This recipe is a perfect example of something I’m always looking for: a super-easy, super-quick, super-tasty, super-satisfying cold weather supper. It may not be the absolute healthiest one-pan meal, but it’s one of the most appealing, nostalgia-triggering ones I’ve come across…
My mind was flooded with memories of cold winter days in my childhood when I first looked at this one. How my cheeks tingled coming into the house through the kitchen side door, on days cold enough to make the ‘steam; from your breath freeze on your eyelashes!
The essence of comfort
Just looking forward to this memorable chicken and pasta supper is enough to cut your chills. And that makes it all the more important that it can be ready literally in minutes!
How easy is it? You might already have everything in the house you need to throw it together. Without even having had to think about it…
Simple ingredients
This is all you need…
- 3 cups Chicken (cooked, and cut or shredded into bite-sized pieces)
- 10.75 oz. / 315 ml can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 20 oz. / 591 ml can Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies 2 cans
- 2 cloves Garlic (crushed or minced) (or 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder)
- 3/4 cup / 170 g Onions (finely chopped) (or 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder)
- 8 oz. / 227 g Cheddar or blended Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese (grated)
- 8 oz. / 227 g Dry Pasta of your choice (cooked and drained)
What you do
Just put everything together in a well-greased 9 x 13 in. / 22.5 cm x 32.5 casserole dish.
Mix gently until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
Top with more cheese if desired.
Bake until bubbly and cheese on top just starts browning.
Allow to sit for 10 minutes to set before serving.
Tips
You can use any pre-cooked chicken you want to. This recipe is always a great follow-on to a roast turkey feast. You can use a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, or cook up some chicken [p-arts, if you wish.
Instead of the canned tomatoes, you can use fresh tomatoes if you want to, and any amount of fresh jalapeños that suits your taste.
Use as much or as little cheese as you want.
The original recipe calls for spaghetti. Use any pasta you want, whether long or short. I prefer rotini or penne rigati. If I don’t have either of those, I will have wide, twisted, flat regular egg noodles. And they’re classic for this dish. And for fancy, I always used Farfelle – commonly known as Bow-Ties or Butterflies.
My take
Using canned and powdered ingredients, this thing goes together in under 10 minutes. And cooks up in under 30 min.
To more-closely approximate a ‘healthy balanced’ supper, toss together a quick side salad.
But above all else, just enjoy this classic, 1960-vintage, lovingly-retro chicken supper… And pair with the first season of Mad Men on Netflix…
~ Maggie J.