Cream Cheese Chicken Spaghetti Bake

Creamy, cheesy, and just spicy enough to raise an eyebrow—this Southern casserole brings the comfort with a kick, thanks to those sassy little Rotel tomatoes and chiles. It's Memaw's chicken spaghetti with attitude.

Total time for the recipe to be finished.Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

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First published November 27, 2022. Last updated April 15, 2025, for editorial improvements.

Need a way to use up leftover chicken that doesn’t feel like a chore? This creamy, cheesy, slightly spicy pasta bake is basically comfort food’s greatest hits all in one dish. It’s rich, gooey, weeknight-easy, and just fancy enough to pretend you planned dinner. Pro tip: a splash of pasta water makes the sauce cling like your aunt’s polyester pants at a humid family reunion. The hardest part? Not going back for thirds.

It can be assembled ahead of time and popped into the oven when you walk in the door.

🧾 Ingredient notes

You'll need cooked chicken breast for this casserole. I like to buy a large amount of chicken and cook it all in the slow cooker then freeze it in recipe sized portions to save time. Learn more about how to cook chicken for a casserole here.

🔪 Instructions

Recipes like this rely heavily on commercial "cream of" soups. If you don't like using the soups, feel free to make your own. This basic white sauce recipe will give you the base for a cream sauce you can use in plenty of popular recipes! You'll want to season it well to match the flavor of the soups in this recipe.

📖 Recipe

Cream Cheese Chicken Spaghetti Recipe

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Creamy, cheesy, and just spicy enough to raise an eyebrow—this Southern casserole brings the comfort with a kick, thanks to those sassy little Rotel tomatoes and chiles. It's Memaw's chicken spaghetti with attitude.

Course Main Dish - Chicken

Cuisine American - Southern

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings:8

Calories:570

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 pound uncooked spaghetti
• ▢ 3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
• ▢ 21 ounces cream of chicken soup, 2 10.5 ounce cans
• ▢ 10.5 ounces cream of mushroom soup
• ▢ 10 ounces Rotel tomatoes and green chiles
• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 cup reserved pasta water
• ▢ 1 cup Mozzarella, freshly grated
• ▢ 1-½ cups Colby Jack Cheese, divided

Instructions

• Cook spaghetti, for about 8 minutes and set aside. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• In a large pot over medium heat add the cream soups, Rotel, cream cheese, pasta water and mozzarella and 1 cup of the Colby Jack cheese. You can also microwave it if you prefer.
• Stir until smooth.
• Add garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper and mix.
• Add the spaghetti and the chopped chicken. Fold into the soup mixture evenly.
• Add this spaghetti mixture to a 9x13” lightly greased casserole dish.
• Sprinkle the remaining Colby Jack cheese over the top and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Notes

Storage:  

Once the cream cheese chicken spaghetti has cooled completely cover with cling wrap or aluminum foil and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

This recipe does freeze well. Store in a freezer safe container and freeze up to 3 months.

Tips:

• Don't skip the pasta water step! The starchy water helps the creamy sauce coat and stick to the noodles much better.
• Make your cheesy chicken spaghetti a little easier to spoon out of the casserole dish by snapping the spaghetti noodles in half before boiling them.

You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 570kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 1132mg | Potassium: 464mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 756IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 198mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

💭 Things to know

• Don't skip the pasta water step! The starchy water helps the creamy sauce coat and stick to the noodles much better.
• I like to place a bowl underneath my pasta strainer before I get started cooking. That way, in the heat of the moment, I won't forget to reserve some pasta water!
• You can boil your noodles in chicken broth to give them some more flavor. Don't forget to reserve some of the starchy chicken broth, just as you would the water.

Not in the mood for chicken but still want creamy? We love this easy ham tetrazzini casserole. It has similar textures and flavors and it's so easy to put together.

Leftover pasta? Make this easy leftover spaghetti pie.

🍽️ Serve with...

• Southern Cucumber Salad
• Soft Garlic Bread
• Kahlua Cake

I love a good, creamy chicken recipe! This million dollar chicken casserole is another one of our favorites - so rich and creamy.

Thinking of taking this to a potluck? Here are my favorite ways of keeping casseroles warm at potlucks and parties.

📚 Related recipes

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• Sometimes you just want good pasta ready when you are—this tangy, creamy, cheesy Crock Pot Chicken Spaghetti delivers just that.
• Easy prep, hardly any clean-up, and flavors to make you stop mid-sentence for another bite—One-Pot Taco Spaghetti is the ultimate comfort food!