Old Fashioned Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe

This Cheesy Old Fashioned Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe is life, let me tell you! It's rich and creamy, easy to make, and the sauce is absolutely fabulous! This recipe is easy enough for a weeknight meal yet fancy enough for company.

Next time try Chicken Spaghetti - it's another creamy, cheesy chicken casserole!

Jump to:

• Why you'll love this recipe   
• Ingredients
• Instructions 
• Equipment
• FAQ's
• Tips
• Variations
• Things to know
• Storage
• Related recipes
• Serve with
• Old Fashioned Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
•  

Why you'll love this recipe   

This pasta bake is classic comfort food and an easy recipe the whole family will love! You can make it ahead and reheat the casserole. It's freezer friendly as well. You won't find a better sauce, it's has the BEST flavor!

When you have holiday leftovers or a rotisserie chicken, Turkey Tetrazzini is the perfect way to repurpose leftovers. Creamy pasta that is rich and delicious.

What I especially love about this recipe is is that is doesn't use cream of mushroom soup or sour cream - believe me, I'm all about the shortcuts. BUT this comforting chicken casserole recipe is worth the short amount of time it takes to put the sauce together. It's amazing!

Ingredients

Please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for the exact measurements. 

• diced chicken breast or leftover turkey - both are delicious.
• thin spaghetti is traditional - you can also use regular spaghetti, fettuccini, egg noodles, rotini or really just about any type of pasta you have on hand.
• butter, flour to make the roux.
• milk - whole milk is fantastic, but I've also made it with 2% milk. I personally think cream or half and half is too rich for this meal. In a pinch I've used evaporated milk (I really like it, it's super creamy!)
• sherry - if you don't have/can't find sherry you can use additional chicken stock or white wine, but if you can, sherry is the best! I do not substitute cooking sherry, but sweet sherry.
• Monterey jack cheese - I've also used pepper jack which gave it just a bit of heat.
• chicken broth
• fresh mushrooms - in a pinch you can use canned as well.
• parmesan cheese - topping the casserole will make it brown really nicely.
• salt and pepper for seasoning.

Instructions 

This is an overview of the instructions. For the complete directions just scroll down to the bottom!

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter baking dish or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Break the spaghetti in half. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain well. Put the cooked spaghetti in prepared baking dish, set aside.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook mushrooms in butter. Remove when cooked, leaving butter in the pan.
4. Add flour to the butter and cook this mixture (called a roux) for a couple of minutes until it becomes a golden amber color. Then add milk, chicken broth and jack cheese and whisk well. Stir until sauce has thickened. Add the leftover chicken, sherry and cooked mushrooms. Heat through.
5. Pour the creamy cheese sauce over the spaghetti, stir to combine and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Remove cover the last 10 minutes of baking for the top to turn golden brown.

Equipment

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• This is a great cast iron skillet and will work perfectly for making the cheesy sauce.
• You'll need a great casserole dish and I just love this set!

FAQ's

Tips

• Cook the pasta to just al dente - don't overcook the pasta because the sauce bakes into the spaghetti noodles and every bite is cheesy saucy heaven!
• Speaking of sauce, make sure it's plenty saucy! In fact it may seen too sauce when you pour it into the casserole dish. That's ok! It's the perfect amount of sauce and pasta!
• You can take this directly from the stove to the oven by using a dutch oven. That's perfect for a family night meal. Using a casserole dish makes this extra fancy. If you're having company they will be wow'd by this dish!
• Don't overcook the casserole!

Pro Tip: The sauce will seem runny when you mix it together with the pasta before baking. Don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be! The sauce will thicken in the oven as the casserole bakes.

Variations

• Add one cup of frozen peas to the casserole before baking. It will add a burst of freshness!
• This is a great way to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey. It's perfect for this recipe.
• Shrimp Tetrazzini would be fabulous as well. Just make sure you use cooked shrimp!
• Skip the chicken and make the meal meatless by adding roasted vegetables - that would be amazing! Roasted Brussels Sprouts would be fabulous as well.
• Adding roasted asparagus is terrific as well!
• Bread crumbs sprinkled on the top of the creamy sauce gives a great flavor and texture to the cheesy chicken tetrazzini recipe!
• Garlic butter mushrooms is a yummy addition!

Things to know

This is a must make when it comes to holidays as it's perfect using turkey leftovers!

Storage

Refrigerate - Allow the casserole to cool completely. Store leftovers covered with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 4 days. This casserole freezes great as well!

Freezer - Freeze for up to three months.

Related recipes

Don't you just love a great pasta dish? This recipe for Monterey Chicken Spaghetti is one of my favorites! Here are more of my favorite pasta dishes from the blog.

• This chicken recipe is savory and delicious - stuffed Alfredo pasta, so good!
• A fun twist on Taco Tuesday, Taco Spaghetti Casserole is the ultimate comfort food recipe! This delicious kid-friendly family dinner is a meal the whole family will love!
• Creamy, cheesy Chicken Noodle Casserole is easy to make and delicious!
• This old fashioned hamburger noodle casserole is epic! SO cheesy, it's perfect for kids!

Still need to find the perfect side dish? I gotcha! Check out What to Serve with Pasta Bake here.

Serve with

Guys this Old Fashioned Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe is so good! It's delicious and I'd love it if you put it on the dinner rotation soon. It's a family favorite!

This is terrific served with dinner rolls or a side of garlic bread and roasted vegetables or steamed green beans. It's just the best combination.

Still need to find the perfect side dish? I gotcha! Check out What to Serve with Pasta Bake here.

If you love this recipe please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating! 

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This post was originally published about two years ago. It was about this time as KSEE24 news stopped by to film a live cooking segment at our home. As always, it's a ton of fun! That was the second time they stopped by and this time (thankfully) I was much less nervous!

However... I made one big mistake. Turkey Tetrazzini was one of the meals I shared that day and we cooked it up live on air. But I forgot to cook the noodles before I put them in the casserole dish! That was a big oops! Hard to taste test something that's impossible to eat. 😀

You know me, I don't take myself too seriously and it became a big joke! I think my favorite saying is - if that's the worst thing that happens today is a good day!

So here is my very favorite Turkey Tetrazzini - this is a recipe from my buddy Michelle. It is simple AND incredibly delicious as long as you remember to cook the pasta before baking! (Do as I say, not as I do!)

Per Ron (Michelle's hubby) who looked up origin of this meal: Turkey Tetrazzini was not invented in Italy, but invented by Italian chef in San Francisco in the 1920s who make this dish for Laura Tetrazzini, a famous Italian opera singer of the time.