As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
˜
A cheesy chicken casserole with the great taste of spicy Rotel tomatoes right in the sauce.
Cheesy Comfort Food
Winter is the perfect time for comfort food, and nothing is better than this cheesy casserole!
Not only is this meal full of cheesy comfort, it’s also got the great taste of diced tomatoes with chilis. This is a real family-pleasing meal because it satisfies the adults as well as the kiddos.
Some Like It Spicy
The standard Rotel spaghetti recipe is pretty popular.
You can alter the spiciness of this recipe by substituting a hotter variety of these canned tomatoes. But if your store doesn’t carry the hotter variety or you’d rather by the generic store brand of diced tomatoes with green chilis, you can spice it up yourself!
What I do is add some chopped canned jalapeño. I usually use about one tablespoon because it adds enough zip for me, but if you prefer it hotter add more–even the whole can if you’re really into spicy!
Substitute Turkey Too
While this is spaghetti is usually made with chicken, turkey can easily be substituted.
In the original recipe (and mine), the meat is cooked and browned before it’s added. However, this works just as well with leftover poultry.
It may also be interesting if leftover roast beef or pot roast is added. Basically any meat that you feel goes well with cheese and tomatoes can be subbed in this dish.
Skillet Or Casserole
I prefer to pop this in a casserole dish, top with some crushed tortilla chips and bake it for about 30 minutes. But this is perfectly fine and fully cooked right from the skillet.
This chicken spaghetti is nothing if not versatile! So if you want it fast, it’s a skillet dinner, but if you want it with a little baked crunch on top do it as a casserole!
Watch The Video
Rotel Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in thin strips (see NOTES)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 10 oz.can diced tomatoes with green chilis
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 10.75 oz can cream of chicken soup
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp chopped canned jalapeños fresh is good too
- 6 oz process cheese cubed (i.e. Velveeta)
- 8 oz spaghetti cooked and drained
- 1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add chicken, garlic & onion powder.
- Cook over medium-high heat until chicken is no longer pink.
- Stir in soup, jalapeños, cubed Velveeta and diced tomatoes with green chilies.
- Reduce heat to low, and cook until the cheese melts, stirring constantly.
- Stir in cooked spaghetti. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Pour into a lightly greased 2 quart casserole dish.
- Top with crushed tortilla chips
- Bake for 30 minutes..
Notes
Nutrition
Callen says
The ingredients call for chicken strips and the directions call for cubed chicken. Which is it? Also, the ingredients refer to a note which is not present.
Thanks.
Judith Hanneman says
Thanks for letting me know Callen. Updated.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
I really think we should own stock in Ro-tel tomatoes. We use them all the time, including making the famous dip 🙂 We haven’t made a casserole such as this one — hubby says we have to watch our weight. Well, I’ve been watching — go up 🙁 But as a treat this would be great — I’m pinning.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way recently posted…One-Pan Italian Garlic Lemon Chicken Bake-A Complete Meal
Ann Nell says
I’ve made this for over thirty years. It is delicious and can easily feed a crowd if you increase the ingredients.
I always add grated carrots, diced onions and chopped bell pepper to give it more color. I generally boil my chicken breasts and use the broth from cooking the chicken to boil the spaghetti and veggies.
One thing I always add to the water when boiling the chicken is some chicken base granules.
Since the spaghetti always soaks up the sauce, I make the sauce recipe doubled and save some of the broth water to add to the casserole when I reheat it for leftovers.
This is basically a recipe you can add what you want.
Add some sliced black olives when you mix the ingredients together in the casserole dish.
Judith Hanneman says
There are so many ways to make this. I find the same thing with anything with pasta in it Ann–even if it’s only sitting for less than 30 minutes! But on reheating, it’s a must to add more liquid! And the black olives are a real winner with me. I love them and they’re going in the next time I make this!