Creamy Italian Chicken

Now that it's gotten a lot colder, I am definitely craving more comfort foods, especially on those blustery, rainy, gloomy days. Creamy Italian Chicken came about from something I found on Pinterest for a Crock-Pot. During the week, I simply do not have time for my Crock-Pot, so I took this recipe and decided to wing it and bake it in the oven instead. It turned out to be just what I have been craving - a delicious comfort food.

Creamy Italian Chicken

You will need:
3 chicken breasts (thawed)
2 cups Gluten Free Cream Soup with chicken flavor (or other GF cream of chicken soup)
1 (8oz) package Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 tablespoon Homemade Italian Dressing Mix
1/4 cup bacon bits, optional
1 (8oz) package Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Brown Rice Penne

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

1) Prepare the Gluten Free Cream Soup according to directions and add chicken flavoring (doubling the recipe works just fine).

2) Once soup is thick, remove from heat and stir in cream cheese and mix well. Stir in the Italian dressing mix and bacon bits.

3) Place chicken breasts in the greased baking dish. 
Note: I usually cut my chicken breasts in half horizontally for two smaller sized breast halves (meaning you would have 6 halves total for this recipe instead of three whole breasts).

4) Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the chicken.

5) Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is done through.

6) Meanwhile, cook gluten free pasta according to package directions.

7) Serve the chicken and sauce over pasta.