Chicken Spaghetti

10 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Johnny Autry; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl
Hands-on Time:
1 Hour
Total Time:
1 Hour
Yield:
Serves 8 (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)
By Julianna Grimes
January 2012
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Porcini and cremini mushrooms plus three types of cheese elevate weeknight Chicken Spaghetti to a higher level. Kids will love the creaminess of Chicken Spaghetti and parents will appreciate the added English peas.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (about 1/2 cup)
  • 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 3 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 1/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
  • 4 ounces processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta)
  • 3 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
  • 2 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 1/2 cup packed)
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen English peas, thawed
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh chives
  • 1 1/2 ounces French bread, torn into pieces

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 413
  • Fat 16.4g
  • Satfat 7.9g
  • Monofat 5g
  • Polyfat 1.2g
  • Protein 29g
  • Carbohydrate 36g
  • Fiber 3.1g
  • Cholesterol 75mg
  • Iron 2.8mg
  • Sodium 583mg
  • Calcium 228mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Combine 1 cup boiling water and porcini mushrooms in a bowl; let stand 20 minutes. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup soaking liquid. Chop porcini.

Step 2

Cook pasta in boiling water with 2 teaspoons salt until almost al dente; drain. Rinse pasta with cold water, and drain.

Step 3

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, chicken, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper; sauté 5 minutes, turning to brown. Remove chicken. Melt butter in pan. Add cremini mushrooms and garlic; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add flour; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Step 4

Arrange rack in middle of oven. Preheat broiler to HIGH.

Step 5

Combine reserved porcini liquid, broth, and milk. Gradually add broth mixture to pan, stirring constantly; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring frequently. Stir in processed cheese and cream cheese. Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Stir in Gruyère. Add porcini, pasta, chicken, peas, and chives; toss. Scrape pasta mixture into a broiler-safe 13 x 9-inch ceramic baking dish.

Step 6

Place bread in a food processor; drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Process until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle crumbs over pasta mixture. Place dish on middle rack in oven; broil 6 minutes or until golden.

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Ratings & Reviews

veryslowcook's Review

minihorse93
January 25, 2015
This was very creamy and indulgent. I used mozzarella instead of gruyere, chicken thighs instead of breast, and green onion instead of chives. Sauteed the green onion with the mushrooms and garlic, and skipped the bread crumbs and browning steps. It had a great mushroom flavor.

SherrynA's Review

Dream14859
March 10, 2014
Looks great but how is 8 grams of saturated fat and 36% fat "cooking light"?

Dream14859's Review

SherrynA
May 12, 2013
this recipe was ok...it was kinda bland for all the ingredients used...it would be better with more velveeta & maybe cheddar cheese instead of gruyere...also it probably would be good with some wine in the cheese sauce mixture...it has potential, but definitely needs to be tweaked...

tfhernandezt's Review

Bunster
May 07, 2013
This was great and my boyfriend loved it. I used 2% velveeta, tofu noodles, light butter, and skim milk to cut calories. Turned out flavorful stil.

JimMarltonNJ's Review

LadyAlethea
February 19, 2013
Very tasty, the porcini's gave this the push over the edge that makes it great.

minihorse93's Review

veryslowcook
July 15, 2012
LOVED this; omitted the peas and porcini mushrooms (substituted in extra chicken broth instead of the porcini liquid), and substituted regular onion for the green onion. I will definitely be making this again, as even the picky eaters in the family (who usually turn their noses up at healthy recipes) are asking that this dish be made weekly!

LadyAlethea's Review

KellyDiff
May 01, 2012
This was tasty, but WAY too rich for my taste. My husband agreed that while it tastes good, it's very rich; it's definitely a nice option for a lower calorie version of a similar comfort food. Next time I make it, I will be using half the amount of Velveeta and half the amount of cream cheese and omitting the porcini mushrooms completely (I save the soaking liquid every time I use dried mushrooms and freeze it, so I have the umami flavors to hand without using the mushrooms themselves).

KellyDiff's Review

JimMarltonNJ
January 29, 2012
Liked, but didn't love. Thought my 3.5 year old would gobble up, but she just ate a few bites. I'm still trying to lose weight, so this dish was a splurge, and for the higher calorie count, I wanted to love it more.

Bunster's Review

stephani22
January 13, 2012
I made this last night, and even did my own pasta, but something was missing from this recipe..needs more flavor. I actually think I'd use less broth, and use all porcini and no chicken broth. I also substituted cheddar for velveeta because I did not want to use processed cheese. Maybe that was an issue. Not sure if I'd make again as it was a lot to buy and put together.

stephani22's Review

tfhernandezt
January 03, 2012
This was delicious. It's time consuming, but easy. The only problem I had was finding porcini mushrooms. I live in a small town so I just substituted a cup of crimini mushrooms and soaked those in the boiling water and continued to follow the directions. Even my 10 year old daughter who hates mushrooms thought it was good. I don't think you can get a better endorsement than that.