Monterey Chicken Spaghetti Casserole – my whole family went crazy over this easy chicken casserole!! Even our super picky eaters! Chicken, spaghetti, sour cream, cream of chicken, spinach, Monterey Jack Cheese, and french fried onions. Makes a great freezer meal! This is the most requested dinner in our house. #casserole #chickendinner #chickencasserole
Remember this recipe.
Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!
Pin This Recipe
This Monterey Chicken Spaghetti is THE BEST!!! Chicken spaghetti loaded with spinach, Monterey Jack cheese and french fried onions. Seriously delicious! I wanted to lick my plate this was so good. I’m not a big spinach person, but this was the perfect amount. If you like lots of spinach, feel free to double the amount. I am of the opinion that a little spinach goes a long way!
This spaghetti casserole can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen for later. I usually make it the day before and heat it up for dinner. This makes a lot of chicken spaghetti. You can easily split the pasta between two pans and bake one now and freeze one for later.
We served this pasta casserole with a salad and some garlic bread. This was one of our favorite meals. So yummy and cheesy. I also LOVED the crunch from the french fried onions. Give this a try. I know it will be a hit – even with the spinach haters!
Monterey Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 12- oz dried spaghetti
- 4 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1 (16-oz) container sour cream
- 2 (10.5-oz) cans Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 (10-oz) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 (6-oz) can French's French Fried Onions, divided
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray.
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, drained spinach, 1 cup cheese, garlic and ½ can of French’s French Fried Onions.
- Stir in cooked spaghetti. Pour into prepared pan.
- Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese and onions on top of pasta mixture.
- Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 50 minutes.
Notes:
- I suggest using Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup in this dish to control the sodium.
- You can buy it by the case at Amazon: https://amzn.to/49n4uZE
- Need Gluten-free Cream of Chicken Soup? You can buy it here: https://amzn.to/3MtqQ1s
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
- Can make casserole in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later.
- If baking after refrigerating, you may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time.
- To bake after freezing, thaw completely and bake as directed above.
Steph
Remember this recipe.
Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!
Pin This Recipe
I prepared this for dinner today. I used a couple of handfuls of baby spinach and when the pasta was almost finished let the spinach cook in the water and drained the pasta and spinach together. Completed recipe as directed. This was simply delicious. I did halve the recipe and there is still a half of the casserole left to freeze. I know my SO will also love this when he gets home from work later this evening. Thank you for another winning recipe.
I thought I would make the whole recipe in two separate pans and freeze one pan. So bake before freezing?
I don’t bake it before freezing. Seems like a unless step.
Does it have to be spinach? Could it be something else?
It can be anything you want
I knew I was in trouble when I came across this recipe! My first thought was when was my husband due to be out of town so I could make this and have it to myself! This recipe hit it out of the park. I did make some changes though. Partly due to the ingredients I had on hand and partly due to being on Weight Watchers. I used Chobani whole milk greek yogurt in place of sour cream. I can’t stand the smell of cooked/frozen spinach so I used fresh. I used cheddar cheese because that’s what I had. I used cream of chicken soup with herbs. As a side note, I buy several rotisserie chickens at Costco and freeze the meat so I always have it available. I also grate my cheese from the block rather than buying the packaged shredded cheese. It melts so much better. This recipe is a true keeper. It’s just me and my husband now so we’ll be eat this a lot.
Can I use regular onions? I don’t have French onions.
I use two more cans of mushroom soup to mine. Plus the two cans of chicken soup. I don’t want my noodles dry. I use chopped reg. Onions. I use cheddar cheese in side.. I also use Powder Parmesan cheese on top.
Thank you for sharing. I make it exactly like the recipe says and it’s delicious!!!!
How many does this serve?
By looking at my completed casserole….a small army!!
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. My daughter picked it out, and I knee she’d like it. I was surprised that my husband loved it and said it might be his favorite spaghetti dish ever! I made it exactly as the recipe is written, and it was almost perfect. The only thing I would change next time is to wait and add the remaining cheese and onions in the last 20nminutes of baking. My onions got a little charred, but my oven runs a bit hot. But it was still delicious and the noodles were.not dry at all. Thanks for a great recipe!
Oh, and if I’m halving it the casserole takes less time to bake, right?
Looks delicious! Hubby’s away so will halve the recipe to eat a few nights.
I used spinach the first time… This time fresh asparagus… Oh yes… Great recipe…
Made half the recipe, cause there is only 2 of us. Did not have Monterey cheese,used cheddar that I had. WONDERFUL…..Loved it
Can I use angel hair pasta
This casserole was super yummy! I didn’t have half the ingredients and had to substitute a bunch of stuff and it was still loved by everyone! Usually when I start as-libbing a recipe it turns out awful and I end up giving it to the chickens!
Used cream of mushroom instead of cream of chicken, diced fresh romaine instead of frozen spinach and 1 cup Mayo /1 c milk/ 1/2 t lemon juice instead of sour cream. Nothing like NOT planning ahead and having the ingredients! 🤦🏻♀️. I’m sure we will love it even more when I make it next time with the proper stuff! Thank you so much! 💕
My daughters loved this, omg I could eat the whole pan
I love this, and so far everyone I’ve served it has too!
I usually use rotini or rigatoni instead of spaghetti, and I only use one can of cream of chicken soup. I add a small can of evaporated milk instead, and it turns out great! I’m pretty sensitive to overly salty foods, and this was the perfect solution for my taste.
Thank you for a fantastic dinner that is ALWAYS a huge success!
Has anyone added A can of rotel ??
No, but sounds delicious!!!