This chicken tetrazzini is comforting and supremely creamy; a cheesy pasta bake loaded with juicy chicken and plump mushrooms. It’s based on one of the MOST POPULAR recipes on my blog.
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When you bake this pasta casserole, some of the sauce bakes into the pasta, the flavors marry and [!!BAM!!] something wonderful happens. You’ll know what I mean when you try it. Ridiculously good, easy to prepare, kid friendly, reheats well and freezer safe. P.S. you can further simplify this by using rotisserie chicken – You’re welcome ‘ma friends :).
Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
This recipe can be done entirely using a dutch oven so it can go from the stove to the oven saving you some dishes. You can also bake it in a 13×9″ casserole dish, but whichever path you choose, the result will be a cheesy, creamy chicken pasta bake that will have your family refilling their bowls.
P.S. We have included Amazon Affiliate links to our favorite tools to make this recipe.
Ingredients for Chicken Tetrazzini:
- We used thin spaghetti, but you can substitute with any kind of noodles you have on hand such as linguine or fettuccini pasta for your chicken tetrazzini casserole.
- SHORTCUT: (what you will see in the video), you can use a rotisserie chicken and cut away enough chicken meat to get 4 cups of shredded chicken. Light or dark meat will work.
- This recipe calls for low sodium chicken broth. Regular chicken broth is ok, but go easy on the salt and add more to taste when making the sauce.
How to Make Chicken Tetrazzini (Watch the Video below):
1. Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions then rinse to stop the cooking process, drain and set aside.
2. Shred 4 cups of rotisserie Chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
OR: If cooking your own chicken, In a large dutch oven pot, melt 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken breasts with about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Once oil is hot, saute chicken until golden brown on both sides and cooked through (about 4 min per side). Remove to a cutting board to cool then dice chicken into bite-sized pieces.
3. In your large dutch oven pot, add 2 Tbsp oil then sliced mushrooms and sauté 3 min or until soft. Add diced onions and cook until onions are soft (5-7 min). Add minced garlic and sauté another 1-2 min. Transfer to a separate dish.
4. In the same pot, melt 4 Tbsp butter and add 1/3 cup flour whisking until lightly golden (1 1/2 min). Add 2 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and whisk until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cups half and half and bring to a simmer then season sauce to taste.
5. Return chicken, mushrooms and pasta to the pot then season to taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle in 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley and stir to combine. Sprinkle the top generously with shredded mozzarella, cover and bake at 350˚F for 30 min then remove lid and continue baking 15 min. (See notes below for 13×9 casserole dish baking tips).
Watch Natasha Make this Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole:
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Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
Ingredients
For the Chicken Tetrazzini:
- 12 oz thin spaghetti or linguine
- 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken, *or cook 2 lbs chicken breast
- 1 lb button mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
For the Creamy Sauce:
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups half and half, or sub with equal parts milk & heavy cream
- 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/4 cup parsley,, chopped, plus more to garnish
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until aldente according to package instructions then rinse to stop the cooking process, drain and set aside.
- Cut 4 cups of chicken meat from a rotisserie chicken and shred into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
- Place a large dutch oven or pot over medium/high heat. Add 2 Tbsp oil then add sliced mushrooms and sauté 3 min or until softened. Add diced onions and cook until onions are soft and golden, 5-7 min. Add minced garlic and sauté another 1-2 min until fragrant. Remove to the cutting board with chicken.
- In the same pot, melt 4 Tbsp butter and whisk in 1/3 cup flour until lightly golden (1 1/2 min). Add 2 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and whisk until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cups half and half and bring to a simmer. Season sauce with more salt and pepper to taste.
- Return chicken, mushrooms, onions and pasta to the pot then sprinkle in 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley and stir to combine. Sprinkle the top generously with shredded mozzarella, cover and bake at 350˚F for 30 min then remove lid and continue baking 15 min.**
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Serve right away to the line that has formed behind you :). I can’t help but pair this with crunchy baby dill pickles (mildly obsessed pickle fan over here). I hope your family LOVES this!
Hi Natasha,
Did you cook your chicken completely through, or just browned the sides and it cooks more in the oven? I was trying to zoom in on your pic cause I thought I saw the chicken raw on the inside after the chopping. I don’t know why my chicken is so rubbery and chewy after I cook it through (which takes a long time).
Hi Vicky, it should be fully cooked through at 4 minutes per side. These chicken breasts were medium sized (not the Jumbo Costco size). If you get the larger ones, I would suggest cutting them in half lengthwise to shorten their cooking time. I have found that trying to sauté overly large chicken breast definitely results in half of the chicken breast being overcooked by the time it’s cooked through the center. I hope that helps!
Best tetrazzini recipe I have ever used! I love the one pot method! I cooked fresh chicken tenders and they were great. The only thing I did differently is that I out about one cup of shredded Parmesan cheese in the sauce instead of on top of the casserole. I then served Parmesan at the table too. This was sooo good….thank you. I am excited to try other recipes of yours.
You’re welcome Ellen! Thank you for sharing your review 😀
Hi, Natasha,
I made this with zucchini noodles – yikes! I know they will release some liquid so I halved the broth & half & half.
It is in the oven – wish me luck!
Thank you !
Let me know how you liked it!
This looks AMAZING! I’m super short on time and my chicken always seems to come out tough. Can I short cut with Costco rotisserie chicken?
Hi Renee, I do think that would work just fine and I love a good shortcut! Thanks for the idea 😉
This was fantastic. Followed recipe exactly. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for sharing your awesome review! 🙂
I made this tonight for out of state visitors and it was a complete hit! I had to send the leftovers back with my friends so they could have it in their hotel suite! I encourage others to try this recipe. I give it 5 out of 5 stars!
Thank you so much for the wonderful review! I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Mad this today and it was amazing! I used bellpeppers instead of mushrooms and it came so good! Will be making this recipe soon again 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I added spinach to the mushrooms, and used only skim milk but more flour in the rue. turned out amazing! this is a keeper!
I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
What can I substitute the mushrooms with? My husband wouldn’t eat anything mushrooms. He’s crazy, I know!
Hi Alisa, one of my readers reported great results adding frozen peas and another reader reported adding cooked bell peppers and said it turned out very good. I hope that helps!
Would this recipe work well in crock pot to take to work so I can keep it hot, after mixing all together?
Hi Sharon, I think that would work fine, but it might dry the noodles and chicken out if you are planning to keep it warm/hot for too long. I would keep it on the warm setting so it doesn’t continue to cook and bring a little milk with you so you can stir it in if the noodles get a little dry.
Can I give this SIX stars? What an incredible dish! It is comfort food at its best. I added a handful of grated asiago cheese and some peas at the end. Fantastic!!! I will make this again and again.
Yes, I’ll definitely take six stars! 😉 thank you so much for your amazing review!
how did you make the pasta pyramid on the plate as shown in one of your picture??
beautiful presentation
have made this for years
I am going to try your version looks super yummy.
thanks a lot
Thank you for the compliment! 🙂 I just twisted it onto my serving spoon and then scooted it down a little to make it look like it was twirled up 🙂
This is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth! I made it as written but using a rotisserie chicken. Someone said it freezes well. Any advice on how to bake post-freezing? Thank you so very much for sharing this recipe. My whole family loved it. I did use Bucatini, which is hollow spaghetti, and I would totally recommend it to anyone for the texture with this sauce. Yum!
I thin you could freeze it before baking the recipe and then thaw in the fridge and bake or bake longer out of the freezer. I haven’t tested this so I can’t give you exact baking times. Let me know how it works out 🙂
I made this the other night and it was excellent. I also added a splash of white wine along with some peas and onions. My man loved it, and it freezes well.
Thank you for a great recipe.
Thank you for the nice review, I’m glad you liked it 😀.
Hey Natasha ,
Stupid question but how do I get the baked effect of cheese when my oven and microwave aren’t working ? I’ve just made it and would appreciate if you could respond asap , thanks
Fatima, I would put the cheese over pasta while its hot and cover the pot with the lid so the cheese would melt. To brown the cheese, the only thing I can think of is using a blow torch if you have one. Hope this helps 😁.
Can I are this a day ahead? Would it turn out dry?
Hi Laura, you can make it a day ahead since it reheats well, but as with any creamy pasta, I’d recommend reheating over low heat so it doesn’t scorch and so the fats do not separate from the cream.
This was wonderful!! I added a little white wine with the veggies and also added some zucchini, which was perfect with this. The one thing I will change next time is adding some extra mozzarella and Parmesan in the sauce. Thanks for the great recipe, this will absolutely be my base alfredo sauce in the future. Love the heart you pour into your cooking, it’s inspiring.
Carla, I’m glad you liked it and you are welcome 😀.
Hi Natasha!! I dont have an Oven with Digital reading for Fahrenheit. How do I know if I am baking on the right heat…can this be made widout baking???
Hi Shabbi, how do you normally gauge the temperature in your oven? You might consider investing in an oven thermometer – they make them where you can put the probe in the oven and then have the display screen on the outside of the oven. I don’t own one so I can’t recommend a specific one but it may be a good idea if you enjoy baking. To be honest, this pasta is totally edible and delicious even without baking but I do think it’s even better after its baked and the cheese has melted.
Hey natasha will it be okay if i put in in microwave oven and let the cheese melt? I will surely look into buying thermometer for oven !
I think that would be ok.
Your obviously a celcius cooker like me 350° farenheit is 180°celcius im in australia and i cook by celcius theres heaps of online converters thats what i use happy cooking
My husband and I made this last night. So good! We really enjoyed it! The only thing we added was a splash of white wine after mushrooms and onions are cooked to de-glaze the pan and add a little flavor. I’ll definitely make this again!!
Katie, I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Are there any substitutions I can do for the flour to make the sauce? I will have to use a gluten free pasta for my daughter. Thanks!
I think it would work with a gluten free baking flour. The all purpose ones for baking seem to thicken like regular flour would and of course gluten free noodles would work fine.
Try corn starch, it is gluten free.