I consider chicken spaghetti casserole a comfort food! Bigmama, my grandmother, used to make this for us when I was growing up. Later, when I had a family of my own she taught me how to make it. Since then I have changed the recipe a little…not only so its easier and less time consuming to make but to add a little spice.
First, Bigmama boiled a fresh whole chicken keeping the extra meat for other dishes (like chicken and dumplings, for example) and the broth for…well, broth…lol. Yes, cooking and taking apart an entire chicken takes a while to do but its so worth it if you have the time. Especially if you have other dishes you need chicken for and you want to make a good broth to keep for something (like my homemade chicken pot pie). BTW, I now have a good enriched chicken broth recipe where I use boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Anyway, I used to do the whole chicken thing but since I really only make this recipe when I need to cook something that doesn’t take hours…I use a rotisserie chicken now. It makes this recipe super quick and super simple! Just make sure you get a traditional rotisserie, not a flavored one like garlic or lemon pepper. You don’t want the extra flavors in there.
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So, Bigmama’s original recipe was pretty much spaghetti, chicken, cheese, milk, and cream of mushroom soup. Don’t get me wrong…it was good. But, I decided to add a can of original Rotel (tomatoes and green chilies) for a little added flavor, bread crumbs for a slightly crunchy top, and crushed red pepper for spice when serving.
SPICY SOUTHERN CHEESY CHICKEN SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti cooked
- 1 lb chicken shredded meat about 1 rotisserie chicken
- 2 T. unsalted butter
- 1 lb Velveeta cheese cut into chunks
- 1 C. milk
- 1 10 oz can original Rotel
- 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ C. panko bread crumbs
- crushed red pepper flakes for serving
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 casserole dish with crisco and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine butter, velveeta, Rotel, cream of mushroom soup, and milk in a large stockpot. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until cheese is melted and smooth.
- Add chicken, spaghetti, and salt and pepper. Toss to fully combine.
- Pour the mixture into your prepared casserole dish and level the top with your spoon. Top with shredded cheese and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.
- Remove foil and broil for 3-5 minutes until breadcrumbs are lightly browned. Keep a close eye on it at this point. The bread crumbs will burn quickly once they start to brown.
- Remove from oven and let sit for five minutes.
- Top with red pepper flakes, to taste, when you serve it.
