Chicken Ziti with homemade Alfredo sauce without heavy cream

Our Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti skips the heavy cream but keeps every bit of the rich, crave-worthy flavor. Instead, it uses a lighter homemade béchamel sauce made with garlic, chicken broth, milk, and Parmesan for a perfectly creamy, saucy bite.

Tender grilled chicken and ziti are tossed in the sauce, layered with plenty of mozzarella, and baked until bubbly with a beautiful golden-brown cheesy top. It’s pure comfort food in pasta bake form — and it just might become your new family favorite.

This easy homemade Alfredo-style recipe also includes handy tips for prepping ahead and freezer storage, making it perfect for busy nights or meal planning.

Indulge in that classic Italian taste without the heaviness — your family and guests are going to love it!

Baked pasta recipes are the best — easy to assemble ahead of time and always a crowd-pleaser.

As big pasta lovers, anything Italian is a hit at our ranch! This Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti brings a taste of Italy to your kitchen with a lighter twist: a flavorful homemade béchamel sauce instead of heavy cream.

It’s creamy, cheesy, and incredibly comforting straight from the oven. Plus, it freezes beautifully for up to 3 months, making it perfect for busy nights when you want a satisfying home-cooked meal without the work.

For an even quicker version, we often swap in rotisserie chicken instead of grilled. And it’s one of our go-to recipes when we grill extra chicken breasts to use throughout the week.

Ready to make pasta night extra special? Let’s get cooking!

Homemade Alfredo Sauce Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 cloves garlic chopped, very fine
• 7 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups parmesan cheese, grated 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½  teaspoon black pepper

Equipment Needed:

• Large Skillet
• Garlic Peeler
• Garlic Chopper
• Whisk
• Pasta Pot
• 9 X 13 inch Baking Dish

Homemade Alfredo Sauce Instructions:

Traditional Alfredo sauce is made with heavy cream, but we create a lighter, easier version using a simple roux. It’s technically closer to a béchamel sauce, but it delivers all the rich, creamy flavor you love — often even more! No matter what you call it, this homemade white sauce is delicious, lighter on the waistline, and much simpler to make.

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Add the minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
• Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, to cook out the raw flour taste.
• Gradually whisk in the chicken broth until the mixture starts to thicken. Add the milk and continue whisking until the sauce is smooth and thickened.
• Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is creamy.
• Remove from heat and stir in the cooked, chopped chicken.

How to easily peel and chop fresh garlic cloves

Since this recipe calls for 12 cloves of chopped garlic, we’ve got two handy kitchen tools that make the job quick and easy:

Garlic Peeler – A simple rubber tube that looks like a manicotti noodle. Just place the garlic clove inside, roll it back and forth, and the peel slips right off, leaving the garlic intact.

Garlic Chopper – Much better than a traditional garlic press! It lets you twist and chop up to four peeled cloves at once for perfectly minced garlic in seconds. 

Chicken Ziti White Sauce Pasta Bake:

• While preparing the white sauce, cook the ziti according to package directions.
• Drain the pasta well and return it to the stockpot. Cover to keep warm.
• Pour the finished white sauce (with chicken) over the drained ziti and gently stir until evenly combined.
• Spread half of the pasta mixture into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
• Sprinkle evenly with half of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
• Layer the remaining pasta mixture on top, then sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella evenly over the surface.
• Bake uncovered at 375°F for 25 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and the top is lightly golden brown.
• Remove from the oven, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley, and serve hot.

This Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti is pure comfort food — creamy, cheesy, and full of flavor without the heaviness of traditional heavy cream. Whether you bake it fresh for dinner tonight or make it ahead and freeze for later, it’s sure to become a family favorite at your table.

We hope you give this lighter twist on classic Alfredo a try. It’s easy enough for weeknights, special enough for company, and perfect for those busy days on the ranch (or anywhere else life takes you).

Let us know in the comments how yours turned out, and if you used grilled chicken or went with the rotisserie shortcut!

Happy cooking, and enjoy every bubbly, golden bite! 🍝🧀 

Other Pasta Recipes you might enjoy:

• Hatch Green Chile and Chicken Carbonara
• Individual Manicotti
• Sweet Italian Sausage Pasta with Roasted Vegetables