Velveeta Chicken Spaghetti
Delicious A good company dish Everyone always seems to enjoy this dish and I usually get asked for the recipe
Delicious A good company dish Everyone always seems to enjoy this dish and I usually get asked for the recipe
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1/2 cup bell pepper diced
- 1/2 cup oleo or olive oil
- 2 12-oz cans chicken broth more or less to taste
- 1 12-oz can cream of chicken soup can of
- 1 12-oz can cream of mushroom soup can of
- 3 cups diced cooked chicken can of
- 1 16-oz can rotel tomatoes can of
- 1 pound thin spaghetti cooked in; chicken broth
- 1/2 pound velveeta cheese sliced; more or less to taste
- 1 12-oz can mushrooms with juice, optional
- 1 12-oz can black pitted olives optional
- Carbohydrate 56.04185 g
- Cholesterol 79.065 mg
- Fat 37.3238125 g
- Fiber 4.89550008773804 g
- Protein 34.2645375 g
- Saturated Fat 10.856345 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (473g)
- Sodium 1321.87525 mg
- Sugar 51.146349912262 g
- Trans Fat 3.2138075 g
- Calories 694 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large skillet or cooking pot, saute bell pepper and onion in oleo (or olive oil if you prefer).
- Add 1 can of chicken broth and chicken. Simmer until tender. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces as it's cooking. Use 3 cups of chicken. (I've used packaged chicken tenderloins, as well as pre-cooked chicken from the deli. Whatever is convenient. It's all good.)
- Add all soups and Ro-tel tomatoes. Stir well. Simmer for about 15 minutes until chicken is done.
- Cook the spaghetti in boiling water or chicken broth until just slightly cooked "al dente" - you don't want to over-cook it because it will be cooking more in the oven. Drain, rinse, and set aside until you are ready to mix with chicken/sauce ingredients in baking dish for the oven.
- In a large baking dish or oven-proof pot, place the cooked and cut up chicken, cooked spaghetti, salt and pepper, cheese, and soup mixture.
- Depending on how creamy you like this dish, you may want to add extra chicken broth before you bake. (I always do).
- Stir very well to mix all ingredients evenly. I usually stir once after about 15 minutes in the oven - after the cheese has had time to melt. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
- You can add canned or fresh mushrooms if you like.
- Also, for a nice touch - (looks pretty for guests) you can add one can of black olives, sprinkled over the top of the casserole. (optional).(I slice them to make them go further).
- Please note that if you want to cut the fat from your diet, this tastes equally good with fat-free soups and the "lite" velveeta. You can also leave out the olive oil or oleo and spray the pan with pam and add extra fat-free chicken broth.
- A good company dish. Everyone always seems to enjoy this dish and I usually get asked for the recipe.
Emulsified processed cheese products hold sauces together because sodium citrate prevents the fats from separating during baking. Traditional dairy splits under prolonged oven heat, but processed cheese maintains a stable matrix. Cooking the thin spaghetti slightly short of al dente ensures the noodles absorb excess moisture from the chicken broth and canned soups without turning mushy. Stirring the casserole halfway through the thirty-minute bake redistributes surface heat and prevents the edges from over-browning at 375 degrees.
- Slice black olives thinly before scattering them across the top to distribute the salty, cured fat evenly across each portion.
- Use a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven for the stovetop simmering phase to prevent the cream of mushroom and chicken soup bases from scorching.
- Adjust the consistency with extra chicken broth if the sauce thickens too rapidly during the initial simmer.
- Substitute fat-free canned soups and reduced-fat processed cheese blocks directly without altering the structural chemistry of the sauce.
Baking this pasta dish in a deep ceramic casserole dish retains steady thermal mass for even heat penetration. Proper liquid management prevents the starches from leaching out and creating a gluey texture.
