Chicken Tetrazzini! Welcome to the 90’s.
For our 5th recipe in the FABH series (that’s Feeding a Broken Heart and you can read more about that here), we are throwing it back to a recipe that tastes like my childhood. Which is funny, because I don’t necessarily remember my mom ever making Chicken Tetrazzini (reuben casserole, however…), but I do remember the word tetrazzini being thrown around in the context of creamy noodle dishes, and I do remember loving it.
According to Wiki, tetrazzini is “an American dish… in a butter/cream and Parmesan sauce… flavored with wine.” So yes, you did come to the right place today.
Hello and welcome.
Beyond butter and cream and Parmesan and wine, tetrazzini means something entirely more personal to me: it means that I have neighbors who love me.
It means that on a night not all that long ago, when I was slogging my way through some very low emotional territory, I experienced a really generous type of love. It meant I had a warm meal set in front of me that was heavy with sautéed mushrooms, roasted chicken meat, egg noodles, and creamy béchamel sauce – so basically, a food hug. It means that when the knocking at the back door started, and we flipped on the light to find friendly face with a very large foil pan in hand, I felt cared for in a very real and basic and important way. I felt seen.
The thing about tetrazzini is that it has the potential to make you wonder if it’s going to be good. I mean, it definitely has that casserole vibe that can sometimes be off-putting and mysterious in a scary way. I totally hear you on that.
But both when my neighbor brought this over for us, and when I made it again based on their recipe (which they kindly and adorably photocopied and dropped off in our mail slot – thank you Joanne!), I was excitedly surprised that I am still a child of the 90’s, and yes indeed – I DO actually love this recipe, casserole vibes and all.
Something about the silky egg noodles (I copied my neighbors and used ones that are long and straight, like fettuccine) with the meaty mushrooms and the beauty that is a roasted pulled chicken… all of it broiled together under a crown of just-browned Parmesan has the power to work healing magic on broken and bruised hearts.
It also makes for a very large pan which makes for very long-lasting leftovers which makes for happy bellies on lazy nights when all you can really do is Netflix in jammies.
Said like someone who knows.
P.S. And if you’re someone who is not so into mushrooms, this creamy chicken lasagna bake has very similar vibes.
Chicken tetrazzini, my friends. The time is now.
Three More Comforting Pasta Bakes
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Chicken Tetrazzini
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Chicken Tetrazzini: egg noodles, sautéed mushrooms, roast chicken all baked together with a béchamel sauce.
Ingredients
Chicken Tetrazzini:
- one 3-pound rotisserie chicken, meat pulled and shredded
- 1 pound cooked egg noodles (I like the Alberto’s brand)
- 1 pound sliced mushrooms, sautéed
- 3–4 cups tetrazzini sauce (see below)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Tetrazzini Sauce:
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 cups milk or cream (I used 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 cup whole milk, but I think half and half would also work)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (more as needed)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the ingredients – pull the chicken, cook the noodles, sauté the mushrooms.
- Sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until incorporated. Cook for a few minutes to remove the floury taste. Slowly add the milk and broth, a little bit at a time, whisking after each addition until you get a nice, smooth, thickened sauce. Season with salt and stir in the wine. Taste and adjust – more salt, more wine, more broth to thin the sauce, etc.
- Assemble: Toss the noodles with about a cup of sauce. In a greased 9×13 pan, layer: sauced-up noodles, mushrooms, half of sauce, chicken, remaining half of sauce, and Parmesan.
- Bake: Bake for 30 minutes until melty and bubbly. Broil for 5 minutes to get the top browned. Season with salt and pepper to taste for serving. YUM-O.
Notes
Sprinkle with parsley when it comes out of the oven if you want to be fancy about it!
If making ahead, undercook the noodles a bit and assemble everything, but do not bake. It should freeze beautifully.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition Facts
- Daily value: 21% Total Fat 16.7g
- Daily value: 39% Cholesterol 115.5mg
- Daily value: 24% Sodium 549.4mg
- Daily value: 8% Total Carbohydrate 22.6g
- Daily value: 5% Dietary Fiber 1.4g
- Sugars 3.4g
- Daily value: 54% Protein 27g
- Daily value: 16% Vitamin A 141µg
- Daily value: 1% Vitamin C 1.3mg
- Daily value: 7% Iron 1.3mg
- Daily value: 12% Potassium 575.8mg
- Daily value: 27% Phosphorus 341.9mg
Keywords: chicken tetrazzini, egg noodles with mushrooms, homemade chicken tetrazzini
One more word quick? Thanks for participating with us in the FABH challenge. Really, honestly, you guys are the best. Our hearts are healing, day by day, but they are still heavy and sad as we grieve deeply for the loss of our son Afton. This series helps me move forward – back into “work” – with purpose and hope. I’m also so grateful that you are showing up for the people in your lives who need it. YOU ARE STARS.
This series is more than halfway done and we would love to have you join us – you can read more about the challenge here.
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our coziest comfort food recipes page. Check it out!
This recipe has been around way longer–I usually use angel hair pasta because that’s what DH likes, but ordinary spagetti was what I used in the late 60s when I started serving it to my family. No rotisserie chicken in those days, so I poached a couple of chicken breasts. While the recipe is perfect as written, yesterday had a version with smoked turkey leftovers, no
Made this for dinner tonight. Started tweaking things halfway through as I realized it was going to be bland. Added sautéed onion in with the mushrooms, and nutmeg and generous salt and pepper into the béchamel. I used twice the amount of parmesan called for in the recipe, and added it in the middle layer as well as on top. I baked it with foil on top to keep the dish from drying out, then removed the foil and broiled at the end. I was able to obtain the attractive, browned top as pictured. If I were to make in the future I’d also reduce the noodles by 1/3, and add peas and parsley.
That being said the recipe was a great starting point and all of us, including my 9-year-old and 2-year-old, ate it enthusiastically.
Pretty bland. Nothing much to it, very noodle heavy. Wouldn’t really make it again.
I found this a bit bland. I think it would be a bit better with maybe some added garlic or other spices? Room for improvement, but good overall.
Oh my. This looks really, really good.
I am so gonna try this out one fine day.
Thanks for sharing!
I made this two nights ago. One commenter suggested that the sauce needed some seasoning so I used 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. It came out PERFECT. The consistency of the sauce was also fantastic, I followed that as written. I would definitely recommend this recipe!
I forgot to add that this makes excellent leftovers!
I remember “Turkey Tetrazzini” being very popular as a kid in the 70s and being mentioned on sitcoms and commercials….
We never made it in our house…(or any casseroles, but they were very popular…)
My grandmother would occasionally buy “Family Circle and “Women’s Day” at the supermarket and it seemed that a variation on this recipe was always in one or the other when I was flipping through them…(I read all my Grandmother’s stuff….Including the National Enquirer, The Star and “Weekly World News” …)…I’m going to do a non-wheat noodle variation on this ….Thanks for the memory….
Great dish! We used to add diced green peppers and cover it with some grated cheddar. We made it in serving-sized casserole dishes, but any way you make it is typically quite good!
I’m making this tonight as it’s winter here in Australia and it’ s the perfect make-ahead warming, comfort meal for a busy weeknight. Sending all my good thoughts your way.
Hope you enjoyed it!
i am so glad your neighbors love you! Take care and here is an internet hug for you , maybe there are better symbols to use.
thanks
I’m from the UK loving the recipes any chance of doing British measurements along side the American.
This was SO yummy! I made this dish for my dad’s birthday dinner party and EVERYONE went back for seconds, while some (me!) even had thirds. I’m sure it would have been so good as is, but I did tweak a few itty bitty things along the way… 1) added in 1 small chopped sweet onion when I sautéed the mushrooms 2) added a splash extra of wine 3) once my sauce thickened I took it off the heat and stirred in 1/2 C parmesan cheese, which got all melty and gooey and delicious! 4) mixed the chicken in with the remaining half of sauce before putting it on top of the tetrazzini. It helped the chicken stay moist through the baking process. Annnnd 5) ate way more than 1 serving 😉
Glad you all enjoyed it, Maddie!
This was fantastic, and made enough to feed my family of five (post-soccer and track, no less!) with leftovers, which I am very happy to be taking to work for my lunch tomorrow. The only modifications I had to make were to streamline it even further as I forgot I had no white wine on hand (just used a bit more broth) and didn’t get a chicken at the store, so I cooked six boneless skinless thighs in the crockpot and used that. I didn’t layer (it helps to read the whole recipe before you put it in the oven…) but mixed everything in the pot before it went in the casserole dish. Definitely one for the “keeper” file.
Many prayers for everyone at your house in this season – my brother and his wife have lost two dear babes late in pregnancy, and it is an unspoken grief that our culture cannot comprehend.
Thanks so much for the comment, Carrie. Glad your family enjoyed it!
One of my favorite dishes growing up! I want to try this version.
I almost cried reading this recipe, it looks so yummy …. and so off limits for me with my cow milk allergy and gluten limits 🙁 Then I got a rush of inspiration and hunted down not one but two Paleo friendly bechamel recipes, and since I can sub Pecorino Romano for Parmesan (no issues with goat or sheep cheeses) and I am now an expert at Turmeric butter, this is now on my to-make list with spaghetti squash subbing for the noodles (sigh – I do miss real egg noodles but haven;t found any gluten free yet). Sounds like a lot of substitutions making for a less than super Tetrazzini? Welcome to my world! :-/
I love a good casserole! Am wondering if anyone has tried this with a gluten-free pasta or quinoa? I am trying to reduce wheat in my diet.
SpecialK , I was thinking the same thing…The supermarkets now have non-gluten pasta and noodles so it shouldn’t be a problem…. Or how about just using cauliflower ….
Looks like I’m the only person to actually try this recipe and comment on it. 3 stars. Bechamel sauce is pretty bland, so overall not much flavor. The chicken meat (already overcooked as it came from a supermarket rotisserie) gets even more overcooked with 30 min at 350 and esp 5 more under the broiler. Enhancement idea – layer the chickey more in the bottom of the pan so it has a chance of staying more moist buried in the sauce.
I took your suggestion and added seasonings and layered differently. I used 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp salt. I also cooked my own chicken and layered it chicken, noodles, mushrooms, sauce, parmesan. It came out perfectly. Thank you for the suggestions!
Thanks for the feedback, John!
Hi, Its look delicious. Your recipes always surprised me. You make very different and unique type of recipes. Such a, I am a fan of your recipes. Today dinner, I have made it and gave a surprise to my husband.
It looks so yummy!!
Looks absolutely Amazing!
take care of yourself!
xx
https://charlieslifeandfood.wordpress.com
Tetrazzini is also a great way to enjoy leftover turkey after Thanksgiving or Christmas. My recipe is quite different, so I might need to give this version a try.
Beautiful comfort food dish!! Very nice (:
I was literally asking my mom for the chicken Tetrazzini recipe we grew up eating, but she couldn’t find it. This is perfect!!
Hi Lindsay! I have been following your blog for a few years, back when you and Bjork went to the Philippines. I love all your recipes and I am so happy to hear you are finding your new normal. I’m going to make one of these recipes to share this weekend for a friend with a broken heart. Lots of love from Canada.
This looks amazing – thank you for sharing!
P.S. Love your scarf! 🙂