This Baked Chicken Tetrazzini is classic comfort food at its best. This recipe is sure to be a family favorite dinner at your house!
Have you had chicken tetrazzini before? Put simply, it’s chicken and mushrooms with pasta in a cheesy, creamy sauce. Basically, it’s all my favorite things in one delicious pan.
One of my goals for 2017 is to get my kids to eat more grownup food. I’m not talking about caviar here. I’m talking about eating whatever I make for Matt and I for dinner instead of mac and cheese and quesadillas seven nights a week. I figured a good place to start would be this creamy, wonderful Chicken Tetrazzini.
You might look at that and see pasta and chicken baked into a creamy sauce. My kids see mushrooms and general unfamiliarity. I made this dish early in the day for photos and gave them a few hours of notice that they would be eating a new kind of pasta in it. “It’s basically like mac and cheese with chicken in it,” I said. “There are mushrooms, but you can pick them out if you want.” They were surprisingly on board.
You know what? They ate it! Liked it even! My 10-year-old made his own resolution to stop being such a picky eater this year, so he ate the mushrooms on purpose and congratulated himself on being so refined and adventurous. My little one did pick out the mushrooms, I think just on principle, but he ate the rest. That is a major success in my book.
When researching chicken tetrazzini recipes, I read that mushrooms, wine, and parmesan cheese were three standard ingredients. I happened to have some unused white wine in my kitchen, so I included it in the recipe. You don’t have to use the wine in this recipe if you would prefer to skip it. You could substitute chicken broth, but I wouldn’t use cooking wine because it might make your finished dish too salty.
You should definitely feel OK making this recipe your own. If you don’t like mushrooms or want to add broccoli or only have provolone instead of swiss cheese, GO FOR IT! As long as you have the pasta, chicken, and sauce, you can adjust the other elements to your taste.
Before I get to the recipe, let’s talk leftovers for a minute. We all ate this leftover since I made it ahead, so I have some experience. (I’m actually eating the rest for lunch as I write this.) It definitely tastes perfectly great reheated, but the sauce does dry out a bit after it has been refrigerated. To combat this, just sprinkle a teaspoon or two of water over the top before popping it into the microwave. Then, stir it all up, and the water will help bring the sauce back to life. Enjoy!
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Best Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
This Baked Chicken Tetrazzini is classic comfort food at its best. This recipe is sure to be a family favorite dinner at your house!
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 8 ounces linguine or spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
- 8 ounces white mushrooms sliced or chopped
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt or to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup white wine (ok to substitute chicken broth)
- 10–12 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup (see note below)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 ounces swiss cheese (I use sliced cheese and chop into small pieces.)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Break noodles into thirds, and cook the minimum recommended cooking time on the package. Drain.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Meanwhile, heat butter in a deep 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Sprinkle seasoned salt and pepper over the contents of the skillet. Stir and cook about 5 minutes until the bell pepper is getting tender and chicken is mostly cooked.
- Pour in wine, and continue to simmer 3-5 minutes longer. Stir in soup and milk, and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in parmesan and swiss cheese until melted. Sauce will still be somewhat thin at this point, and that’s OK. Stir in cooked pasta until coated in sauce.
- Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. (I used an 11 x 7″ baking dish.) Transfer pasta mixture to the dish, and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
I like to use Pacific condensed soups because they are all natural and gluten free. If you use a different brand, look for a reduced-sodium version or reduce the amount of seasoned salt in the recipe.
These are my favorite tools for this recipe: (affiliate links)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 45
Want more baked chicken and pasta casseroles? You’ll love these too!
Sandy says
Fresh grated parmesan or from the can? Totally different consistencies! Thanks!
Heidi says
Would substituting cream of chicken with cream of mushroom make a huge difference in balance of flavors?
Andi Gleeson says
No, that would work great!
Joan says
Can’t wait to try this tonight. Thanks!
christine says
I just made this and it is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you, delish.
Jeffrey says
I’m wondering exactly what brand and type of white wine do I use (never cooked with wine before).I’m trying to eat all things that aren’t fried . Grew up eating this, but never thought to try and make it myself. Also if I do substitute the wine with chicken broth can I use a couple chicken bouillon cubes (I find most chicken broth lacks flavor)
Andi Gleeson says
Hi, Jeffrey! Sorry for the delayed response. You can use any white wine that’s not too sweet. Avoid moscato or riesling for this recipe since those are sweet, but chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon blanc would all be fine. If you add chicken bouillon, it might make the dish too salty. If you have a low sodium version, that would be OK, or you could just add a sprinkle of garlic and onion powders if you want more flavor without added salt.
Annie says
One of my favorite meals! Love your recipe for it!
Andi Gleeson says
Thank you so much, Annie!!