Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole

This hearty Chicken Tetrazzini is perfect for fall as the weather cools and is the ultimate comfort food casserole! Chicken, mushrooms and pasta in a rich and creamy sauce. Make up this casserole the night before, or earlier in the day, to pop in the oven for an easy dinner that is sure to please the family.

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There are quite a few ingredients in this recipe, but it really does go together quickly. I highly recommend that you have all of the ingredients measured out and ready to go before starting. I cooked my pasta earlier in the day and then put the cooled cooked noodles in the fridge.

I generally have cooked recipe-ready chicken in my freezer. Any leftover chicken (or turkey) would work, or a de-boned rotisserie chicken. If you don’t have cooked chicken or turkey on hand, it doesn’t take long to cut up and boil a couple of chicken breasts before putting this together.

Money & Time-savers

I almost always have homemade breadcrumbs, and chicken stock in the freezer.  I also used canned mushrooms in this recipe, because I didn’t have any fresh or frozen mushroom. You can even skip the mushrooms, if your family doesn’t care for them.

If you find heavy cream on sale (especially around the holidays) stock up! It’s freezable, just needing to be thawed overnight in the fridge. Evaporated milk is a wonderful substitute if you don’t have heavy cream, or want to shave a bunch of calories from the dish.

Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole

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Prep 20 minutes   Cook 40 – 45 minutes  Serves 8 – 10

Ingredients
1/2 cup melted butter, plus additional 1 Tbsp butter for topping
8 oz canned sliced mushrooms, drained
1 onion, diced (yellow or white)
4 – 5 tsp bottled minced garlic (or 4 cloves, minced)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream (can substitute 1 cup of evaporated milk)
12 oz pasta, slightly under-cooked (egg noodles or spaghetti noodles)
3 cups cooked shredded or diced chicken (2 chicken breasts)
2 cups frozen peas (or peas and carrots)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, reserve 1/2 cup for topping (can substitute grated Parmesan, or shredded mozzarella)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Directions

I used my 3.5 quart shallow stainless steel pot for the stove top cooking, because then it could go right into the oven to bake. If you have a “cook top to oven” pan, it needs to be less than 4″ tall to bake the casserole properly.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Cook pasta until al dente (slightly under-cooked). Then drain and set aside.
3. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a large pan on medium heat.
4. Stir in mushrooms and onion. Cook 5 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1 more minute.
5. Stir in salt, pepper and flour.
6. Add in chicken stock and heavy cream. Cook 10 minutes on medium heat until thickened, stirring frequently.
7. Add chicken, frozen peas, and 1/2 cup cheese.
8. Add cooked egg noodles, stir until everything is evenly coated.
9. Pour into a lightly greased 9″ x 13″ baking dish.
10. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese across the top of casserole.
11. For the topping, in a small bowl, mix the remaining 1 Tbsp melted butter with the breadcrumbs. Evenly sprinkle the crumbs over the chicken and noodle mixture.
12. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes until golden brown.

Make Ahead Tip: If you want to bake this later in the day or the next day, cover with foil or plastic wrap and put in the fridge. When ready to bake, set the casserole on the counter while the oven is pre-heating. It may require an additional 5 -10 minutes of baking. Be sure to remove the cover to bake.

Hubby loved this casserole and requested it be added to the menu on a regular basis. I probably could have served a vegetable on the side, but I figured it already had plenty  in the casserole. So I just served it with hot dinner rolls this time.

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Enjoy!

Robin