• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

Small book

My cookbook "Dinner" now available!

  • My RecipeTin
  • My cookbook!
  • Recipes
  • Recipes By Category
    • Iconic + cult classics
    • Mains
      • Chicken
        • Chicken mince
      • Beef Recipes
        • Ground Beef (Mince)
      • Pork
      • Lamb
      • Turkey
      • Shrimp / Prawns
      • Salmon
      • Fish recipes
      • Salad Meals
    • Quick and Easy
    • Soups
    • One Pot – One Pan
    • Stews
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides
      • All
      • Salads & veg
      • Show Off Salads
      • Rice (all)
      • Fried rice recipes
      • Rice (plain)
      • Potato
    • Pasta
      • All
      • Pasta bakes
      • Pasta salads
    • Sweet
      • Cakes
      • Candy
      • Cheesecakes
      • Cupcakes & Muffins
      • Cookies
      • Puddings & Cosy Desserts
      • Bite Size
      • Pies
      • Slices & Bars
      • Frosting & Icing
      • Ice cream
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
        • All
        • Stir fries
        • Noodles
        • Soups
        • Chinese
        • Japanese
        • Korean
        • Thai
        • Vietnamese
      • French
      • Greek
      • Indian
      • Italian
      • Mediterranean
      • Mexican
      • Middle Eastern
      • South American
    • Dietary
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Calorie
      • Vegetarian
    • Other Categories
      • BBQ
      • Breakfast
      • Burgers
      • Cocktails
      • Party Foods
      • Rice Recipes
      • Roasts
      • Sandwiches & Sliders
    • Cookbook recipes
  • Collections
  • About
    • Me
    • RecipeTin Meals
    • Free Recipe Books
    • Contact
    • Nitty Gritty
      • Policy: Use of Recipes & Images
      • Privacy & Disclosure
Home Collections Sunday Supper

Chicken Tetrazzini – creamy Italian pasta bake

By:Nagi
Published:24 Aug '20Updated:21 Sep '22
192 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Chicken Tetrazzini is a big, bubbly pasta bake with a creamy cheese sauce, juicy chicken and buttery garlic mushrooms. It’s about as classic as a creamy pasta bake can get!

Close up of spoon lifting out some creamy Chicken Tetrazzini fresh out of the oven

Chicken Tetrazzini

I call Tetrazzini an Italian pasta bake just because it sounds good to say so, but in actual fact, there is nothing Italian about this creamy-oh-so-cheesy pasta casserole other than the fact that it’s named after an Italian opera singer, Luisa Tetrazzini.

It is said that a Chef at a hotel in the States invented this dish especially for her, and you’ll never find it in a (real) Italian cookbook. But that doesn’t make this any less delicious. Juicy chicken with garlic butter mushrooms smothered in a béchamel sauce, tossed through slick pasta and baked until bubbly…. UGH! I’m torturing myself just writing about it!! 😂

This pasta casserole bake is made from scratch. Canned soup has no place around here!!

Pan of Chicken Tetrazzini - creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake, fresh out of the oven

What you need for creamy Chicken Tetrazzini Sauce

Here’s what you need to make the cream sauce for Chicken Tetrazzini: butter, flour, chicken broth/stock, milk, cream and cheese.

Ingredients in Chicken Tetrazzini - creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake

The basis of Tetrazzini sauce is a béchamel sauce. While a basic béchamel is made with just butter, flour and milk, for Tetrazzini, we dial up the deliciousness by adding chicken stock (for flavour), cream (for richness) and cheese (a good thing in anything!).


What goes in Chicken Tetrazzini

As for the pasta bake itself, here’s what you need:

Ingredients im Chicken Tetrazzini - creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake

  • Pasta – long strand pasta like spaghetti is traditional, but this recipe works perfectly with short pastas like macaroni, penne, ziti, rigatoni, spirals. Just avoid tiny pasta like risoni/orzo, ditalini, tiny shells or novelty pastas like alphabet pasta – they are too small;

  • Chicken – thighs are best because they stay juicy even after the double cook (seared then baked), but breast and tenderloin are fine too. Buying pre-cooked chicken will speed things up, but the sauce won’t be as nice because  it gets a flavour boost by cooking the sauce in the same pot the chicken is seared in (the golden bits left in the pan from the chicken is a free flavour boost for the sauce);

  • Mushrooms – anything sliceable is fine, I’ve just used normal button mushrooms here;

  • Butter – used to cook the mushrooms, and also as the fat into which the flour is mixed which thickens the liquids to make the creamy sauce;

  • Garlic and onion – essential flavour base.


How to make Chicken Tetrazzini

Cook the chicken first because the golden bits left in the pot will dissolve into the sauce which adds a stack of flavour. The chicken doesn’t need to be fully cooked through – once chopped into small pieces, it will take mere minutes to finish cooking in the oven.

How to make chicken for Chicken Tetrazzini - creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake

Skip the shortcut store bought roast chicken. Cooking your own is so much tastier because the sauce gets a massive free flavour boost from deglazing the pot.

Close up of chopped pan seared chicken thighs

After the chicken is cooked, we cook the mushrooms and onion, then mix in the flour before adding the liquids. This is an easy method to ensure your creamy sauce comes out smooth rather than with flour lumps without the need of a whisk or slowly pouring the milk in. By mixing the flour into the cooked mushrooms, it gets dispersed which makes it far less prone to lumps when the milk is added. Tip of the day! 😎

How to make Chicken Tetrazzini - creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake

How to tell when the béchamel sauce is thick enough

Use the “path” test (Step 5 above) – coat the back of your wooden spoon with the sauce, hold it vertically (so the sauce is dripping off it). Then use your finger to draw a line across it – it should hold briefly before the sauce runs down to cover the line up. This means the sauce is thick enough.

Drawing a line across the spoon to check thickness of béchamel sauce

TIP: The sauce should not be very thick – it thickens more when cheese is added and again when baked.

Pot of creamy Chicken Tetrazzini ready to be baked

Plenty of sauce – because nobody likes stodgy pasta bakes!

As with all my pasta bakes, I make more sauce than most recipes because I like my pasta bakes to come out of the oven molten and bubbling, smothered with sauce rather than a dried up stodgy block that you can cut like cake. No thank you!!! I want THIS ↓↓↓

Fork lifting up Chicken Tetrazzini - creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake

Bowl of Chicken Tetrazzini - creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake - ready to be eaten

What to serve with Chicken Tetrazzini

I’d strongly urge you to add a side of greens – have a browse through my Vegetable Sides (newly organised by vegetable!).

Then if you’re going all out, add a side of Garlic Bread or if you want to blow the cheese-meter, add a side of Cheesy Garlic Bread.

For dessert, try Tiramisu if you want to keep with the Italian theme, or if you’re going for a cosy Winter meal, make a pudding! Try one of these:

Winter Puddings and Cosy Dessert suggestions

Close up of Self Saucing Butterscotch Pudding in a baking dish, being served
Self Saucing Butterscotch Pudding
Bread and Butter Pudding with ice cream, fresh out of the oven ready to be served
Bread and Butter Pudding
Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding - 1 batter transforms into a moist chocolate cake with a beautiful silky chocolate sauce! 10 minutes active effort. recipetineats.com
Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding
Close up overhead photo of Apple Crumble with scoops of vanilla ice cream
Apple Crumble
Butterscotch Sauce being poured over Sticky Toffee Pudding on a white plate, ready to be eaten
Sticky Date Pudding
Close up of caramel sauce being drizzled over Baked Apples with ice cream on top in a baking dish, fresh out of the oven.
Magic Caramel Self Saucing Baked Apples
Close up showing the syrupy strawberry filling of Strawberry Crumble
Strawberry Crumble

Enjoy! – Nagi x


Watch how to make it

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Close up of spoon lifting out some creamy Chicken Tetrazzini fresh out of the oven

Chicken Tetrazzini (creamy chicken mushroom pasta bake)

Author: Nagi
Prep: 15 minutes mins
Cook: 1 hour hr
Mains
Western
4.98 from 67 votes
Servings8 people
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. A big, creamy pasta bake with juicy chicken and mushrooms. Cheesy, hot and completely delicioius! Rumoured to be named after an Italian opera star Luisa Tetrazzini when an American Chef created this dish for her. So it's not authentic Italian - but it doesn't make this any less delicious!!

Ingredients

  • 500g / 1lb spaghetti or other long pasta, cooked per packet (penne, macaroni, ziti ok too) (Note 1)

Chicken

  • 2 tbsp (30g) butter
  • 500g / 1lb chicken thighs , skinless boneless (Note 2)

Creamy Sauce

  • 4 tbsp (60g) butter , unsalted
  • 500g / 1lb mushrooms , sliced 1/2 cm / 1/5" thick
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1 onion , finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 2 cups milk , any fat, any type
  • 1 cup cream , heavy / thickened (sub more milk)
  • 2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium (or water + 2 stock cubes)
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups cheese , shredded (cheddar, jack, colby - not mozz)

Instructions

Sear chicken

  • Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large pot over high heat. Add chicken, sprinkle with pinch of salt and pepper. Cook 1 1/2 minutes until golden.
  • Turn chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 1 minute until golden then remove onto plate - doesn't need to be fully cooked (will cook more in oven).
  • Rest 5 minutes, then chop into small pieces, or shred.

Sauce & pasta

  • Preheat oven to 160°C / 325°F.
  • Cook mushrooms: Melt 4 tbsp butter over high heat in the same pot. Add mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes until starting to go floppy but not yet golden.
  • Add onion: Add garlic and onion, cook for 3 minutes until mushrooms are golden. Add a pinch of salt and pepper halfway through.
  • Add flour & milk: Turn heat down to medium. Add flour. Stir for 30 seconds. Add milk and stir for 10 seconds or until it thickens (see video at 52 sec).
  • Add cream and broth: Add chicken stock, cream, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir, then let the mixture heat up, stirring every now and then so it doesn't catch on the base, and cook until the sauce thickens enough so you can draw a path on the back of the spoon (video at 1.04). Do not make it very thick - it gets thicker in next steps.
  • Add cheese & pasta: Turn stove off. Stir through half the cheese (will melt in oven), then add pasta and chicken. Toss to mix, taste and add more salt if needed.
  • Bake: Pour into 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" pan, smooth surface. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Serve immediately!

Recipe Notes:

1. Pasta - risoni/orzo and other tiny pasta won't create enough volume for this recipe, Either use this recipe, or cook double the amount of pasta.
2. Chicken - thighs best because they stay juicier in things like pasta bakes where they're cooked for longer than ideal. Breast and tenderloin fine too.
Can also use store bought rotisserie / roast chicken but sauce flavour won't be as good - dissolving golden bits on base of pan from searing chicken ("fond") adds extra flavour into sauce.
3. Cool pasta = absorbs less sauce while in oven, so pasta doesn't bloat and you don't end up with a thick, sauceless pasta bale.
4. Substitutions for creamy sauce ingredients:
  • Butter - sub margarine. Sub with olive oil + switch 1 cup of the milk for cream (if you can, to make up richness/flavour). Butter is flavour, so try not to skip this. 
  • Flour - any type of flour fine here, white, wholemeal, self raising, gluten free. Cornflour/cornstarch gluten free sub: Mix 3.5 tbsp with splash of water and add that in with the milk. And obviously, use GF pasta!
  • Milk - any type. Dairy, non dairy, full fat, low fat, fresh, long life, milk powder (reconstituted). Up to 1.5 cups milk can be substituted with water. 
  • Stock/bouillon powder or cube or seasoning instead of liquid stock/broth - use 2 cubes or 4 tsp powder, chicken or vegetable (Vegeta is my fave). Sub with 1/2 cup extra parmesan + salt to taste.
  • No cheese? Add 3/4 cup / 75g shredded parmesan, or  1 - 1.5 tsp chicken stock powder.
5. Leftovers - Store in the fridge for up to 4 days, reheat in microwave. Keeps better than most pasta bakes because this is saucier so you don't end up with sad dried up stodgy leftovers.
6. Make ahead / freezing: Toss hot pasta with dab of butter of drizzle of oil (stops it bloating), then let it cool. Make sauce, cool, toss with pasta and assemble pasta bake. Fridge 4 days or freezer 3 months, thaw then bake 40 minutes loosely covered with foil (remove for last 10 min). OR bake from frozen - foil covered for 50 minutes or until centre is piping hot, then remove cover and bake until cheese has golden spots.
7. Nutrition per serving. Cut 60 calories by switching cream for more milk, cut a further 75 calories by switching the cheese with 1 cup parmesan cheese (stronger flavour so you need less).

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 669cal (33%)Carbohydrates: 58g (19%)Protein: 34g (68%)Fat: 34g (52%)Saturated Fat: 20g (125%)Cholesterol: 155mg (52%)Sodium: 955mg (42%)Potassium: 708mg (20%)Fiber: 3g (13%)Sugar: 7g (8%)Vitamin A: 1141IU (23%)Vitamin C: 3mg (4%)Calcium: 328mg (33%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Keywords: Chicken Pasta Bake, chicken tetrazzini, pasta bake, pasta casserole bake, tetrazzini pasta
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life of Dozer

One of his best features. (Minus what looks like a big boogie up his nose 😆)

Dozer with boogie up his nose

Previous Post
Honey Chicken – STAYS CRISPY for hours!
Next Post
Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




192 Comments

  1. Hilary says

    April 10, 2024 at 5:21 pm

    5 stars
    Once again another smash hit of a dish! I made completely as per recipe & we all loved it. Went down a storm. Thanks again Nagi

    Reply
  2. Dorette says

    February 27, 2024 at 4:41 am

    5 stars
    Sorry, I forgot my stars definetly 5 and more I’d say

    Reply
  3. Dorette says

    February 27, 2024 at 4:31 am

    Hi Nagi,
    made this last night, everyone loved it and I had to promise to make it soon again. Had not enough mushrooms, so subbed Broccoli and had baked chicken thighs with bone and skin so, made my own ,very yummy broth with the bones and skin, a carrot, celery and 1/2 an onion and followed the rest of the recipe and it was the best I ever made. All the recipes I tried of yours were simply great and I thank you, sweet Dozer and the team for all your work to bring us those wonderful meals

    Reply
  4. Salima says

    February 18, 2024 at 11:38 pm

    I have made this many times and it’s a family favourite! I am making it for my friends who do not like mushrooms. Can I sub in broccoli? And would I do it at the same time I would put in the mushrooms?

    Reply
  5. John says

    February 7, 2024 at 1:47 pm

    5 stars
    I cook chicken in Chicken stock wit garlic and onion .
    Use a cup of stock to make sauce along with cream and a small amount of cheese

    Reply
  6. teresa schuh says

    January 22, 2024 at 4:47 pm

    5 stars
    love your recipes. made quite a few. Dozer what a cutie

    Reply
  7. Ceejay says

    December 28, 2023 at 6:59 am

    5 stars
    Made this for Christmas dinner with family. Added spinach, because…what could be wrong with that? 🙂 I didn’t have any cream so used 2%milk instead. Baked it ahead and rewarmed it just before eating. Turned out great and everyone enjoyed it.

    Reply
  8. Marjorie McCulley says

    December 5, 2023 at 5:54 pm

    If I make this recipe again I’ll make half quantity and definitely use less butter.
    It was delicious but very buttery and very rich with a lot of butter, cream and cheese.

    Reply
  9. Jackie says

    August 15, 2023 at 11:43 am

    Made mostly as written. Used linguine for the pasta, shredded rotisserie chicken, used a variety of italian cheeses (leftover from pizza night), saw the suggestion to add bacon and put some of that in, some homemade italian spice blend and a couple of generous handfuls of spinach to round it out.

    Reply
  10. Dianne says

    July 22, 2023 at 6:36 am

    Hahahaha 😂 Keira am making this tonight and thought the same thing, had to read the recipe again.😁

    Reply
  11. Kiera says

    July 19, 2023 at 7:12 pm

    Please tell me someone other than myself came in tired from work, missed the ‘cooked’ spaghetti bit and just launched in dry spaghetti thinking ‘this is a weird method but okay’

    🫣

    Reply
    • Katie says

      September 15, 2023 at 11:46 am

      5 stars
      If I hadn’t seen your comment, I would have done the exact same thing LOL.

      Reply
  12. Annie says

    July 2, 2023 at 11:22 am

    5 stars
    Easy, cheap, delicious and reheats well!!

    Reply
  13. Mel says

    June 27, 2023 at 8:22 pm

    4 stars
    This is an amazing flavoursome dish. I believe adding some bacon and greens onions would make it quite spectacular

    Reply
  14. Penguin says

    May 4, 2023 at 10:27 pm

    5 stars
    The sauce is amazing, just the right consistency without being gluggy or watery. I really enjoyed it!

    Reply
  15. BobC says

    April 30, 2023 at 10:19 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe. I made it with leftover chicken and added frozen peas and carrots. I lightened up the fat calories by reducing the butter by half, and substituting 2% milk for the cream. I added 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp hot sauce to increase the spice level.

    Reply
    • Marjorie says

      December 5, 2023 at 5:58 pm

      I wish I had seen your comment.
      I should have reduced the butter.

      Reply
  16. Renee S says

    April 17, 2023 at 7:29 am

    5 stars
    I agree with Althea (and others in the turkey camp)–this also made an excellent turkey tetrazzini. I made a too-large bird for Easter, and had a lot of leftovers. They were just transformed into an excellent Sunday supper! Turkey is a bit stronger in flavor than chicken, so I added a handful of peas and minced fresh parsley to the sauce to freshen it up. Otherwise, kept everything the same and it was wonderful.

    Reply
  17. Jamie says

    April 13, 2023 at 5:15 am

    5 stars
    I made this recipe as written three weeks ago. I made it specifically to freeze portions for later use as well as a few meals when it was cooked.

    This was by far the best pasta dish I have ever made for the freezer. It thawed and reheated beautifully. The sauce was still as rich and creamy as the first time I tried a bite straight out of the oven. The pasta did not “bloat” either!

    Nagi, Dozer and team, thank you for the all the work that went into perfecting this recipe (and it is perfect)!

    Reply
  18. FranW says

    April 13, 2023 at 4:46 am

    I made this last night, using leftover roast chicken. I added corn because why not? It was AWESOME. Another Nagi winner.

    Reply
  19. franw says

    April 12, 2023 at 5:05 pm

    I made this using leftover chopped chicken. The only change was that I added frozen corn to the mix, and cut the recipe in half.

    Dearly beloved gave it seven stars out of five. Is that

    Reply
  20. Cheryl Francis says

    April 8, 2023 at 12:18 am

    5 stars
    Amazing recipe. Simple to prepare & absolutely delighted Italian restaurant standard result!

    Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Meet Dozer

Official taste tester of RecipeTin Eats! Meet Dozer
As Featured On

Never miss a recipe!

Subscribe to my newsletter and receive 3 FREE ebooks!

Subscribe
Recipes
  • All Recipes
  • By Category
  • Collections
About
  • About Nagi
  • About Dozer
  • RecipeTin Meals
Related
  • RecipeTin Japan
  • Food Bloggers Central
Help
  • Contact
  • Image Use Policy
© RecipeTin Eats 2024
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits
Maintained by Human Made Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
All Rights Reserved

Subscribe to my newsletter

Sign up and receive 3 FREE EBOOKS!