This creamy chicken casserole is a meal the entire family will love! It's delicious and loaded with tender, juicy chicken and pasta in a cheesy rich sauce.
3-4cupscooked boneless skinless chicken breasts or turkeycubed or shredded
12ouncesthin spaghettibroken in half, cooked to al dente
6tablespoonsbutter
8ouncessliced mushrooms
¼cupall purpose flour
1cupmilk
1 ¼cupshredded Monterey jack cheesedivided reserve ¼ cup for top of casserole.
2cupschicken stock
¼cupsherrysubstitute with chicken broth if sherry isn't available.
⅓cupgrated parmesan cheese
¾teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonblack pepper
Instructions
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter baking dish or spray with non-stick spray, set aside.
Break the spaghetti in half. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain well. Put the cooked spaghetti in buttered baking dish, set aside.
In a large skillet over medium heat, saute' mushrooms in butter. Remove when cooked, leaving butter in the pan. Add flour to the butter and cook this mixture (called a roux) for a couple of minutes until it becomes a golden amber color.
Next add milk, chicken broth. Whisk until smooth. Add in the jack cheese and whisk well. Continue stir until sauce has thickened. Add the chicken, sherry and cooked mushrooms. Heat through.
Pour the creamy sauce over the cooked pasta, mix to combine. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with parmesan cheese and remaining jack cheese.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil the last 15 minutes of baking for the top to turn golden brown.
Notes
Whole milk or 2% is best for this recipe. Heavy cream is just too rich. Topping with Panko bread crumbs makes for a wonderful crust on top of the casserole!This recipe is really easy to make! Once you try this recipe, and make this homemade cheese sauce you'll never use cream of chicken soup for this again!