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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
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 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