Cheesy Chicken Tetrazzini

Talk about comfort food! This dish brings you all the warm fuzzies. It’s a great meal to make ahead of time as well as freeze (instructions for freezing at bottom).

To top it all off, it‘s picky kid approved.

INGREDIENTS

4-5 cups cooked chicken (chopped or shredded)

1 lb pasta

16oz sour cream

2 can cream of chicken condensed soup

1 stick butter

Salt & pepper to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

1 cup grated parmesan cheese (for topping)

(a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese for topping- optional)

Directions:

You will want to begin by baking your chicken or using leftover cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken. If you are in a pinch and in a hurry, boil some boneless chicken breasts in water with salt & pepper until cooked.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and grease a 9x13” pan. Bring water to a boil in pot for your pasta.

Cook your pasta to al dente and drain. While pasta finishes up start the sauce below.

In a large pot over low heat, add stick of butter and stir until melted.

Turn off heat and add your sour cream, cream of chicken, and the rest of the spices. Stir to combine. (I add quite a bit of cayenne pepper for more spice)

Next add in your cooked chicken and stir.

Drain your pasta and add to pan with your chicken mixture. Toss until pasta is well covered. Try NOT to sneak a taste...I dare you. No, but really, this is the time to grab a taste and adjust spices to your liking.

Add your pasta mixture to your greased 9x13” pan. Top with the grated Parmesan cheese. If you want it even cheesier add some mozzarella cheese as well.

Bake in oven for approximately 30-40 min with aluminum foil loosely over top. For the last 10 minutes remove foil. Cook until cheese bubbles. Note: if you use a deeper dish or divide into two dishes you will need to adjust cooking time accordingly so it heats through.

***Freezing instructions:

If you want to prepare this ahead of time to freeze, assemble as instructed but do not bake. I use aluminum foil containers and put cling wrap directly over pasta and press down a bit to prevent freezer burn.

Pull tetrazzini from freezer a day or two before cooking to thaw. Remove cling wrap from tetrazzini; replace aluminum foil lightly over top. Bake covered at 300 degrees until heated through, roughly an hour. Remove foil and cook another 10-15 minutes until cheese topping melts.