There are a few foods that have the ability to make you feel like a kid again - pure joy in each bite without worrying about carbs, calories, or salt intake. This cheesy southern classic is one of them - at least for me.
Gooey cheese, tender pasta, juicy chicken, and plenty of tomatoes and chiles for flavor. This is an easy family favorite that's right up there with King Ranch Chicken Casserole!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
How does dinner in 30 minutes sound?
There are times when you want to make every darned thing from scratch - but then there are times when a can of soup is a blessing from heaven. This simple recipe uses cream of chicken soup and a frozen onion and Bell pepper mix to save time.
The Rotel tomatoes give it a spicy kick!
🧾 Ingredients
- If you like it spicy hot use the hot Ro*Tel version instead of the classic.
- Chicken thighs work really well.
- If you don't have cream of chicken soup you can use cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup, or cream of asparagus soup - they all work well. Or, make a homemade white sauce.
- You can use fresh onions and peppers instead of the frozen ones - just use about ½ cup each and dice them. Be sure to saute before adding to the casserole.
Make it stretch
You can easily make this dish a bit more budget friendly -
- Use more pasta and less chicken
- Use pinto beans with the chicken
- Use pinto beans (or other beans) instead of chicken
- Add broccoli or cauliflower
- Cut back on the cheese
- Use milk instead of cream
🔪 Instructions
Try it once and my easy chicken spaghetti recipe will be on your dinner rotation a lot!
- Break the uncooked spaghetti noodles into 2 inch pieces.
- Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot and cook the pasta.
- Meanwhile mix the cream of chicken, the RoTel, and cream cheese in a microwave safe large bowl. Microwave, stirring often, until it's all melted together.
- Stir in the cheese to make a smooth sauce.
- Shred the cooked chicken and set aside.
- Add enough cream to the sauce to make it spoonable but not too thin.
- Stir in the chicken.
- Pour over the spaghetti and stir well.
- Spoon into an oiled casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: Cook your chicken by simmering it in chicken stock to cover. When it's cooked through (165F) remove it and bring the stock back to a boil. Add the spaghetti to the chicken stock with enough water to cover. This gives your casserole even more flavor!
My chicken spaghetti casserole is a little different from the bland recipes you often see. The tomatoes and chiles add a sharp, mildly spicy flavor that cuts the richness of the cheese and creamy sauce and balances it out nicely.
- You can assemble this up to 3 days ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge until you're ready to bake it.
- Chicken spaghetti freezes well for up to 3 months.
- Put plastic wrap, parchment paper, or waxed paper over the top before sealing with aluminum foil or the acids from the tomatoes will react with the aluminum and it will taste awful.
- Break the spaghetti up in 2 to 3 inch pieces before cooking - it's traditional!
- Cook the pasta just until done. It will cook more (and soak up more flavor) as it bakes.
- Save time by using leftover rotisserie chicken from the store. You've gotta love planned leftovers!
- You can skip the baking and just mix it all up in a skillet if you like.
📖 Variations
Chicken spaghetti with the RoTel in it is my favorite but this is a versatile dish with lots of potential variations!
- Turkey, ham, and cooked ground beef are ALL good in this versatile dinner recipe.
- Stir in pimento.
- Saute some Bell peppers with the onions.
- Top with breadcrumbs, crushed tortilla chips, or potato chips.
- If you want to use a slow cooker you can. I'll add those instructions in the recipe below.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
Yes! You can put it all together in your casserole dish then put plastic wrap, parchment, or waxed paper over the top before sealing with aluminum foil (or the acids from the tomatoes will react with the aluminum and it will taste awful).
Freeze it for up to 3 months. The night before you want to serve it you'll put it in the refrigerator to thaw, then bake as directed in the recipe.
You really only need a salad but these easy drop biscuits are nice, too. If you'd like a hot vegetable then I'd go with green beans.
🍽 Equipment
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I don't know what I ever did without it. Bonus? My car doesn't smell like casserole gravy anymore. Booyah!
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🍲 Southern casserole culture
Homemade chicken spaghetti with the tangy flavor of RoTel is one of my favorites. It's creamy, rich, gooey, and cheesy - everything comfort food should be.
This wasn't one of those things that my mom made, though. This is a recipe that came from one of my neighbors when my kids were growing up -- I guess she took pity on me and my nightly dinners for 10 people or more.
She brought a foil covered pan of this comforting casserole to my door one afternoon when I was SO exhausted, SO ready to quit, and SO full of "woe is me" that I was ready to bust.
It changed my entire day.
It's that simple. One dish, one knock at the door at the right time, and someone suddenly has the energy to go on with life. Someone feels cared about.
Isn't that what makes life worth living?
I think so!
This slow cooker chicken and stuffing or Chicken Frito Pie casserole are also great recipes for bringing to someone!
Other possibilities?
- Taco Spaghetti is creamy good and all done in one pot.
- Million Dollar Spaghetti is something like lasagna only so much easier!
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake is just so deliciously family friendly!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti with RoTel
Print Add to Collection Pin RecipeEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds Chicken breast, or more if desired - boneless, cooked and shredded
- 16 ounces Spaghetti, broken in 2-inch pieces
- 29 ounces Cream of chicken soup, 2 14.5-ounce cans condensed
- 10 ounces diced tomatoes & green chilies
- 6 ounces Cream cheese
- 3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided use
- ¼ cup Heavy cream, you can use milk if you prefer
- 1 cup Peppers and onions, from the freezer section
Instructions
- Cook the chicken breast, dice or shred it, and set aside.
- If using fresh onions and peppers saute them until soft.
- Break the spaghetti into 2-inch pieces and cook until tender in boiling, salted water.
- Drain and set aside.
- Mix the soup, RoTel, and cream cheese in a microwave safe dish.
- Heat, stirring every minute, until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Stir in 2 cups of the cheese.
- Stir until smooth. You may need to add some milk or cream to thin it down if it seems to thick.
- Stir the chicken into the cheese mixture.
- Stir the pasta, onions and peppers into the chicken and cheese mixture.
- Spoon into a greased casserole dish.
- Top with remaining 1 cup cheese.
- You may stop here, cover with plastic wrap then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Bake at 350F 20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese has melted.
Slow Cooker
- You can leave the chicken breast raw for this version.
- Add all of the ingredients except the spaghetti to a slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 6 hours.
- Shred the chicken and add back to the slow cooker.
- Cook the pasta, drain, and add it to the chicken mixture in the slow cooker.
- Cook for another 30 minutes.
Notes
- You can assemble this up to 3 days ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge until you're ready to bake it.
- This casserole freezes well for up to 3 months.
- Put plastic wrap, parchment, or waxes paper over the top before sealing with aluminum foil or the acids from the tomatoes will react with the aluminum and it will taste awful.
- Break the spaghetti up in 2 to 3 inch pieces before cooking - it's traditional!
- Cook the pasta just until done. It will cook more (and soak up more flavor) as it baked.
- You can skip the baking and just mix it all up in a skillet if you like.
- Turkey, ham, and cooked ground beef are ALL good in this versatile dinner recipe.
- Stir in pimento.
- Saute some Bell peppers with the onions.
- Top with breadcrumbs, crushed tortilla chips, or potato chips.
Nutrition Facts
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Pat Sever
It makes way more than a 9 x 13 pan. I had to use 2 pans.
Marye
The pan it's shown in in the images is a 9x13 inch pan. I know - I made it and took the picture myself and I don't have any pans bigger than 9x13.
Elizabeth Hanks
I'm the same way. I was glad to find a recipe without it !!! Great recipe ❤️💚
Barbara
Can you use Alfred sauce instead of the cream cheese sauce
Marye
I've never tried - the flavor would be a bit different.
Lynn Heron
I've been making Chicken Spaghetti for years but this really took it up a notch. Will be using this recipe from now on!
Elizabeth
I love chicken spaghetti! Your version is a little different than mine (mine uses Ro-tel and Velveeta, cream of mushroom soup and chicken bouillon powder); I'm looking forward to trying your version! I always have cream cheese and cheddar, colby or longhorn cheese in my fridge...Velveeta is usually a special purchase only when needed for a particular recipe.
Thanks for all your hard work, from a fellow Texan!
Marye
Elizabeth, let me know how you like it. I just really like staying away from Velveeta when I can.