I come from a big Italian family from my mother’s side, so pasta dishes have been a big part of my meals, and I love them. I like pasta with tomato sauce and pasta with cream sauce.
This creamy chicken tetrazzini is one of my favorite creamy pasta dishes. It is a complete meal in itself. It has chicken and mushrooms, two of my favorite ingredients.
The mushrooms go so well with the cream sauce, and the condensed chicken soup takes all the worrying about flavor away. The soup provides so much flavor. You don’t have to worry about seasoning.
If you know how to boil water, cook pasta, and shred cooked chicken, you know how to prepare this amazingly delicious entree that will have your family asking for seconds.
What Is Chicken Tetrazzini?
Chicken tetrazzini is a cream-based pasta bake usually made with chicken and mushrooms. It can also be made using turkey or shrimp.
It was first created by an American chef named Ernest Arbogast to honor a famous Italian soprano from early 1900 named Luisa Tetrazzini, hence the name.
Ingredients For Chicken Tetrazzini
The full recipe and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Fettuccine: you can use spaghetti to make it too. I love how the sauce clings to fettuccine because the noodles are wider.
- Butter: is used to saute the mushrooms. You can choose to add garlic to them too.
- Mushrooms: use your favorite mushrooms. Mine is baby Bella.
- Shredded chicken breast: you can definitely use cooked shredded chicken thighs if you are a dark meat lover.
- Condensed cream of chicken soup: this can be substituted with condensed cream of mushroom soup.
- Sour cream: I like to use full-fat sour cream, but you can use reduced-fat or even greek yogurt if you watch your calorie intake. Sour cream definitely adds the most amount of calories to this dish.
- Pasta water: this is a crucial step. Please do not forget to save some of the cooking pasta water. It has a bit of starch from the pasta, which makes the sauce cling better to it.
- Salt and pepper: this is up to your discretion and your taste. I really add a very little salt to this dish because the condensed cream of chicken soup is already quite salty.
- Parsley: not only is it very pretty to see the green specks on the otherwise very whitish-looking creamy pasta, but it also gives it a great fresh taste.
- Parmesan cheese: If you have the time, I recommend you shave or grate your own cheese. Believe me when I say it is ten times better. Store-bought grated cheese really doesn’t melt the same way as freshly grated cheese does.
How To Make Chicken Tetrazzini
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Using a large skillet, melt the butter and saute the mushrooms until they are cooked for about 5 minutes.
- Cook fettuccine according to package instructions (reserve ½ cup of the cooking water) and cook and shred the chicken. Mix the cooked pasta, pasta water, chicken, condensed cream of chicken soup, mushrooms, and sour cream using a big bowl.
- Grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray and add the pasta mixture
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Make-Ahead And Storing Leftovers
If you want to make this dish ahead of time, I recommend mixing everything up and storing it in the fridge until you can bake it.
If you have any leftovers, before heating them, add a bit of water to the prepared pasta to make the sauce light and flowy again. Creamy pasta sauces tend to become really thick when cooled down.
I usually tell you to wait for food to cool down before storing it in an airtight container, but in this case, I try to store it while it is still hot.
This way, vapor will form, and this will keep the sauce from getting too thick. Wait until it cools down to store the container in the fridge, though.
What To Serve With Chicken Tetrazzini
This dish is almost a complete meal in itself. All it needs is a side salad and a piece of really delicious crusty bread.
Check out these recipes: The best-tossed salad, Homemade Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing, and Dutch Oven no-knead Bread. You will love it!
Recipe tips
- Do not overcook the fettuccine or pasta. Remember it will go into the oven for another 30 mins. If you overcook it, it will become a great big ball of mush. Cook it al dente.
- Chicken shouldn’t be over-cooked either. Check it for doneness. There is such a thing as over-boiling chicken. If you leave it for too long, it becomes tough.
- I can’t emphasize enough about adding the pasta water. Believe me when I tell you creamy pasta sauces can become really thick when cool.
- Check the seasoning after mixing all ingredients. If you feel it needs a bit more salt, add it.
- Do not overcook the casserole. Cook it until the cheese is melted and the pasta is hot and bubbly. If you leave it in for too long, it will dry out.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Crazy Good Chicken Pasta Casserole
- Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Paula Deen’s Meatball Pasta Casserole
- Amazing Shrimp Pasta Salad
- White Cheddar Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
Easy Chicken Tetrazzini
Ingredients
- 12 oz fettuccine
- 1 ½ tablespoon of butter
- 2 ½ cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 ½ cups cooked and shredded chicken breast
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- ½ cup pasta cooking water
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- First and foremost, preheat the oven to 350F. Whenever you are baking something, the oven has to be already hot when you put your dish inside or it will not cook evenly and the cooking time will be off.
- Cook your chicken and shred it. Put two pots of boiling water, throw in your chicken in one and cook it for about 8 minutes. The other pot is for cooking the fettuccine.
- Cook the fettuccine according to the package directions. Before draining it, reserve ½ cup of the cooking water to mix into the sauce.
- While the chicken is boiling, and the pasta is cooking, slice the mushrooms and melt butter in a big skillet. Saute the mushrooms until they are cooked through and there is no water left in the bottom of the skillet. I like to slice them a little bit thick so you get a nice piece with every bite.
- Now that everything is cooked, grab a large bowl and mix together the pasta, shredded chicken, sauteed mushrooms, condensed cream of chicken soup, sour cream, pasta water, parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch casserole dish, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese, and bake for about 30 mins or until it is hot and bubbly. Be careful not to bake it for too long or it will dry out
Answering Your Burning Questions
- What Can I Substitute For Mushrooms In Chicken Tetrazzini?
If you don’t like mushrooms, you can substitute them with any other veggie of your choice.
You can use peas, carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, or green beans. It really depends on your taste.
You can even skip the veggies and add extra cheese and herbs.
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