Chicken Spaghetti Without Velveeta

This chicken spaghetti without Velveeta is the baked Southern casserole of spaghetti, shredded chicken and cheese sauce, made with a real sharp cheddar sauce instead of processed cheese or a can of cream soup.

The sauce starts with butter, flour and broth like a gravy, then gets evaporated milk, a few ounces of cream cheese and 2 cups of shredded cheddar, and it is the evaporated milk and cream cheese that keep it smooth in the oven where a plain cheddar sauce would break and turn grainy.

It tastes like cheddar rather than like a cheese product, and it is a little less stretchy than a Velveeta version, which is the trade you make.

Start to finish it takes about an hour, and it fills a 9×13 dish for six to eight.

Why You’ll Love It

• Real cheese sauce from butter, flour, evaporated milk, cream cheese and sharp cheddar
• No Velveeta, no canned soup, no ranch packet
• Uses 3 cups of rotisserie or leftover chicken
• Rotel is optional, so it works plain or with a little heat
• One 9×13 pan feeds 6 to 8
• Assembles a day ahead and bakes from the fridge

Ingredients

For the Casserole

12 oz spaghetti

3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped (one rotisserie chicken)

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained (optional)

12 oz sharp cheddar, shredded from a block (about 3 cups), divided

For the Cheese Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, finely diced

1 green bell pepper, finely diced (optional)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

4 oz cream cheese, cubed and softened

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and butter a 9×13 ceramic baking dish.

2. Boil the spaghetti in a 8-quart stock pot of well-salted water for 2 minutes less than the package says, about 7 to 8 minutes, so it is still firm in the center, then drain it without rinsing, because it keeps cooking in the oven and fully cooked pasta turns soft and limp after baking.

3. Melt the butter in a 5.5-quart Dutch oven or deep 12-inch skillet over medium heat, add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until soft, then stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.

4. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until it coats everything and smells toasty, with no dry white patches left.

5. Whisk in the broth a splash at a time with a balloon whisk so the flour dissolves without lumps, then whisk in the evaporated milk and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

6. Take the pot off the heat before any cheese goes in, because cheddar that boils seizes into a grainy, stringy sauce that never comes back.

7. Stir in the cream cheese cubes until they disappear, then add 2 cups of the cheddar a handful at a time, stirring each one in before adding the next, until the sauce is smooth and orange.

8. Stir in the paprika, dry mustard, salt, pepper and cayenne, then taste the sauce on its own, since this is the only point where you can fix the seasoning before it is spread across 12 ounces of pasta.

9. Add the drained tomatoes, the chicken and the spaghetti to the pot and toss with kitchen tongs until every strand is coated, which takes longer than it looks because spaghetti clumps.

10. Spread the mixture into the baking dish, scatter the remaining cup of cheddar over the top, and bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges bubble and the cheese on top has melted.

11. For browned spots on the cheese, switch to the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes with the dish on the top rack and watch it the whole time, then let the casserole rest for 5 minutes so the sauce sets enough to serve in squares rather than spoonfuls.

Helpful Tips & Substitutions

Evaporated milk is the ingredient that makes this work without Velveeta, because its concentrated milk proteins hold the cheese in suspension through 30 minutes in the oven, while regular milk makes a sauce that is fine on the stove and separates in the dish.

If you only have regular milk, use 1 1/2 cups of whole milk and increase the cream cheese to 6 oz, which gets you most of the way there.

Shred the cheddar from a block with a box grater, because bagged shredded cheese is dusted with cellulose and potato starch that keep it from melting smoothly and leave the sauce gritty.

Sharp cheddar matters here since mild cheddar tastes like nothing once it is spread across this much pasta and chicken, and a mix of 8 oz sharp cheddar with 4 oz Monterey Jack gives you a stretchier melt if you miss that about the Velveeta version.

The dry mustard does not make the sauce taste of mustard, it sharpens the cheese flavor, and it is the same trick used in most macaroni and cheese recipes.

To cook chicken from raw, poach 1 1/4 lb of boneless breasts in the 1 1/2 cups of broth plus 2 cups of water for 15 to 18 minutes until they reach 165°F (74°C), then shred them and use the poaching liquid as the broth in the sauce.

Drain the Rotel well and press it in a sieve, because the liquid thins the sauce and turns it pink, and for a milder version use a 14.5-oz can of plain diced tomatoes, drained, or leave the tomatoes out altogether.

Thin spaghetti works but cooks faster, so pull it after 5 to 6 minutes, and short pasta like penne or rotini is easier to serve if the strands bother you.

The sauce should look slightly too loose when you toss in the pasta, because the spaghetti absorbs a lot of it in the oven, and a sauce that is already thick at this stage bakes dry.

Serving Ideas

Cut it into squares after the 5-minute rest and serve with sliced green onions or a few shakes of hot sauce on top for the people who want it.

A sharp, crunchy side is what this needs, so a bag of slaw mix tossed with vinegar, a little sugar and salt, or the Garlic Parmesan Green Beans, both work.

Garlic bread is the usual partner, but this is already rich enough that plain toasted sourdough does the same job with less butter.

If you like baked pasta with chicken and cheese, the Baked Chicken Parmesan Pasta is the tomato-sauce version of this dinner.

The Cheesy Baked Penne Casserole and the Baked Ziti with Meat Sauce follow the same assemble-and-bake format if you want to rotate through a few of these.

Make-Ahead & Storage

Assemble the whole casserole through step 10, cover it tightly with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, then bake it covered for 20 minutes and uncovered for 20 to 25 more, since it goes in cold.

Leftovers keep for 4 days in the fridge, covered in the baking dish or in airtight containers.

Reheat single portions in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes with a tablespoon of milk sprinkled over the top and a damp paper towel laid over the bowl, which steams the pasta back to soft instead of drying it out.

To reheat the whole dish, cover it with foil and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 25 to 30 minutes until the center is hot.

It freezes well either before or after baking, wrapped in plastic and then foil, for up to 3 months, though the sauce comes out slightly thicker and the pasta slightly softer than fresh.

Thaw a frozen casserole overnight in the fridge before baking, because baking from frozen leaves the center cold while the edges overcook.

The cheese sauce thickens and clings harder to the spaghetti as it sits, so the leftovers are denser and more cheddar-forward than the first serving, and a splash of milk when reheating brings them back.