Name: Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 23 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups multigrain penne pasta, uncooked; 1 (10 ounce) bag fresh baby spinach leaves; 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces; 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves; 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce; 1 2/3 cups diced tomatoes, drained; 1/4 cup PHILADELPHIA Light Cream Cheese Spread; 1 cup KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided; 2 tablespoons KRAFT Grated Light Parmesan Cheese

Why it works: Pasta and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 376 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

4 servings

Prep20 min

Cook23 min

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups multigrain penne pasta, uncooked
1 (10 ounce) bag fresh baby spinach leaves
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce
1 2/3 cups diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup PHILADELPHIA Light Cream Cheese Spread
1 cup KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided
2 tablespoons KRAFT Grated Light Parmesan Cheese

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

822Calories

66 gProtein

38 gFat

53 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pasta	1 cup cooked (140g)	220
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Sauce	not in our table	0
Spread	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Pasta + spinachtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together376 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Basil + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sauce + spreadtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together45 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pasta + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together853 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Pasta + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,622 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pasta, spinach, chicken, sauce, tomato, cream cheese, spread):

Garlicfits better
Capersfits better
Cuminfits about as well
Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pasta, spinach, chicken, sauce, tomato, cream cheese, spread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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