Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

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Chicken spaghetti casserole comfort food heaven! It combines tender chicken, a creamy, dreamy, savory homemade sauce with a hint of spice and 3 kinds of cheese.

Perfect for throwing together on a busy weeknight, the whole family will love this one! This is a great recipe to double for a crowd, and I can guarantee you no leftovers!

If creamy chicken dinners are your thing, Chicken a la King is another easy favorite to keep in the mix.

Step-by-step photos and instructions are below, but you can jump right to the recipe card if you wish!

Easy Chicken Spaghetti Recipe

This is one of my family’s favorite comfort foods. It’s super easy to make and then you throw it in the oven to bake while you clean up and pull together a few side dishes.

This is not your usual chicken pasta, folks. It’s kicked up with onions, garlic, tomatoes and green chilies and a big old pile of cheese. What’s not to love about that?

The creamy cheese sauce that is the key to the whole dish is made in the same skillet you use to cook chicken in, and it adds so much flavor to the sauce, as well as reducing the number of dishes you have to do. You’re welcome.

Other versions of cheesy chicken spaghetti use cream of chicken soup, or cream of mushroom soup, but this one has a homemade sauce that I think trumps them all! Speaking of mushrooms – if you love chicken and mushrooms together, you need to try my Chicken Mushroom Pasta, a one-pan creamy pasta dish packed with savory mushrooms.

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Why you’ll love this recipe:

Uses common ingredients, easily found at your local grocery store, or in your pantry and fridge at home.
Family friendly. Everyone will come running for this when they smell it cooking!
It’s so easy to make. Yep, we do a few steps and use quite a few ingredients, but nothing too crazy. Just read the recipe in full before beginning, and you’ll be good!

The Best Side dishes for Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

First of all, this isn’t a diet friendly recipes. So, go big or go home. Try my garlic knots, cheesy garlic bread or throw some of my 30 minute dinner rolls in the oven.

If you really must have something green, try this arugula salad or my simple garden salad on the side.

I have included step-by-step photos and instructions, as well as tips and tricks in the post. If you’d rather skip all that, scoot right on down to the full recipe card located at the bottom of the post.

chicken spaghetti on a white plate with a napkin and silverware.

Key Recipe Ingredients

Remember: this is just an overview and the why of the ingredients I choose here. The full list of ingredients and amounts is found in the printable recipe card below.

Chicken breast. I use boneless skinless chicken breasts that are already thinly sliced, but you can easily slice them up yourself. The point of it is to make them cook faster! Chicken thighs can also be used. They’ll need to be diced small after cooking, think slightly bigger than pea sized. You can use leftover chicken if you have it on hand.
Seasonings. The usual seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning. Mix these up to make them how you like.
Pasta. Although this is a spaghetti recipe, fettuccine can also be used (break it the same way). Any pasta can work, but it won’t be chicken spaghetti then, will it? You can use regular or thin spaghetti.
Butter. This forms the basis of the sauce
Flour. This forms the roux we use for the sauce.
Vegetables. Onions and garlic plus diced tomatoes and chilies. You could add some diced red, green or yellow bell peppers to this if you’d like to.
Stock. I use chicken stock, chicken broth or vegetable stock.
Heavy Cream. You can totally use half and half, whole milk or cream cheese.
Cheeses. I use a mix of mozzarella cheese sharp cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese. You can switch them out in the sauce for Velveeta cheese if you wish!

ingredients to make chicken spaghetti laid out and labeled.

How to make Chicken Spaghetti (without canned soup)

This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. The full list of ingredients, quantities and instructions can be found in the printable recipe card below.

Jump

Cook chicken

Season the chicken with seasoned salt and pepper, heat a little oil over medium-high heat in a skillet and cook chicken until golden brown and fully cooked. Chicken is fully cooked at 165°F when tested in the middle with a meat thermometer.

Remove from the heat, and cut chicken into very small pieces (slightly bigger than pea sized)

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti

Break the spaghetti in half (see notes).

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Boil water in a large pot, add salt and boil the spaghetti until al dente (that means cooked, but firm to the bite). You don’t want to overcook the spaghetti, as it will continue to cook when baked.

While the pasta cooks, make the cheese sauce and preheat the oven to 375° F

In the same skillet you used to cook the chicken, add butter and onion and cook until translucent, then add the garlic and cook 30 more seconds.

Add the butter to the skillet and add the onion.

Cook the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the flour, garlic powder, and Italian Seasoning to the skillet and stir it all in, cooking until it gets bubbly.

A frying pan with onions and garlic in it.

A frying pan with chicken and spaghetti ingredients, as well as text that reads mix all in and cook for 30 seconds until it is bubbly.

Whisk in the stock, scraping up all the browned goodness from the bottom of the skillet. If the sauce gets too thick, thin the sauce with extra stock.

Remove from the heat, and add the cream.

A person pouring cream into a pot of sauce.

Add grated sharp cheddar cheese, mozzarella and parmesan and continue whisking until smooth. Add the tomatoes and chilies. Taste and add more seasoning if needed (you shouldn’t!).

Add the mozzarella, parmesan and cheddar to the skillet.

Add the tomatoes and chiles to the creamy sauce.

Combine

Add the chicken and sauce to the cooked pasta and mix well. Use a pair of tongs to make it super easy.

Add the creamy sauce and diced chicken to the spaghetti.

Use tongs to thoroughly combine creamy spaghetti and chicken.

Bake

Pour the pasta, sauce and chicken to a large baking dish (I use a 9×13), and sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake until bubbling around the sides and golden brown on top.

A creamy chicken casserole with cheese sprinkled over the top.

A creamy chicken casserole dish with the words bake until bubbling on the edges, and brown on top.

Serve

Serve with a little parsley over the top, with some garlic bread and a garden salad if you like!

Kylee’s Notes

Chicken

Leftover rotisserie chicken can of course be used, but some really great flavor will hit your sauce if you cook fresh chicken. When we whisk in the liquids, we scrape up the brown bits from cooking the chicken for ultimate deliciousness.
Pasta

Breaking spaghetti noodles. We do this because it makes it much easier to scoop out of the casserole dish onto plate.

Break the spaghetti inside a bag so you don’t fling pasta all over your kitchen. Ask me how I know this.

Sauce

It will look like you have way too much creamy sauce than you need, but trust me! It will absorb a little as it bakes vs drying out.

How to store leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven until thoroughly warmed.

Substitutions/Additions

Chicken thighs can be used in place of chicken breasts. Just be sure to cut them into small bite size pieces so they mix well into the sauce.

Diced tomatoes with green chilies can be used (you can use Rotel tomatoes with chilies).

Chopped roasted red peppers can be added.

Bump up the heat by adding a little pinch of red pepper flakes into into the sauce (when you add the garlic powder and Italian seasoning)

Freezing instructions

Chicken spaghetti freezes exceptionally well considering that it is a cream based sauce. Cool completely, then store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use chicken thighs?

Yup! You just want to make sure you cut them into bite sized pieces before adding to the sauce.

What is chicken spaghetti?

It’s a dish with diced or shredded chicken, cream sauce and veggies with epic seasonings to round it out.

Can I make this healthier?

Well, not really. It’s very much an indulgent dish. You could try using whole wheat pasta or using low-fat cheese. However, your best bet is to add some extra vegetables in. Try bell peppers, mushrooms, or spinach. Be sure to test for flavor/seasoning before baking.

Can you make this ahead?

Absolutely. Just prep it a day in advance, and store in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge and set on the counter for 30 minutes before topping with cheese and baking.

a large casserole dish with chicken spaghetti being spooned out.

More delicious pasta recipes:

Want more Easy Pasta Recipes? Try these!

Skillet Mac & Cheese. Comfort food at its finest, this skillet mac & cheese is so easy! Just the skillet and a pasta pot, the and a quick broil, and this is ready FAST!
Florentine Chicken Lasagna Rolls Spinach, garlic, and cheese are all winners for this weeknight dinner! Delicious homemade Alfredo sauce is the key to these!
Ham Tetrazzini. A super-fast weeknight dinner, this Ham Tetrazzini is a spin on the traditional version and is sure to please the whole family.
Easy Cheesy Chicken Tomato Pasta. Quick to make, and super tasty – this recipe uses just 6 ingredients (mainly pantry staples) is yummy and kid-friendly to boot! The whole family will enjoy this one!

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About Kylee Ayotte

I am a born and raised New Zealander (a Kiwi), now living in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m happily married to the love of my life – a hot American boy I met while traveling the world. I’m a mama to 2 awesome little boys and love red things, rugby, cheesecake, and bacon. Mmmmm. Bacon. Meet Kylee