Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole is a family favorite with tender chicken, sweet onions, red bell peppers, chicken, rotel tomatoes and green chilies in a creamy lightly seasoned cheddar Parmesan cheese sauce. The ultimate comfort food made without cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup. For ease in preparation use already roasted rotisserie chicken which is available in the big warehouse stores and most local grocery stores. I love to serve this dish with a fresh garden salad and garlic knots. 

Chicken spaghetti is comfort food at its best.  This casserole is easy enough to fix on a weeknight meal yet tasty enough for company. It can be prepped up to 2 days in advance and stored covered in the fridge. For best results remove from the fridge and warm to room temperature 30 minutes prior to baking.  You and your family are going to love this easy cheesy dish.

How do you make Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti?

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the spaghetti according to box instructions and drain well.  Now melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Next add the onions and the red pepper.  Cook for several minutes to soften.  Next reduce the heat to medium low, then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.  Now sprinkle in the flour and cook for several minutes stirring very frequently.

Slowly add the chicken broth and milk stirring constantly.  Drain the canned tomatoes and green chilies and stir them in.  Then continue cooking until slightly thickened.  Next slowly add the shredded cheddar and Parmesan Cheese stirring until fully melted.  Finally add the ground cayenne pepper and cooked chicken.  Heat through for a couple of minutes stirring frequently. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Now add the cooked drained spaghetti to a casserole dish.  Next pour the chicken cheese mixture over the spaghetti.  Then top with remaining shredded cheddar cheese and bake until the cheese is melted and the casserole is heated through,

Recipe notes and helpful tips

• You can use any kind of small to medium size pasta noodles like penne, farfalle, elbows, thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.  Whatever pasta you go with cook it slightly al dente as you will also be baking it.
• Green or orange bell pepper can be substituted for the red bell pepper.
• I like to use seasoned roasted rotisserie chicken but you can use baked, poached or even grilled chicken.
• This dish also works well with cooked turkey or ham.
• You can make this casserole dish up to 2 days in advance. Cover and store in the refrigerator. Be sure to cook the pasta al dente.  Reserve the shredded cheddar on the top until you bake it. Remove casserole 30 minutes prior to baking.  Stir in 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth or milk, top with reserved cheddar and bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is heated through.
• The ground cayenne pepper adds just a tiny touch of heat and flavor.  If you love the heat add a little more than the recipe calls for.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This dish reheats remarkably well in the microwave on a reduced power.
• This makes a great freezer meal.  Prep but don’t bake the recipe and then wrap with 2 layers of plastic wrap and one layer of aluminum foil.  Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the fridge 40 minutes prior to baking to come to room temperature. Remove the aluminum foil and the plastic wrap and bake according to the instructions. 

How do you make casseroles without condensed soup?

I am not a huge fan of condensed soups. In fact I think most of them are flavorless.  You can easily make your own by creating a roux. A roux is made when an equal amount of flour and fat (I always use butter) are cooked together over low heat until a desired level of brownness.  For casseroles I usually only cook the flour until it is a light brown.

For casseroles that have vegetables that need some sauteing you can melt the butter and add onions, peppers, celery, etc and cook the vegetables for a little bit.  Then sprinkle the vegetables with flour and cook for several more minutes.  Then simply add beef broth, chicken broth, vegetable broth, milk or half and half depending on what your end game is.  You can add seasonings for flavor and shredded cheese that melts well like cheddar, Parmesan, Gouda, Fontina or Gruyere if it is a cheesy casserole.  This is an easy solution for making casseroles without canned soup. So avoid the canned soup blahs and preservatives and make your own.

More rotisserie chicken recipes to try!

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