This chicken spaghetti is a creamy, cheesy comfort food that is baked until bubbly. It’s an easy casserole that comes together fast, with enough to feed a crowd.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Creamy, cheesy, and cozy with sharp cheddar flavor, tender chicken, and tomatoes that add brightness without overpowering the sauce.
- Recommended Tools: A 9×13 casserole dish and a box grater make prep quick and the sauce extra smooth.
- Prep Tip: Don’t overcook the pasta; it’ll cook more in the oven as the casserole bakes.
- Freezer Meal: This recipe makes a great freezer meal either as individual servings or a whole casserole.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: Use cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken) to make this easy. You can also use leftovers or make some shredded chicken.
- Pasta: Any pasta works, but long noodles hold the sauce best.
- Onion/Garlic: Use fresh if possible. In a pinch, swap fresh with 1 teaspoon onion powder and ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
- Rotel: Lightly drain the Rotel tomatoes to avoid a watery bake. For a milder dish, use petite diced tomatoes.
- Bell Pepper: Adds flavor and a little sweetness.
- Cream: Half and half or light cream makes the sauce creamy without being too rich. Milk can be used, but the sauce will be more watery.
- Cheese: Sharp cheddar cheese brings the best flavor. A blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack will make for extra melt.
Variations
- Add-Ins: Add sauteed mushrooms, corn, or stir in some spinach at the end.
- Heat Level: Want to tame the heat? Use plain diced tomatoes and a pinch of paprika instead of chilies.
- Topping: For an extra golden top, sprinkle it with extra Parmesan.
How to Make Chicken Spaghetti
- Cook spaghetti just to al dente and drain.
- Make the homemade sauce and mix in Parmesan and some cheddar.
- Stir in chicken, tomatoes, and spaghetti (full recipe below).
- Spread in a greased dish, top with remaining cheddar, and bake.
Store, Freeze, and Reheat Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days. It can also be frozen, before or after baking, for 4 months in airtight containers. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
To reheat, microwave with a splash of milk or broth and cover to prevent drying. It can also be reheated in the oven at 350°F, covered until hot, then uncovered briefly to refresh the cheesy top.
Favorite Pasta Casseroles
Did you enjoy this Chicken Spaghetti Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 (14 ounce) can canned diced tomatoes with chilies such as Rotel, or petite diced tomatoes, lightly drained
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup salted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ green bell pepper chopped
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half or light cream
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Cook the spaghetti al dente in a large pot of salted water according to package directions. Drain well, do not rinse.
- Meanwhile, to make the sauce, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook until tender. Stir in the flour and Italian seasoning and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually add the broth and half and half, a bit at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Bring to a boil and let boil 1 minute or until thick and bubbly.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the Parmesan cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper.
- Combine spaghetti, chicken, cream sauce, and canned tomatoes. Mix well. Spread in baking dish.
- Top with remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Video
Notes
- Pasta: Don’t overcook the pasta, it will cook more as it bakes.
- Cheese: Pre-shredded cheese works in this recipe, but shredding your own makes for a smoother sauce. Sharp cheddar adds the best flavor.
- To Make a Shortcut Sauce: Cook the vegetables (onion, garlic, bell pepper) as directed. Add ¾ pound cubed Velveeta cheese, 10 oz condensed cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup, and drained Rotel tomatoes. Stir until melted. Skip the salt and add ½ teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days and in the freezer for 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Chicken, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Made this for dinner yesterday. It was a HIT!!! Only thing I changed was instead of plain paprika I added a smidge of smoked paprika. This was so simple to prepare and a breeze to clean up. Can’t believe it was so delicious. Thank you.
This was delicious. A definite keeper. Next time I will make two and have one for the freezer.
I would love to make this recipe but my son doesn’t like tomatoes…what can I use to replace the tomatoes or can I just omit them….?
I have only made this recipe as listed but other readers have left out the tomatoes with good results. If you try making this recipe without the tomatoes I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
You mentioned cream cheese prior to the recipe but it is not listed in the recipe. How much and when is it added? Thx so much!
Hi Claire, we don’t use cream cheese in this recipe instead it gets it’s creaminess from the half and half, parmesan, and sharp cheddar cheese!
It says to preheat oven then it says to “cook” pasta, and veggies… are those cooked in the oven? Or is the pasta boiled and veggies / sauce made on the stove?
Sorry for the confusion Madison, the vegetables are cooked in a pan on the stove while the pasta is boiled.
it wasn’t clear at the end that the cream sauce you were adding to the chicken, tomatoes, and spagetti, was the cream sauce that was made via the chicken broth, cream, and cheddar/parmesean cheeses. So we added in the “cream sauce” of a can of cream of chicken and Velveeta packs per the recipe above for cream sauce to our meal which we didn’t know was already a cream sauce. So we essentially doubled the creaminess. It was very difficult to understand. We thought for sure that we were doing it right while doing it by reading everything over and over again. What made us think it was two seperate things, too, was the fact you didn’t saute garlic with the one cream sauce, just onion and red peppers, and then talked about green peppers in the actual recipe.
Thank you for your feedback, Jessica! We appreciate it.
Holly, I made this before and it is delish. I used the diced tomatoes before but would like to try with the rotel next. Do I use the 10 oz can of rotel undrained?
Yes! You can use a can or two in this recipe depending on how tomatoe-y you want it. I would drain or partially drain them to prevent the sauce from getting too runny.
We all enjoyed it! The only substitution was oat milk. Thanks for sharing!
Delicious! We had chicken spaghetti at a friend’s place down in TX last fall and I have been wanting to find a recipe for it….this one was wonderful!!! There are many out there but I wanted to try this version as it didn’t have Velveeta cheese as one of the ingredients. It’s delicious and the whole family loved it, thanks for sharing!
This was fantastic! Only tweak I did was 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper since we like a little spice. Family loved it
My husband ordered this at a family diner in Little Rock and loved it. I tried it and loved it too. I had never heard of it before so I found this recipie to make it at home since it came up a few times afterward. I followed the directions exactly- I threw in half a leftover red pepper as well. It has much more flavor than the one from the diner! I used the rotisserie pre-cooked shredded chicken from Costco to save time since it’s moist and tender. I also made the Italian seasonings from scratch as listed here in the recipe. This time the cheddar was pre shredded, but the Parmesan was off the block. I will do both cheeses off the block next time as I found the pre shredded to be a little greasy when baked though it was a top brand. Will make again and again- that’s saying a lot since I’m fussy!!!
I am so happy you found our recipe, Sarah! Enjoy ❤️
Pretty darn delicious! Had to make a few tiny tweaks based on what I had on hand. Used several baby red and orange bell peppers instead of green and added some finely diced jalapeño to the sauté since the recipe mentioned using the chili tomatoes. Used heavy cream diluted with a little water (1/2 c cream/1/4 c water). Didn’t have quite enough parm and used white cheddar and extra sharp cheddar plus didn’t measure the cheese but eyeballed it and added all to the sauce. Without the cheese on top the exposed spaghetti gets a little crispy which I like. Used plenty of salt and pepper plus garlic powder. Was worried the sauce was too thin and it’d be bland but was really happy with the outcome! I try to not tweak recipes I review but followed as close as I could!
If I wanted to make this for someone else, after I add all the ingredients to the pan, can this be frozen and reheated for them a few days later?
How long would cooking be right out of the freezer?
Hi Melissa, this casserole can be frozen before baking. Take it out the day before it’s ready to be enjoyed and thaw in the fridge overnight. Then bake as directed, it might need a couple extra minutes if the casserole dish is cold from the fridge. I hope your friend likes it!
Absolutely delicious!!! The family wanted to try something new so when I found this recipe it was perfect this will definitely be added as a favorite dish.
What do you mean by light cream? Is half and half okay? Thanks!
Yes, half and half is perfect!
Also, is the cream sauce in the actual listing of recipe? The other day I pulled it up and there was a separate link. Today there is not. Thankyou.
Hi Jeanette, the cream sauce is listed in the ingredients & directions, there is no link.
Hi. Did you use parm in shake container or did you use fresh parm fresh parm already shredded in tubs ?
We used a block of fresh Parmesan and shredded it, but you can use any Parmesan you have on hand or prefer Let us know how this recipe turns out for you!
I’m a southern boy. I’ve been looking for a recipe that tastes like that potluck from my youth. This nails it.
Hello- Where can I find the recipe for the homemade sauce? Thank you!
It is just above the comment box, you can also use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of any page!
The “jump to recipe” doesn’t work nor do the buttons to increase the recipe.
Sorry to hear you are having problems with the recipe card, Echo! If you click ‘print’, you should be able to adjust number of servings.
Very delicious! First time I’ve ever made chicken spaghetti. Really loved the roux for this recipe. I’m not a big fan of creamed soups so this is perfect. I used heavy cream but added a little more chicken broth and grated my own cheese. .