Hen Tetrazzini (Creamy Pasta Bake)

Taking notes from my straightforward chicken spaghetti casserole, hen tetrazzini is a deliciously creamy, buttery weeknight pasta bake. I make it with spaghetti and juicy hen items tossed with a wealthy cream sauce, baked beneath a blanket of gooey mozzarella. 

This tetrazzini recipe skips the necessity for a béchamel sauce constructed from scratch, and makes use of condensed cream soup for a fast, family-friendly shortcut.

Causes to Make This Creamy Hen Tetrazzini

• It’s fast to prep. Make the no-cook cream sauce within the minutes it takes to boil your spaghetti. Afterward, combine all of it collectively and bake!
• Use leftover hen. If you have already got cooked hen or a rotisserie hen within the fridge, hen tetrazzini is a good way to make use of it up.
• Pantry-friendly. Every part you must make tetrazzini is well discovered within the pantry or grocery retailer. The components are additionally very adaptable. I embody a few of my favourite variation concepts additional within the put up.

Substances You’ll Want for This Recipe

Listed below are some fast notes outlining the components on this cozy hen tetrazzini recipe, plus potential substitutions for those who want them. Scroll to the recipe card after the put up for the complete recipe and ingredient quantities.

• Spaghetti – Traditional tetrazzini recipes name for lengthy pasta. As a substitute of spaghetti, you might additionally use linguine or fettuccine, or homemade egg noodles.
• Hen – I like to recommend boneless, skinless hen breasts or thighs as they’re best to cut or shred. Prepare dinner your hen within the oven or air fryer, or it can save you time with a pre-cooked rotisserie hen.
• Cream of Hen Soup – I exploit low-sodium canned cream of hen. Attempt one other type of canned soup, like cream of mushroom, for a distinct taste profile.
• Bitter Cream – Or Greek yogurt, for those who want a substitute.
• Butter – Dropped at room temperature.
• Hen Broth – Low-sodium store-bought or do-it-yourself chicken stock. For a extra conventional tetrazzini cheese sauce, substitute half of the broth with sherry or a dry white wine, like Chardonnay.
• Seasonings – I used garlic powder, dried parsley, and floor pepper. You possibly can use recent when you’ve got it readily available. Change the dried herbs within the recipe with two freshly minced garlic cloves and three tablespoons of recent parsley.
• Mozzarella – You possibly can additionally use one other melty cheese, like shredded cheddar, in a pinch. For smoother melting, shred the cheese recent from the block.
• Parmesan – Different good choices are Pecorino and Grana Padano. Once more, use freshly grated for the very best taste and texture.
• Slivered Almonds – Non-obligatory, however I really like sprinkling the highest of my tetrazzini with chopped or slivered almonds for crunch. You possibly can additionally add breadcrumbs, crushed crackers, or depart the highest plain.

Make Hen Tetrazzini

Not like comparable hen tetrazzini recipes, this one doesn’t contain cooking the sauce earlier than you bake it! All you must do is comply with the steps beneath to cook dinner the pasta, stir collectively the sauce components, and switch every little thing to a baking dish:

• Put together for baking. Get the pasta boiling when you preheat the oven to 350ºF. In the meantime, grease a big casserole dish. When the pasta has cooked in line with the bundle instructions, drain it and set it apart.
• Make the sauce. In a big bowl, mix the hen with the creamy soup, bitter cream, butter, broth, and seasonings. Stir to mix.

• Assemble the pasta. Now, fold the cooked noodles into the sauce. Pour the combination into your ready baking dish. Then, sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan on prime. Add the additional parsley and almonds (if desired) as a garnish.

• Bake. Bake your hen tetrazzini uncovered at 350ºF for 35-40 minutes. When the cheese is sizzling and effervescent, you’re able to serve!

Can I Make This With out Canned Soup?

Sure. It’s potential to arrange this hen tetrazzini the old school manner, and change the 2 cans of condensed soup within the recipe with a do-it-yourself base. On this case, I’d counsel borrowing the fundamental béchamel you’d make for baked mac and cheese, utilizing a 1:1 ratio of fats to flour:

1. To make it, soften ¼ cup of butter in a saucepan over medium-low warmth. 
2. Whisk in ¼ cup of flour, cook dinner for 1-2 minutes, after which slowly whisk in 2 cups of milk (or heavy cream) till clean. You may change half of the milk with hen broth for extra taste for those who’d like.
3. Convey the combination to a boil, stirring typically, and simmer for a couple of minutes till the béchamel thickens. Afterward, it’s prepared to mix with the remainder of the components to make the sauce.

Simple Variations

• Totally different protein. Swap cooked hen for shrimp scampi or steak bites.
• Vegetarian. Depart the hen out or change it with pre-cooked greens like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes. 
• Add greens. Combine leafy greens into the sauce, like recent or frozen spinach, peas, or kale.
• Make it spicy. Add a sprinkle of crushed pink chili flakes or a splash of sizzling sauce to style.

Ceaselessly Requested Questions

Retailer and Reheat Tetrazzini

• Refrigerate. Retailer leftover hen tetrazzini hermetic within the fridge for as much as 5 days. 
• Reheat. Heat leftovers within the oven, or you may reheat particular person parts within the microwave or in a saucepot on the stovetop.