Let me start by saying my husband requested that I make this recipe over my usual chicken pasta recipe that I’ve been making for 10 years!! I was appalled. But honestly I can’t even blame him. This creamy Chicken Spaghetti recipe is a pasta lover’s dream. Tender chicken breast and spaghetti pasta are coated with a luscious cream sauce, then baked to perfection with extra cheese on top! And this casserole is made with simple pantry and refrigerated ingredients. I don’t know about you but I always seem to have a box of spaghetti noodles hanging out in my cabinet. If you do need to make a quick store run, make sure you grab two of whatever item you need, because trust me you’ll want to add this one to your weekly dinner rotation!
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“It was my first time making this fabulous chicken spaghetti! My family was so pleased with the way it turned out! We will absolutely make this recipe again!”
Ashley Zimmer
What Is Chicken Spaghetti?
When you read the words “Chicken Spaghetti” I’m sure you were thinking how on earth do those two foods go together? Well friend, let me ease your mind. This is not the traditional spaghetti sauce recipe that you’re probably familiar with. Chicken spaghetti is made with a creamy, cheesy, super flavorful cream sauce that coats tender chicken and spaghetti noodles. Tangy Rotel tomatoes are also added to give it an extra pop of flavor and to balance the creaminess of the dish. The mixture is then placed in a casserole dish and baked until it’s gooey and bubbly around the sides. Great, now I’m sitting here drooling just thinking about it again!
Ingredients For Chicken Spaghetti
Whenever it’s possible I like to keep things pretty simple, so you may already have everything you need to make this chicken spaghetti recipe. Here’s a list of ingredients you’ll need:
- Chicken: I opted for two boneless skinless chicken breasts. But if your budget is tight, you can certainly use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead.
- Aromatics: Onion and garlic are sautéed in butter to give the casserole a wonderful base layer of flavor.
- Butter & Flour: Butter is used to sauté the onion and garlic. All-purpose flour then mixes with the butter to create a simple roux, which thickens the creamy sauce.
- Chicken Broth: Chicken broth combines with the roux to create a rich and thick sauce. And we always recommend using a good quality chicken broth because it adds a lot of flavor to your dish. We use Better than Bouillon to make our broth.
- Seasoning: A simple mix of Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper is all you’ll need!
- Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese: A combination of cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese adds depth of flavor to the casserole and makes it extra rich and cheesy! And yes I do recommend using both types of cheeses. We first tested this recipe using just cheddar cheese, but adding some mozzarella cheese with it really boosted the level of flavor!
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream adds even more richness to the dish and gives the sauce a wonderful creamy texture.
- Rotel: A can of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles adds a LOT of flavor to the cream sauce and makes this chicken casserole absolutely delish! So don’t skip it!
Variations to Try
When I say this recipe is delicious, I mean it! But that doesn’t mean you can’t use up what you already have on hand or try new variations. Here are a few ideas to switch things up:
- Add sliced mushrooms or diced bell peppers (sauté them with the onions and garlic first!)
- Use leftover rotisserie chicken instead of cooking the chicken breasts in a skillet.
- Sprinkle in another type of cheese like Monterey Jack or Parmesan for even more cheesy goodness!
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to up the spice level.
Recipe Tips for Success!
- I recommend cooking the spaghetti until al dente so it doesn’t become overcooked and mushy when baking in the oven!
- I used 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe. Together, they totaled about 1.5 lbs and took around 7-10 minutes to cook in a skillet. If you use larger or smaller chicken breasts, you’ll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Use the same skillet the chicken cooked in to make your cheesy sauce! And no, you don’t have to wash it first! I can’t explain how much extra flavor those brown bits on the bottom of your skillet add. The melted butter and chicken broth will deglaze the pan and incorporate all of that flavor into the sauce.
- Once you add the flour to the skillet, cook it for 2-3 minutes before moving to the next step. This cooks out the raw flour taste and creates a roux (for thickening the sauce) with the melted butter.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this chicken casserole with some crusty bread or try our Homemade Garlic Bread. It would also pair well with a simple side salad to keep dinner simple and easy. With that being said, me and my family totally enjoyed this dish by itself…no extra sides needed for us!😉
Chicken Spaghetti
Servings 6Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lb total) ($6.25)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.12)
- 1/2 Tbsp salt (for the pasta water) ($0.04)
- 8 oz spaghetti ($0.62)
- 1/4 cup salted butter ($0.52)
- 1 onion, diced ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.06)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.34)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.05)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided ($1.24)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided ($1.24)
- 1 cup heavy cream ($1.36)
- 1 10oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained (Rotel) ($1.00)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Using a sharp knife, carefully fillet each chicken breast into two thinner cutlets. Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the four chicken cutlets to the skillet and cook on each side until golden brown and cooked through (about 7-10 minutes total). Remove the chicken to a clean cutting board, and allow it to rest.
- While the chicken is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1/2 Tbsp of salt to the water then add the spaghetti pasta and boil until the pasta is tender (or al dente). Drain the pasta in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, start making the sauce. In the same skillet that the chicken was cooked in, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and minced garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and stir with the onion and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until flour starts to turn golden brown.
- Slowly pour the chicken broth into the skillet and stir to fully dissolve the flour from the bottom of the skillet. The flour will start to thicken the sauce when it returns to a simmer. Add 1/2 tsp of salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and the heavy cream to the skillet. Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.
- After the chicken breasts have rested, chop them into smaller ½ inch pieces.
- Turn the heat off the skillet and add the drained diced tomatoes with green chiles, the chopped chicken, and the cooked spaghetti to the pan. Mix until combined.
- Add the chicken spaghetti mixture to a 9×13” casserole dish. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake the casserole in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until bubbly around the edges and cheese is melted.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Chicken Spaghetti – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Using a sharp knife, carefully fillet each chicken breast into two thinner cutlets. Here is a great tutorial on How to Cut Chicken Breasts Into Cutlets by Serious Eats. Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add the four chicken cutlets to the skillet and cook on each side until golden brown and cooked through (about 7-10 minutes total). Remove the chicken to a clean cutting board, and allow it to rest.
While the chicken is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1/2 Tbsp of salt to the water, then add 8 oz. of spaghetti pasta, and boil until the pasta is tender (or al dente). Drain the pasta in a colander.
While the pasta is cooking, start making the sauce. In the same skillet that the chicken was cooked in, heat 1/4 cup salted butter over medium-high heat. Add 1 diced onion and 2 minced garlic cloves. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until onion is translucent.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour into the skillet and stir with the onion and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until flour starts to turn golden brown. Slowly pour 2 cups of chicken broth into the skillet and stir to fully dissolve the flour from the bottom of the skillet. The flour will start to thicken the sauce when it returns to a simmer.
Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1 cup of heavy cream to the skillet. Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.
Now chop the cooked chicken breasts into smaller ½ inch pieces.
Turn the heat off the skillet and add 1 can of drained diced tomatoes with green chiles, the chopped chicken, and the cooked spaghetti to the pan. Mix until combined.
Add the chicken spaghetti mixture to a 9×13” casserole dish. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Bake the casserole in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until bubbly around the edges and the cheese is melted on top.
This Chicken Spaghetti casserole is so creamy and delicious, it’ll soon become one of your favorite recipes! Enjoy!
In the oven right now. I’m not organized or efficient but I cook to relieve stress and this was a great recipe for me. I doubled it and the only thing I would change was my own error in using Better Than Bouillon rather than a low sodium broth. I have a salt tooth and it was a pinch much even for me.
Will definitely be making this again.
Omg you talking about good, my son and I could not stop eating it. We give it a ten all the way.
Haha! Thank you for sharing your feedback. So glad you both enjoyed the recipe :)
This recipe was easy to follow and delicious! Thank you for sharing Marsha!
OMG GOOOOD! The best spaghetti I’ve ever had.
This recipe is gorgeous! So delicious.
I was able to use an entire pound of spaghetti and there was plenty of sauce to spare.
The Rotel adds just the right amount of acidicness and heat. Perfection.
It was my first time making this fabulous chicken spaghetti! My family was so pleased with the way it turned out! We will absolutely make this recipe again!
Looks simply yummy!
I am 12 and was the chef one night and came upon this recipe. I was so nervous when it came testing time but fortunately this recipe was so delicious. My family loved it and we had an lovely amount of delightful food.
Always kind of difficult the first time following a recipe. Now I could make it way quicker! My mom and husband use their own recipes for chicken spaghetti so it was my turn this time! I did everything exact except the full onion. I did about half an onion. But we finished the whole pan! My mom asked me to send this to her to make for a big event tomorrow. So 10/10, this was everyone’s favorite recipe!!
That’s awesome Nina! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the recipe :)
The homemade sauce is delicious! My husband loves it
Simplemente se ve deliciosa! mil gracias Marsha y saludos muy respetuosos para todos
I was really craving chicken spaghetti and I’m glad I came upon this recipe. This will now be a staple in my home. Thank you!!! I love mushrooms, so I added that with the onions & garlic!!!
I had been meaning to make this recipe since I saw it from one of your e-blasts. I made it last night and boy is it delicious! It took a bit longer than expected, but it’s such a unique combination of flavors, something not entirely unlike mac and cheese or alfredo. It was delicious, the whole pan was almost gone between the three adults who live in my house. I really enjoyed it. The only substitution I made was to use chicken thighs, and chop them into small pieces before pan frying it. Otherwise, 10/10, will cook again.
Can I use regular milk instead of heavy cream?
You could, the sauce would just be a bit thinner and less rich. If you happen to have cream cheese you could also throw in a knob to add a bit more creaminess.
Made this with a rotini pasta instead of the spaghetti noodles. Added some green bell pepper while sautéing the onions. Delicious dish as is or with creativity of your own!
I hadn’t heard of chicken spaghetti until we moved to Texas (from Alaska) about 13 years ago. Since then my wife has ordered it in a restaurant a couple of times–but I never tried it. Recently she asked me to make it (I’m principal cook in our home) and this is the recipe I used. My wife and brother-in-law, both fans of the dish, raved and I, myself, found it delicious. Highly recommend this recipe, it is excellent!
Very good, the sauce is wonderful! I only had about a lb of diced rotisserie chicken breast on hand, so bulked it up with some thawed, drained chopped frozen spinach, and put a bit of parmesan on the top as well. Would never have thought to put Rotel in this sort of dish but it really elevates it. It will definitely go in regular rotation here. I was thinking mushrooms and peas would be good in place of the spinach, but not sure if that would fight with the Rotel.
I brought this for a meal train to a friend who had a baby and they said it was the best thing they had brought over in the entire meal train. We knew it was delicious at our house and that reiterated our belief. So good so easy and really good.
If I wanted to make this without cooking it in the oven, what changes would you suggest? Just trying to limit the number of pots and pans needed, thanks!
If you have a large, oven-safe skillet that would be your best bet and then you can still do the baking step! If not, you should be able to to just make as directed in a large enough skillet, top with the cheeses, turn the heat way down so the bottom doesn’t burn, and then pop a lid on it to melt the cheeses. Good luck!
Delicious! I did add several shakes of red pepper flakes – yum
So insanely delicious!!!! We will be making this again and again!!
Delicious! Easy recipe, packed with flavor! Everyone enjoyed. I sautéed green pepper with the onion and garlic.
Easy, thrifty and delicious.
I loved it and the toddler ate it too! Thanks for making it from scratch. I doubled the pasta because it was a bit too saucy for me (also I used a whole ball of mozzarella).
Great , I loved it
It was one of the best!
This recipe is going on the rotation
Used up the last of the rotisserie chicken I had and it was delicious
Thank you for posting this
I used leftover rotisserie chicken and half-n-half instead of heavy cream. Delicious and came together pretty quickly. Served with roasted broccoli on the side. This got thumbs up from the entire family and will probably be something my college kid requests me to bring when I visit.
I love this stuff. It’s the kind of classic homey flavor I love. I even screwed up the first time I made it and left out the heavy cream and added all the cheese at once, and it was still delicious. Big hit in our house.
This recipe is so easy and SO good. My husband is a picky eater and is not a casserole man. But he LOVED this recipe!!!
So happy with how this turned out for me! Made it this evening and the whole family enjoyed it. I added a bit more chicken and seasoned it to my liking and actually cooked it in the crockpot while I was at work. That way my chicken was done and I just had to do the rest of the steps in the recipe. I used the Mexican rotel it’s just what I had on hand. I will definitely be making this again!
It completely slipped my mind to add the cream. I thought I had ruined the dish but continued to bake it anyway. It still came out amazing! Cheesy and tasty. I used fire roasted rotel, which I think added a nice kick. It reminded me of the turkey tetrazzini that my school cafeteria used to serve when I was a kid. Now I’m feeling all nostalgic. This will be a repeat recipe for me for sure!
I found your web-site by looking for something simple that I could reheat for a couple of meals. I made this on 1/14/24 and again today 2/10/24. My husband and I love this dish it is flavorful, hearty and we love the seasonings. I did add Crushed Red Pepper and a great deal more of Italian Seasoning because I don’t cook with very much salt. Being older salt affects our blood pressure so we add seasoning to compensate for lack of salt. It works for us. This is a great recipe and I applaud you for sharing it. Many thanks Barbara M
I’ve made this twice now and it was delicious both times. As with many tomato dishes, it’s even better the next day. Creamy with the slightest hint of bite, this version has replaced my old recipe that used cream cheese. Thanks for a winner!
Chicken spaghetti sounds amazing. Can’t wait to try. Can it be made ahead of time and/ frozen once cooked?
You should be able to freeze just fine. Keep in mind that it’s a creamy sauce so it may separate a little when you reheat it.
This was a delicious comfort meal!
Made this recipe and my family and I loved it! Only substitution I made was chicken thighs instead of breast and using freshly diced tomatoes instead of the Rotel.
Definitely adding it to the rotation and my son requested it for dinner tonight!
This was just OK as written. I think it was missing a texture/flavor contrast. I added shredded sauteed brussel sprouts to leftovers for lunch the next day and liked it much better. If I decide to make this again, I’ll add veggies up front.
Also, tip to cut down on dishes: instead of using a pot AND a skillet AND a casserole dish, I made everything in an oven-safe braiser. Boiled the pasta, rinsed out the pan, then continued on with the chicken and building the sauce. Mixed the noodles back in and topped with cheese, and the whole thing went in the oven without having to transfer boiling food from one dish to another.
Followed the recipe and it turned out amazing!! Yummmmmy! Definitely adding this into the dinner rotation.
forgot to add all the stars!
FYI: you can use a dutch oven to make this a one-pot recipe! i cooked the pasta first, rinsed the dutch oven with cold water to cool it off, then proceeded with the rest of the recipe as follows. instead of using the 9×13, i mixed everything back in the dutch oven, sprinkled cheese on top, then placed it in the oven for 10 minutes. same results, less dishes to wash, just as delicious! (two thumbs up from everyone in the family– my husband went back for thirds after telling me that he didn’t need to eat anymore.)
We really liked this! Overall easy to make too. We swapped the chicken for mild ground italian sausage and doubled the noodles (used linguine) to have it be more of a “bake” consistency and it was excellent!
Creamy, flavorful delicousnesses. We live in a smaller town in Norway and don’t have canned green chilis or Rotel tomatoes so I used a jar of salsa, which contained green chilis, and it tasted good! Thanks for the recipe!
This has no business being this good! I was in a lazy mood when I made it and it seemed like a lot of work to chop the onion and garlic, shred the cheese, and cook the chicken. I wasn’t sure the payoff would be worth it, but the end result was delicious and has me wanting to do it again!
Excellent recipe…so delicious! This is a Keeper & I will be returning to this one quite a bit!!! Thank you so much!
A bland and oily mess of cheese. Adding a bit of Italian herbs to what essentially creates queso (cheese + Rotel) is an odd combination and not enough spice to make this actually flavorful and worth making (all that cheese is not cheap). The baking step is also pointless here, only serving to melt even more cheese on an already cheesy pasta. No thanks.
My wife (a skeptic) and I really liked the meal. Its more of a Queso Chicken Casserole. Next time I think I would double the noodles and maybe use something like egg noodle or bowties instead.
Recipe is easy to follow. Delicious and filling. We will be making it again!
This recipe was shockingly good! I couldn’t believe how delicious it turned out. Absolutely will make again, and am already planning a second batch to bring to my family.
Has anyone tried making this recipe with gluten-free pasta? This sounds delicious, but I’m wondering if the pasta would to be undercooked when boiling to avoid it becoming mush in the oven.
Just made this with Jovial GF brand (only had farfalle on hand, but will try spaghetti next time) and it turned out very well. Used the entire 12oz box of farfalle. Also used Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 baking flour as substitute for AP flour. I can find both Jovial and Bob’s at Wal-Mart. Followed everything else exactly in recipe and it turned out delicious! Will definitely be making this again. Hope this helps!
I made this recipe last night, and it will go into my regular rotation. My husband and I are retired seniors living on a fixed income and therefore we make do with what we have on hand. I thought the recipe was very forgiving. I cut back on the chicken, using two small chicken breasts and dicing them into 1/2-inch pieces. I also did not have heavy cream, and so I used sour cream. I put the leftover 2/3 of the casserole into the freezer. It made a wonderful dinner.
Just made this tonight for my mom and sister exactly as written except I souped up the chicken a litte. So delicious! So easy. So worth the messy dishes.
Seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and Sazon!! So incredible in the pasta dish.
What can you sub for the Rotel? We don’t like chilis :(
I would do plain diced tomatoes. :)
Any suggestions for Italian Seasoning. I don’t have that but I have a pretty well stocked spice rack
Here’s a quick recipe so you can make your own. :) https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/italian-seasoning-recipe/
Oh I bet this would work really well with leftover rotisserie chicken!
Is there a possible way to substitute the chicken with frozen uncooked shrimp?
Shrimp can overcook pretty quickly, so we’d need to test this to figure out the best way to go about it before offering a suggestion. :)
Tried it last night with chicken. Delicious!
Can this be frozen?
We haven’t tested freezing this one, but dishes with creamy sauces like this don’t often freeze well.
I just defrosted mine and it worked perfectly :) Froze in single servings and reheated in microwave, sauce didn’t split. I’d give it a shot!
I renamed it Queso Spaghetti and my picky kid not only ate it but declared it her second favorite food ever.
It’s picky husband approved too.
What can be used in place of the flour? We are gluten free and I will use gluten free spaghetti but not sure if I can forego the flour.
Flour helps thicken the sauce, so it’s fairly important. There are other thickeners, like cornstarch, but they’d need to be added to the sauce in a different way than the flour and the will produce a slightly different texture in the sauce. Unfortunately, we’d really need to test them in the recipe before saying for sure how it would turn out.
We’re gluten free too, and I plan to try this recipe using Barilla gluten free spaghetti (in my experience, that brand works best as a sub for regular pasta in recipes), skipping the flour, and adding a corn starch slurry (1-2 Tbs corn starch mixed with about 1/4 cup water) right *after* adding the chicken broth. Corn starch doesn’t add the same flavor that a roux does, but it usually works ok enough, but it’s even more important to use a really high quality broth if you’re skipping the roux. I’ll try and remember to post back here after we try this.
Arrowroot powder can be substituted for flour and makes a nicer thickener.
You had me at RoTel! Really delicious–halved the recipe, which means that the proportions weren’t quite right, but that rarely makes a lot of difference in casseroles. We watch the carbs due to DH’s diabetes, so I made this with shirataki spaghetti type noodles (which need no precooking), and, of course, a whole can of drained original flavor RoTel. I do think that next time, I’ll measure the liquid from the can and reduce the broth by that amount so I can use the tomato liquid.
Kudos to your husband, Marsha, and thanks for sharing this yummy casserole.
Made this last night and it was so good! I packed the leftovers for lunch today and I’m counting down until I get to eat it. Thank you for a great recipe that I’m adding to our rotation :)
Do you think this would freeze well or do you think the sauce will separate?
It’s a tough call. Often times, flour-thickened sauces will separate, BUT the heavy cream in this one might keep it stable enough.
Is this the same recipe they use at Chickolini’s ?
I’m not familiar with Chickolinis, so I can’t say how similar it is to theirs, unfortunately!
I used to be a real POS too.
We were so confused about this exchange but then we Googled it. 😅