This creamy and cheesy chicken spaghetti is made in one pot on the stove. It's weeknight-friendly, and puts good eating on the table easily.
You’ll find the full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Be sure to check out the blog post itself for extra tips and tricks!
About this Chicken Spaghetti
- Best for: Weeknight dinner, feeding a family, one-pot meal
- Time to make: 45 minutes
- Good to know: I keep this recipe in one-pot, on the stove. If you want to use your oven, you can get a nice golden cheesy crust. It's up to you 🙂
Years ago, I shared a pressure cooker chicken spaghetti, and it took off. People love that recipe, and I do too. However, many people who didn't have a pressure cooker really wanted a traditional version of making it. So here it is.
For this recipe, I chose to keep it a one-pot meal made completely on the stove. This is so good and so easy to whip up in one pot in an instant. Serve it alone, or with a side salad.
Happy cooking,
Tanya
A Quick Look at the Ingredients You Will Need
Ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions are on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Chicken thighs. I use boneless, skinless thighs and leave them whole during searing. Thighs stay juicy through the simmer, and they brown better as whole pieces than when cut up. You can use chicken breast if that's what you have, but watch it closely so it doesn't dry out.
- Seasoned salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, red pepper flakes. All of the seasonings I add in this dish to give it so much flavor.
- Baby bella mushrooms. I love these mushrooms. They go along so well with the cheese and other flavors in this pasta.
- Diced tomatoes with green chiles. I use Ro*Tel. It’s an easy way to add some color and flavor to this pasta dish.
- Thin spaghetti. This is a preference thing. I like how thin spaghetti soaks up the sauce, and I like the texture better here. Regular spaghetti works fine in this dish as well.
- Sharp cheddar. We stick to cheddar for convenience and cost, and sharp cheddar gives you the most flavor per cup. Shred it off the block if you have a minute, but I’ve also made this recipe with the bagged cheddar, and it was perfectly fine. Cheese melted fine, and it still tasted oh so good.
- Heavy cream. Goes in at the end, off high heat, so it doesn't break. This also thickens the sauce and makes it creamy.
Equipment
You need a wide, large, deep skillet with a tight-fitting lid. This will ensure your liquid doesn't evaporate too quickly.
If you want to do the optional broiled cheese top, your pot needs to be oven-safe and safe under a broiler, and it goes in uncovered.
How to Make Chicken Spaghetti
Please see the recipe card below for the full printable recipe, ingredients, and instructions. Here you will find step-by-step photos of how to make this recipe.
Step 1: Season the chicken thighs on both sides with 1 ½ teaspoons of the seasoned salt. Heat the olive oil in your pot over medium-high heat and lay the thighs in an even layer, leaving them whole.
Sear 5 to 6 minutes per side, until they're lightly browned on the outside. Move them to a clean cutting board and let them rest for a few minutes.
Step 2: Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter. Once it melts, add the chopped onion and sliced mushrooms, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom as they release.
Cook 4 to 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms have given up their liquid and softened.
Stir in the minced garlic, the diced tomatoes with green chiles, paprika, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and the remaining seasoned salt. Stir and cook for about 20 seconds.
Step 3: While the vegetables cook, chop the rested chicken into bite-size pieces.
Pour in the chicken broth and return the chopped chicken to the pot along with any juices that collected on the board. Bring the liquid to a simmer.
Add the broken spaghetti, spreading it out and pressing down gently so the noodles are mostly submerged. They won't be perfectly covered, and that's fine.
Step 4: Cover with the tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes. Stir 2 or 3 times while it cooks so the noodles don't clump together.
Step 5: Turn the heat down to low. Pour in the heavy cream and stir in 2 cups of the shredded sharp cheddar. Stir 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted.
Now here's the part where you might panic. The sauce is going to look thin. Let it sit 5 to 10 minutes off the heat, stirring occasionally, and it thickens right up as the starch and the cream settle.
Serve and enjoy.
Optional Broiling Step: Sprinkle an extra ½ cup of sharp cheddar over the top. Place your oven-safe skillet directly under the broiler on high for 2 to 4 minutes, uncovered, until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and golden brown.
Tanya's Top Tips
- Sear the thighs whole. This is the biggest change from my pressure cooker version. Whole pieces sit flat against the pot and brown properly. Cut them up first and they crowd, steam, and stay pale.
- Do not boil the noodles first. The starch the pasta releases as it cooks is what thickens this sauce. Boil them separately and you pour that thickener down the drain.
- The lid matters more than the pot. A lid that doesn't seal well lets steam escape and you'll end up short on liquid with crunchy noodles. If yours is loose, lay a piece of foil under it.
- Trust the sitting time. A watery-looking sauce at the 2 minute mark is normal. Cheese sauce and cream both thicken as they cool. Give it the full 10 minutes before you decide anything is wrong.
What to Serve with Chicken Spaghetti
This is a full meal on its own, so I keep the sides simple and green.
- Southern green beans or smothered green beans
- A collard green salad if you want something crisp against all that cream
- Garlic bread, and my garlic herb butter spread on toasted bread does the job
Storage, Reheating, and Freezing
Refrigerator: Cool it down and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Reheating: The pasta keeps absorbing sauce in the fridge, so it'll be thick and tight the next day. Reheat in a skillet over low heat with a splash of chicken broth, milk, or cream, stirring until it loosens back up. The microwave works too, in 30 second bursts with a splash of liquid stirred in between.
Freezing: I don't recommend freezing this one. Cream sauces separate when they thaw and cooked pasta comes back mushy. If you want a freezer meal, cook and freeze the seasoned chicken-and-vegetable base separately, then make the pasta fresh.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do. If you have tried this recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! Your feedback is invaluable and helps us grow. Thank you for your support!
Chicken Spaghetti Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Season the chicken thighs on both sides with 1 ½ teaspoons of the seasoned salt.
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven, braiser, or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in an even layer and sear 5 to 6 minutes per side, until lightly browned on the outside. Remove the chicken to a clean cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter. Once melted, add the chopped onion and sliced mushrooms, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, until softened.
- Stir in the minced garlic, diced tomatoes with green chiles, paprika, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and the remaining seasoned salt. Cook about 20 seconds, until fragrant.
- Chop the seared chicken into bite-size pieces. Pour the chicken broth into the pot and return the chopped chicken, along with any accumulated juices. Bring the liquid to a simmer.
- Add the broken spaghetti, spreading it out and pressing down gently so the noodles are mostly submerged.
- Cover with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, stirring 2 to 3 times to keep the noodles separated. Cook until the pasta is tender and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).
- Turn the heat to low. Pour in the heavy cream and stir in 2 cups of the shredded sharp cheddar. Stir 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese melts. Let the pot sit 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, while the sauce thickens.
- For an optional crisp cheesy top, scatter the remaining ½ cup sharp cheddar over the surface and place the uncovered pot directly under your oven's broiler on high for 2 to 4 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Notes
- Thin sauce: The sauce looks thin right after the cheese melts and thickens as it sits. Give it the full 10 minutes.
- Broiling: Only broil if your pot is oven-safe and broiler-safe, and leave it uncovered.
- Storage: Refrigerate up to 4 days. Reheat over low heat with a splash of broth, milk, or cream. Freezing is not recommended.
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