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!
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!
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) ($4.70)
- 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!
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!