This Chicken Spaghetti Recipe is a delicious red sauce, complimented perfectly with chicken and served over spaghetti – a family favorite!
I’m trilled to be giving this post a face lift with new photos because it is one of my family’s very favorites! This recipe, originally named French Spaghetti, comes from my good friend Trish’s cookbook: 100 Creative Ways to use Rotisserie Chicken. To this day, it remains one of my favorite books that I’ve reviewed. The recipes in it are both delicious and kid friendly.
Trish, the author of the amazing blog Mom On Timeout, truly is a good friend of mine. She has made me laugh so hard I cried. She’s shared in really difficult and hard times with me.
Not only that, but she is an amazing coworker and has given me countless pieces of amazing advice over the years. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her support. And she makes incredible dinner recipes.
This Chicken Spaghetti is one of my family’s very favorites.
We make it all the time, and I have so many pictures of my kids dangling spaghetti over their mouths, forks high in the air, as they devour this.
How to Make Chicken Spaghetti
There are lots of great chicken spaghetti recipes out there, but this one is different; I dare say way better. It comes together on the stovetop with a rich and delicious red sauce.
This recipe comes from Trish’s French grandmother, and is a treasure. She revamped it into this amazing fast weeknight dinner.
(As always, this is just a brief overview. Head to the bottom of the post for all the instructions and quantities.)
- Start your water to cook your spaghetti.
- While the water is coming to a boil, heat oil in a large skillet, melt in some butter and sauté your onion and garlic.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, herbs, and spaghetti seasoning (homemade or store bought).
- Stir in wine (or chicken stock), bay leaves, and shredded chicken.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
- Mix with the cooked spaghetti and serve with parmesan.
HOMEMADE SPAGEHTTI SEASONING
As this post has been published for years, I have had so many people ask me where to find spaghetti seasoning and what to replace it with. It adds both thickness and flavor to this recipe, so please don’t skip it.
It’s a small seasoning packet often found with other packets in American grocery stores, for example a packet to create pulled BBQ pork in your slow cooker. Look there.
Or make this replacement recipe. It tastes almost exactly the same, makes the same amount and works perfectly in this recipe. (Nathan said he liked it better than the store-bought!)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Freezing Rotisserie Chicken
This recipe, and all the others in Trish’s book, call for shredded rotisserie chicken. I love freezing mine so that I always have it on hand, it’s simple to do. (A great tip I got from Cheryl at Tidy Mom.)
- Buy as many rotisserie chickens as your freezer can handle.
- Shred them when they are cool enough to handle, discarding the skin and bones.
- Line rimmed baking sheets with wax paper and spread the chicken out over it.
- Put it in the freezer on the tray for 1 hour to flash freeze it.
- Transfer the partially frozen chicken to airtight containers and put in your freezer for up to three months.
By doing it this way you end up with chicken that is easy to separate, even frozen. Meaning you can pull out 1 cup of chicken at a time.
When I reshot this recipe, we used frozen rotisserie chicken and it worked perfectly. It wasn’t even 100% thawed when we put it in, and it still turned out great.
Side Dishes
Since I am sure that this will become part of your family’s monthly rotation, here are some great side dish recipes to serve with it.
They are all of the veggie variety to get some greens in the tiny bellies that live in my house.
More Pasta Please
If you are looking for other great pasta dishes, check out:
My meat sauce recipe! It is delicious, hearty, and when added to spaghetti, a meal of it’s own.
People always ask me for this One Pot Creamy Shrimp Pasta recipe when I make it for them.
Finally, my Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta is a meal everyone will love.
If you make this chicken spaghetti recipe or any of the other recipes I have listed, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Chicken Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 16 ounces thin spaghetti cooked per package instructions
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 28 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup red wine (or chicken stock – see note)
- 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 2 bay leaves
- fresh parmesan and parsley for topping
Homemade Spaghetti Seasoning (or the 1.5 ounce store bought packet)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Gather all of your ingredients together before starting this recipe.
- Boil the water for your pasta, add the spaghetti once the water comes to a roaring boil, drain and set aside.
- While your water is coming to boil, heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the diced onion, cooking for 4 to 5 minutes or until it is translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds being careful not to burn it.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, wine, the herbs, and the spaghetti seasoning. Whisk to fully combine.
- Stir in the bay leaves and shredded chicken.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer and then reduce the heat. YOu should still be able to see some gentle bubbles. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.
- When the sauce is finished either add the spaghetti to the sauce and toss to combine, or serve the spaghetti in a large serving bowl with the sauce poured over the top. Top with fresh parsley and parmesan.
Notes
Amanda says
Do you mix in the corn starch with the other components of the seasoning or do you make a slurry?
Hi Amanda, no need to make a slurry. Just mix it with the other seasoning ingredients.
Kate Ellis says
This looks delicious. Will soon try it for my family.
I hope your family loves it, Kate!
Start Goins’s says
What kind of red wine is best for this recipe?
I always use a red wine blend or a cabernet. You should use whatever you enjoy the taste of most!
Starr Goins says
Thank you very much for responding and suggestion. I will definitely try one of those.
Lynn says
My mom used to make Chicken Spaghetti but I haven’t been able to find a red sauce chicken spaghetti recipe like hers. This one is really close. The only thing I changed is I added a can of diced tomatoes. It tastes amazing and I love the flavor the red wine gives it.
I’m so glad you liked it!