This Cheesy Chicken Bacon & Kale Pasta Bake is pure comfort food.
Grown up mac and cheese filled with chicken, kale, bacon, and sun dried tomatoes makes a complete meal!
Guess what I got to do? Another Chopped at Home challenge! Remember a few months ago I made a Cheesy Chicken Pasta Skillet? Well, I get to play again. This time my “basket” had Sargento® Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar, kale, oyster crackers, and bacon.
I told my cousin/bestie my ingredient list and she immediately said “ew”. She’s a terribly picky eater so that was to be expected, but I know she’d like this end result. I was excited to come up with something with these ingredients especially since I’ve never cooked kale. Honestly, I don’t know that I’ve ever even eaten kale. What kind of terrible foodie am I? Kale has been the new hotness the last couple years and I haven’t tried it. For some reason I expected it to be bitter but it’s not. It’s delicious, especially when you cover it in a 4 cheese blend.
I really felt like I was on Chopped. I had plans to make this over the weekend but my (super helpful) husband took my chicken and put it in the freezer. So that meant I had to make it after work, before Julia’s bedtime, and before I ran out of daylight to take its pics. I was playing beat the clock, plus it was about 85 degrees out and super humid. I was running around the kitchen, had three pots going, trying to entertain the baby, while sweating. True Chopped fashion – I got the full experience.
If you want to omit the chicken, feel free, it will be just as good as a side dish. It’s cheesy, creamy, and full of flavor with the blend of four cheddars and sun dried tomatoes. Sharp Wisconsin Cheddar, Sharp Vermont Cheddar, Sharp New York Cheddar and Mild California Cheddar cheeses come together to please the biggest cheese lovers.
Available in 30 versatile varieties, unique blends and distinct cuts, Sargento Shredded Cheese is always cut from blocks of 100% real, natural cheese. For more inspiration, check out the Sargento Pinterest page Pinterest.com/sargentocheese/ or visit Sargento.com for more information. The Chopped at Home Challenge gives viewers a chance to create their best recipe using the selected basket ingredients, including Sargento Shredded Cheese, for a chance to win $10,000!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sargento. The opinions and text are all mine.