Chicken Tetrazzini
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and if you’ve got leftover chicken or turkey from your celebration, check out my version of Chicken Tetrazzini that includes cream cheese and mozzarella for ooey gooey comfort food!
I think we all grew up with Nana or Mom’s Turkey Tetrazzini after Thanksgiving and making this after Thanksgiving was total nostalgia for me. However, I don’t love Turkey (I do in Tetrazzini 😋) at Thanksgiving and we had chicken instead (check out my Roast Chicken recipe here), which is what I used. Regardless of your leftovers, i.e. chicken or turkey, Tetrazzini is yummy goodness.
My version is kick-up a notch with white wine, Worcestershire sauce, cream cheese and mozzarella in a cream sauce with mushrooms and snow peas (leftover from Thanksgiving too) and it is finished under the boiler too for a brown top of cheesiness 😋. It’s also cooked in one pot, that’s right one pot, which makes for easy cleanup after the holiday!!! First cook the spaghetti, then the cream sauce, then combining together and finishing in the oven until golden brown.
I hope you enjoy my version and please share your feedback if you use this recipe 🙏!!!
Some Notes
- Cooking the Pasta – Tetrazzini needs spaghetti in my opinion. I snapped the spaghetti in half before cooking it to al dente. Al dente is key because the pasta will continue to cook in the oven. Once you remove the spaghetti from the boiling water, run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Veggies to Use in Tetrazzini – I used leftover snow peas, which I blanched in my pasta water for maybe 90 seconds, and mushrooms. Other veggies you could use include the following: carrots, peas, celery, sweet peppers and green beans. I remember my Nana also using pimentos!
- Cooking with Alcohol – If you want to keep your cooking alcohol free, feel free to omit. Make sure you cook off the alcohol and you’ll know it’s cooked off when it reduces, 3-5 minutes.
- Topping with Cheese – It probably isn’t completely necessary, but it does help create that brown cheese shelf on top 😋!
Chicken Tetrazzini
Ingredients
- 12 oz thin spaghetti, cook to al dente
- ½ cup snow peas/peas/green beans blanched in the spaghetti water
- 3 TBSP unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 1 lb button mushrooms, sliced
- 3 TBSP all purpose flour
- ¼ cup white wine
- 2½ cup chicken stock, link to my Instant Pot Homemade Chicken Stock
- 1½ cup half & half or light cream, make sure you temper your half & half or cream
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce, I only use the original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire
- ½ tsp hot sauce, I used Louisiana Hot Sauce because it's my favorite hot sauce for cooking
- salt & pepper, for seasoning
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated and reserve some for top
- 3 cups chicken or turkey, chopped
Instructions
- Begin preparing the ingredients, including cooking your spaghetti to al dente, cutting your veggies, steaming the snow peas/peas/green beans and combining the chicken stock and half & half/light cream together.
- Begin by warming the butter on medium heat. Once warm, add the mushrooms and onions and cook until the mushrooms are soft and the excess water has cooked out of them. Also add garlic and don't forget to season with salt & pepper.
- Add the flour and continue to stir around for 3-4 minutes to cook off the flour. Add the white wine, continuing to stir to cook off the alcohol, another 3-4 minutes.
- Now add the chicken stock and tempered cream a little at a time. Once you have a thick sauce, add Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Taste the cream sauce and season with salt & pepper, if needed.
- Now add the cream cheese and 1+ cup of mozzarella. Stir until well combined.
- Now add the cooked pasta, snow peas and chicken and mix until well combined.
- Top with the remaining mozzarella and finish cooking in the oven for 25-30 minutes. In the final 5 minutes, place under the boiler to achieve a brown top.
- Serve warm, enjoy and cheers 🥂!
One thought on “Chicken Tetrazzini”