Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Square close up shot of chicken spaghetti casserole

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5 from 9 votes

This easy, cheesy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole is classic comfort food!

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken spaghetti, chicken spaghetti casserole

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 15

Servings people

Calories 528kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

16 ounces spaghetti, broken into pieces
4 cups cooked and diced or shredded chicken
½ cup diced green bell pepper
½ cup diced celery
½ cup diced onion
1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained or 1 (10 ounce) can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, NOT diluted
2 cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup finely-diced or grated Velveeta cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Cook spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package instructions for al dente (almost tender, but still with a little bite). Drain and return to the pot.
Add chicken, bell pepper, celery, onion, pimentos or Rotel, condensed soup, broth, ½ cup of the cheddar cheese and all of the Velveeta. Toss to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer spaghetti mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese over top.
Bake (uncovered) for 45 minutes, or until the casserole is hot and bubbly and the cheese is melted on top.

Video

Notes

Whole Wheat Chicken Spaghetti: Use whole wheat spaghetti noodles instead of regular noodles. Boil the whole wheat pasta until al dente, according to the package directions.
Chicken Spaghetti Recipe with Ritz Crackers: For buttery crunch on top of your casserole, add a Ritz cracker crumb topping. To make the topping, stir together 1 sleeve of coarsely crushed Ritz crackers (about 30 crackers, or 1½ cups of crumbs) with 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle the buttered crumbs over the top of the casserole before baking.
Try different types of cheese instead of the cheddar and Velveeta. Other good options include Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, Colby, Colby-Jack, Mozzarella, or Gruyere.
Swap out the cream of mushroom soup and use different flavors of condensed soup, such as cream of chicken soup or cream of celery soup.
Don't overcook the pasta. Boil the spaghetti just until it's al dente (or 1 minutes less), so that it still has a firm bite. The noodles will continue to cook in the oven, and you don't want to end up with mushy spaghetti in your casserole.
Use the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken (or two) for a shortcut. If you prefer to cook your own chicken at home, boil about 1 ¾ lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs until cooked through (about 20 minutes). When cool enough to handle, chop or pull the chicken and use in the recipe. You can use as little as 1 ½ lbs. of meat, or as much as 2 lbs. of meat to start with -- whatever you have on hand. You'll need a total of about 4 cups (more or less) shredded.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired, just before serving.
Cooking Just for Two? Divide the ingredients between two 8-inch square baking dishes. Cook one now, and freeze the other casserole for later. If you prefer just one smaller casserole, you can cut all of the ingredients in half and bake in an 8-inch square dish. You can cut the baking time back to about 30-35 minutes for the smaller casserole.

Nutrition