Italians would balk at this Chicken Spaghetti

When I heard the dish "Chicken Spaghetti" for the first time, I thought, "chicken in a tomato sauce with spaghetti," right? Oh, I was terribly WRONG!

I’m not sure if Chicken Spaghetti is a Southern thing (probably), but the first time I ever chowed down on this stuff was at Micah’s parents’ house. When I saw the dish come out of the oven, I was caught off guard, but then I tasted it: I actually really liked the Velveeta-laden pasta dish.

Growing up in a Viet household, we didn’t eat stuff that was comprised of processed cheese! (I know my youth was squandered on braised pork belly.)

After enjoying it several times at Micah’s house, I finally got around to making it myself and now I make it every few months. I did tweak the recipe to make it a little healthier.

Disclaimer: It might not be the prettiest dish, but it is cheesy goodness, I promise!

Chicken Spaghetti

Inspired by Micah’s Mom

{don't judge me because I mainly use generic brands}

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of uncooked spaghetti
• 1 bell pepper - diced
• 1 medium onion – diced
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast - shredded
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chiles (I’m cheap so I get the HEB brand, but you can use Rotel, if you’re a baller like that)
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (Healthy version has less sodium and fat!)
• ½ block HEB Easy Melt Light (or Velveeta) – chopped into ¼ inch squares (you can make queso with the other ½ block of cheese!)
• 1 cup frozen broccoli
• 1 cup frozen peas

Pre-heat oven to 350° and grease a 16x9 inch casserole dish

• Start off by bringing a big ass pot of water to a boil and when it’s at a boil, season liberally with kosher salt, add all of the spaghetti. Cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. On the last minute of cooking the spaghetti, add the frozen broccoli and peas to the water. Drain everything and dump back into the empty pot.

• While the spaghetti is cooking, in a medium-sized pot, sauté the onions and bell pepper in a smidgen of olive oil.Season with salt and pepper.

• When the onions and bell pepper are tender, add the canned items, yep, dump it all into the pot.Warm everything through.

{don't be scared by this monstrosity}

• Pour the sauce mixture over the drained noodles and veggies.

• Add the chopped cheese and the shredded chicken.Mix everything thoroughly.

• Transfer everything in the pot into the casserole pan. Bake @ 350° for 25 minutes or until there is a nice golden top and everything is all bubbly. Allow to set for 10 minutes before serving.

{at least there are some greens in this dish}