What I'm Cooking... Chicken Spaghetti

My love for chicken spaghetti started with my Aunt Beth bringing a big ole' casserole dish for our Christmas dinner. Ever since she made it, I've requested it for our family get togethers. One day I asked her what all was in it, and she gave me the run down. Now, hers consists of onion... and we aren't onion fans. So my original recipe for chicken spaghetti was adapted around not using onions.

I made it that way for years and years, until last year. I should have known I was pregnant when boiling chicken made me want to throw up. If you've ever smelled boiling chicken while pregnant... it's awful. And as much as my husband loves my chicken spaghetti, I told him no more. (Chicken spaghetti was the first meal I ever cooked for him while dating... yep, hook line and sinker!)

While having lunch with Stephanie (Plain Chicken) in July 2013 and telling her about the boiling chicken incident... she mentioned that any recipe that called for chicken, she used a rotisserie chicken chopped up and divided. Ding Ding Ding!!! We have a winner. No more smelling that nasty boiling chicken smell. BTW, I only use rotisserie chicken now. We buy three at SAMs ($5 a piece) each shopping trip, pull it off the bone, chop it up and put two or three cups in a ziplock bag and freeze them. Takes about an hour for the bag to thaw out before you are ready to cook with it.

While pregnant I was tired, and now a new mom; I'm tired. So my chicken spaghetti recipe has changed a bit. And honestly, I think we like it better this way.

2 or 3 cups of chopped rotisserie chicken (we like it with a lot of chicken so we use 3 cups)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of rotel (mild or hot)
1 can of chicken broth
1 cup of mexican cheese
1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese
thin spaghetti noodles (half of a big package)

Preheat your oven to 375°. Boil your spaghetti noodles, drain and add them back to the pot on medium heat. Pour in the chicken, soup, rotel and broth and stir until combined. Add your cheese mixtures to the pot and stir until cheese is melted. Now, I add another can of rotel, but only the juice. It's your choice, but we like things a little bit spicy. I also add a dash of ground red pepper. (Shhhh, don't tell the Mr!)

Pour into a 9x13 baking dish and cover with tin foil. Bake for 20 minutes, and then uncover and bake another 10 minutes.

It's delicious, y'all! It literally takes less than 15 minutes put together, and leftovers are ALWAYS welcome with this dish. (And we aren't leftover fans, ever!)

Let me know if you try it. We have it at least once a month in the Sowell house.