Green Chile Chicken Spaghetti

I don’t know if it’s just a Southern thing or not, so help me out guys.

Have you ever heard of chicken spaghetti?

I’m not talking about chicken in with spaghetti sauce instead of meat or sausage. I’m talking a big baking dish full of spaghetti noodles, shredded or chopped chicken, and a metric ton of cheese. Namely, Velveeta. Lots and lots of Velveeta.

My grandma used to make it a lot when I was growing up. She put pimiento and green bell pepper in the casserole, plus creamed soups (both chicken & mushroom, I’m fairly certain). I would almost lick the plate clean it is that good.

I’ve seen churches and schools serve the dish in Texas. At work, anytime we had a potluck, my old coworker Ivan would make a big batch and bring it up to the station. Chicken spaghetti is a staple in the South, so I’m curious to see if it’s as widespread as, say, PB&J. I’ve never seen it on my travels out west, but I wasn’t ever really looking for it either.

I made this keto-friendly version this weekend and have been salivating thinking about it ever since. It tastes almost exactly like the real stuff, except for having zucchini noodles intead of regular noodles. I also bypassed the highly-processed Velveeta and went for the next best thing: heavy cream, cream cheese, and two different types of melty shredded cheese.

I changed up the other ingredients, too, to make it more spicy: I drenched the cooked chicken in hot sauce, and added a big can of green chiles. Also, if you use a food processor, you can get the onion and bell peppers really fine and they add this pleasant texture and flavor to the dish. Big plus to having a food processor!

I’m glad I have half a pan of leftovers now (I’ve taken it to lunch already twice this week) because it’s one of the things I’m looking most forward to in this week’s meals. I’ve got a lot of other good things cooking, but this one was by far the best of the bunch.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss cooked, shredded chicken with hot sauce, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside. Lay out zucchini noodles in a large 13×9″ baking dish. Top with salt and pepper.

In a food processor, add both bell peppers and onion. Pulse until finely minced. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion-pepper mixture, reserving 3/4 cup for topping the casserole, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and stir, cooking for 1 more minute. Add green chiles, cream, and cream cheese.

Simmer mixture for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Add shredded chicken on top of zucchini noodles in a single layer.

Pour cream sauce on top.

Add reserved 3/4 cup pepper-onion mixture and then top with cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes.