Chicken Tetrazzini

Chicken Tetrazzini – super delicious make-ahead casserole! Makes a great freezer meal!! Chicken, linguine, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, butter, chicken broth, salt, pepper, garlic, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese. SO creamy and delicious. Made this for dinner and everyone cleaned their plate! Even our picky eaters. This is definitely going in the dinner rotation!

fork in a casserole dish of chicken tetrazzini

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The BEST Chicken Tetrazzini

Chicken Tetrazzini is a holiday tradition in our family. My grandmother made the BEST chicken tetrazzini. It is my favorite recipe, but I am always open to trying new versions. I came across this version in one of my old cookbooks. It differed from my grandmother’s recipe with sour cream in the mixture. I thought that sounded interesting, so I gave it a try! OMG! SO good! Comfort food at its best. You must give this a try ASAP!

What does Tetrazzini mean?

This dish is named after Luisa Tetrazzini, a famous Italian opera star at the turn of the 20th century. She made her American debut in San Francisco in 1905. In her honor, chef Ernest Arbogast at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California, named his signature baked chicken dish, chicken tetrazzini, after her.

baking dish of cheesy chicken spaghetti

How to Make Chicken Tetrazzini

This chicken casserole is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente. Drain the pasta and set it aside. In a large bowl, whisk together cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, melted butter, chicken broth, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Stir in cooked chicken and pasta. Transfer the pasta mixture to a baking dish. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with cheese and bake until the cheese is melted and the casserole bubbly. 

Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

  • I use rotisserie chicken for the cooked chicken in this casserole. You can use any leftover cooked chicken you have on hand. Chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken tenders are all great.
  • I use linguine noodles in this baked pasta. You can use any pasta shape you prefer. Spaghetti, fettuccine,vermicelli, or penne all work fine.
  • I suggest using low-sodium chicken broth.
    • Can substitute white wine for chicken broth for more flavor.
  • Feel free to add green peas, onions, or spinach to the casserole.
  • Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Souphttps://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
  • Can Chicken Tetrazzini be made in advance? Yes! Assemble the casserole and refrigerate overnight before baking.
  • Can Chicken Tetrazzini be frozen? Yes! Assemble the casserole and cool completely. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Place the dish in the freezer and freeze. 
    • When ready to bake, place the dish in the refrigerator overnight to thaw and bake as directed.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

What to Serve With Chicken Tetrazzini

baking dish of cheesy chicken tetrazzini

I used linguine noodles in this version of Chicken Tetrazzini. Chicken Legs prefers the thicker noodles to my usual thin spaghetti noodles. Overall, this was a hit! We served it with some green beans and homemade rolls. You could also serve this with the Creamy Italiano Salad I posted yesterday. That actually sounds really delicious! Totally doing that next time! Here are a few more recipes from the blog that go great with this delicious chicken casserole:

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Chicken Tetrazzini

Yield: 8 people
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Chicken Tetrazzini – super delicious make-ahead casserole! Makes a great freezer meal!! Chicken, linguine, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, butter, chicken broth, salt, pepper, garlic, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese. SO creamy and delicious. Made this for dinner and everyone cleaned their plate! Even our picky eaters. This is definitely going in the dinner rotation! #chicken #casserole #freezermeal #chickendinner

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 300ºF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  • Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
  • In a large bowl, combine chopped chicken, soups, sour cream, butter, broth, salt, pepper, garlic powder. Stir in cooked pasta.
  • Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with cheeses and parsley. Cover with aluminum foil.
  • Bake covered for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Notes:

Steph

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Comments

  1. How many days ahead can you make this dish before cooking? I was hoping to make Wednesday, refrigerate and cook Sunday, or should I freeze it until Sunday?

  2. If you were going to half this recipe and only want to open one can of soup……..which one would you use or would you just use 1/2 a can of each kind in the recipe?

  3. Made this and it was a GREAT hit! We are planning to have a dinner at our home for about 50 people from our church in April. I would like to use electric roaster pand to prepare and serve it. How long will I need to cook this? Thank you for an awesome recipe.

  4. Question – I am making this for a friend and baked it so that it would be quicker for her to just reheat. How would you suggest reheating after it’s baked? Thank you!

    1. Covered with foil in the oven until it is warm. I usually do 350ºF. It will probably take about an hour or so.
      You can also just microwave individual portions.

      1. Fantastic!! Didn’t have mozzarella on hand so used shredded pepper jack! Hubby had two helpings!! Thx !!

  5. I made it with Campbell’s cream of mushroom roasted garlic and cream of chicken with herbs and it was awesome thank you for your recipe

  6. In the previous comments I guess I neglected to ask. How long to cook smaller portions? Length of time I can freeze portions?

  7. I have been enjoying Plain Chicken for a few months. I am trying to adjust to cooking for one and would love suggestions on how to make the full recipe and separate into smaller baking dishes and freeze. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

  8. A great recipe. When I was a child this was the dish I’ve always headed to at covered dish suppers at church. I hadn’t thought of it until I saw this recipe. Delicious! Thank you for retrieving my fond memories.

  9. Made this recipe tonight, absolutely delicious!!
    The only thing I changed was the pasta, I’m not a linguine fan so I did thin spaghetti. Will definitely make this again. So easy & so much flavor!!

  10. This recipe is GOLD! I usually split it between two 8×8 pans and freeze one of them in a disposable pan. Keeps really well in the freezer and reheats wonderfully!

  11. Wow. Delicious and so creamy. Its heavy on the wet ingredients so the pasta doesnt soak it all up making it dry. Highly recommend.

    1. the only mushrooms are in the cream of mushroom soup. You can substitute any cream of soup if you need to. I don’t eat mushrooms, and I love this dish.

      1. I just mix the mushroom soup with the chicken broth, use a strainer to sift the soup mis into a Bowl to remove those pesky mushrooms my family won’t eat.

      1. I made this tonight with our leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. I ended up putting in 4 cups of chopped turkey and it seemed like a perfect amount. I also was wondering about the 300-degree oven temperature. I did follow the directions……45 minutes covered at 300 degrees and then 15 minutes uncovered at 300 degrees. It still wasn’t bubbling and middle didn’t seem hot enough, so I ended up bumping up the temp to 350 and baked it for another 15 minutes still uncovered. The cheese started to turn brown around the edges and it was finally bubbling up. It was perfect! We enjoyed this recipe, thanks for sharing. Might be in our yearly rotation with leftover turkey. 🙂

        1. The temperature is correct. Could be your oven cooks slower, could be your dish was deeper than some baking dishes, who knows? I’m glad you enjoyed it.

  12. I love this recipe.

    I do the cooking since I retired… my wife is a career lady… I love tp cook. She suggested this dish because it sounded Italian (she’s 100%)
    I added some bacon left over from breakfast, fresh mushrooms and celery as a nod to my mother’s recipe.

    YUM YUM

    Thank you

  13. Can you substitute heavy whipping cream or half and half for the sour cream? What did your Grandmother use instead of sour cream?

    1. What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.

    1. I haven't but that sounds delicious. I would suggest sautéing the fresh mushrooms first. Mushrooms have a ton of water in them. If you throw them in raw, it might make the casserole watery.

  14. This is unbelievably good! My husband loved it. I didn't have mozzarella so I used string cheese but utter than that I made as directed. Great recipe!

    1. Absolutely! Take it out while preheating the oven so it can start to get to room temperature. You may need to add 5 or 10 minutes to the cooking time since it will be colder going in the oven.

  15. To make sure I'm doing this right, you just prep it all throw it in the pan,cover will foil and freeze. Then bake the 45 minutes after taking it out the night before to thaw?

    1. I answered my own question this afternoon, turned out so yummy! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!

  16. I don't comment very often on any of these but really if you only pick one foodie to follow it should be this one… I appreciate all the sharing and advising and the recipes are good and the food is delicious

  17. First, I love your recipes! When do you use the chicken broth? It's in the list of ingredients, but I don't see it used in the instructions.

  18. Steph, your recipes are always sooooo yummy and not too difficult. YOUR site is my very favorite place to go for all sorts of good recipes. You NEVER disappoint. Thanks!

    1. I have some other delicious Chicken tertazzini recipes on the blog. Type in Chicken terrazzini in the search box & they will come up

  19. If I made this as a freezer meal would I cook it first then stick it in the freezer? How long in the oven once it's thawed?

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