Hamdi Saidani Pioneer Woman chicken spaghetti casserole is a creamy, baked pasta dish with shredded chicken, sauteed mushrooms, black olives, Parmesan, and a white wine cream sauce, ready in about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
This is Ree Drummond’s Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole from thepioneerwoman.com, where she walks through every step with photos from her own kitchen. Ree calls it closer to a tetrazzini than a traditional chicken spaghetti because it skips onions, celery, and carrots in favor of a simpler mushroom and white wine cream sauce.
Cook the spaghetti in the leftover chicken broth instead of plain water. That broth seasons the pasta from the inside out, so every bite carries flavor rather than relying only on the sauce to do the work.
Pioneer Woman Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
Description
Shredded chicken and thin spaghetti baked in a rich Parmesan cream sauce with wine-sauteed mushrooms and chopped black olives. The top bakes golden and bubbly while the inside stays creamy.
Ingredients
For the chicken and pasta:
For the mushrooms:
For the cream sauce:
Instructions
- Place the cut-up chicken in a large pot, cover with water, and boil on medium-low heat for 30 to 40 minutes until the meat is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken to a plate to cool slightly, then scoop out 2 cups (480ml) of broth and set aside for the sauce.
- Pull the meat from the bones and chop or shred it into bite-sized pieces until you have about 2 cups of chicken.
- Bring the remaining broth in the pot back to a boil, add the thin spaghetti broken into thirds, and cook until al dente, then drain.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the sliced mushrooms, pour in 1/4 cup wine, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated, then remove the mushrooms and set aside.
- Return the skillet to medium-low heat and melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter.
- Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter, whisking constantly, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Pour in the reserved 2 cups of broth, whisking to combine, and let the mixture bubble for a few seconds.
- Add the milk, the additional 1/4 cup wine, salt, and pepper, then cook until the sauce thickens and bubbles.
- Turn off the heat, stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted and smooth.
- Fold in the cooked mushrooms, shredded chicken, and chopped olives, then add the cooked spaghetti and stir everything together.
- Pour the mixture into a 9×13 inch (23x33cm) casserole dish, then sprinkle extra Parmesan over the top.
- Bake at 350F (180C) for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly around the edges.
FAQs
Why does Ree boil a whole chicken instead of using boneless breasts?
A whole cut-up fryer gives you two things at once: tender shredded meat and rich homemade broth. Boneless breasts cook faster, but the liquid they leave behind is too thin to build a sauce on or to flavor the pasta.
The dark meat from the thighs and legs adds extra moisture and flavor to the casserole. If you only use breast meat, the chicken pieces dry out during the 30-minute bake and turn stringy in the finished dish.
Why break the spaghetti into thirds before cooking?
Short pieces toss evenly through the cream sauce so every forkful picks up chicken, mushrooms, and olives in one bite. Full-length noodles clump together in the casserole dish and make serving a tangled mess.
Ree cooks the broken spaghetti directly in the chicken broth, which also seasons the pasta as it absorbs liquid. Shorter pieces fit into the boiling broth more easily and cook more evenly than long strands folded into a pot.
Why cook the mushrooms until the liquid fully evaporates?
Mushrooms release a lot of water when they hit the hot pan. If you stop cooking before that liquid burns off, the extra moisture thins out the cream sauce when everything gets combined later.
Cooking them dry also lets the mushrooms brown slightly, which concentrates their flavor. Soggy mushrooms taste flat and add a watery pocket to the baked casserole that makes the pasta around them gummy.
Can you swap the black olives for another ingredient?
Green olives work if you prefer a sharper, brinier flavor. Ree mentions this swap herself. Sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers also fit the flavor profile if you do not like olives at all.
Keep in mind the olives add salt and a savory contrast that balances the rich cream sauce. If you skip them entirely without a substitute, the casserole tastes one-note, so add something with a little acidity or bite to replace them.
How do you reheat this casserole without drying out the pasta?
Cover the dish tightly with foil and reheat at 325F (165C) for 20 to 25 minutes. The foil traps steam so the sauce loosens back up instead of baking down further. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes if you want to re-crisp the top.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container within two hours and eat within three days. This casserole freezes reasonably well for up to two months because the cream sauce protects the pasta from drying out during reheating.
