- Milk – We use whole milk to create a creamier sauce. Lower fat milk will create a less creamy sauce.
- Onion Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Black Pepper
- Salt
Recommended Kitchen Supplies
How to Make One Pot Chicken Noodle Pasta
In a large pot, fill the pot with water and add the pasta. Cook the noodles according to the instructions. Drain and rinse the noodles in a strainer. Do not return the noodles to the pot yet.
In the same pot you used for the noodles, add the cream of chicken, cream of mushroom and 1 can of milk. Turn the heat to a medium low and stir until smooth.
Add the garlic powder, onion powder and ground pepper and mix well.
Add in the cheese 1 cup at a time and stirring until combined before adding the next cup.
Once everything is heated through, add the chicken and stir.
Then add the noodles back into the pot and stir until everything is mixed together. If you find that it’s too thick, add some milk.
Serve warm.
Tips for Success
- Use larger noodles. For this recipe, I recommend using larger noodles. My favorite pasta for this dish is bowtie, but I have also found that spiral and penne work well. Smaller noodles, such as elbow, can get mushy and don’t hold the sauce well.
- Rinse the noodles. Remember to rinse the noodles after straining. Because you are making the sauce in the same pan you cooked the noodles in, the noodles are sitting and cooling. Rinsing removes the starch and prevents sticking. If you forget to rinse, your noodles will all flop back into the pot an a big clump. This will make it hard to break them apart without breaking the noodles up and to distribute the sauce well.
- Add salt at the very end. Over the years I’ve found that different brands of cheddar cheese have different amounts of saltiness. Additionally, using canned chicken versus rotisserie, will also affect the salt content. There are also low sodium canned soups which you may choose to use. This is why I always wait until the sauce is all combined before adding any salt.
One Pot Chicken Noodle Pasta
By Shani OgdenIngredients
- 1 16-oz bag of noodles bowtie, spiral, penne
- 1 10.5-oz can cream of chicken soup
- 1 10.5-oz can cream of mushroom soup
- 2 c. diced chicken (like rotisserie) can also use 12.5-oz can canned chicken
- ¾-1 c. milk
- 3 c. shredded cheese (cheddar or colby jack)
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, fill the pot with water and add the pasta. Cook the noodles according to the instructions. Drain and rinse the noodles in a strainer. Do not return the noodles to the pot yet.
- In the same pot you used for the noodles, add the cream of chicken, cream of mushroom and 1 can of milk. Turn the heat to a medium low and stir until smooth.
- Add in the cheese 1 cup at a time and stirring until combined before adding the next cup. Add the garlic powder, onion powder and ground pepper and mix well.
- Once everything is heated through, add the chicken and stir. Then add the noodles back into the pot and stir until everything is mixed together. If you find that it's too thick, add some milk.
- Serve warm.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this ahead of time?
We typically make and serve chicken noodle pasta in the same sitting. If you need to make it earlier than you’ll be serving it, I would recommend cooking your noodles so they are closer to al dente. As the pasta and sauce sit, the noodles will absorb the sauce, softening them up.
Another option would be to make the sauce ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Then cook the noodles and reheat the sauce on the stove. You may need to add a little milk to the sauce to bring it to the right consistency.
How should I store the leftovers?
Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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Hi! I’m Shani,
A stay-at-home mom of 4 and wife. I love sharing easy to follow craft tutorials, kid activities, family-friendly recipes, organization, travel and motherhood. I hope you’ll feel uplifted and empowered by each post, regardless of what kind it is. Join me as I raise my little munchkins and share the sunshine in this beautiful, crazy thing called life! Read more...
