Your whole family is in for a treat tonight! This creamy gluten free chicken tetrazzini recipe is so easy to make using leftover rotisserie chicken! If you have missed chicken spaghetti, this easy tetrazzini recipe is worth making!
You can enjoy this recipe in about 45 minutes, even less if you meal prep it the night before baking.
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Before we went gluten free, I used to make a friend's chicken spaghetti recipe fairly often. It was pure comfort food in a bowl, and it was definitely not very healthy. It used canned condensed milk and a lot of other processed ingredients.
My recipe is not only a healthy version of a chicken tetrazzini bake, but it is full of all of that delicious creamy flavor. It was a huge hit with my kids!!
Add in mushrooms and lots of cheese like I did, or add in the vegetables you have on-hand to make it even better.
If you love this recipe, you will want to check out all of my easy Gluten Free Dinner Recipes!
Why this recipe is so great:
This recipe is not only flexible in what ingredients you use, it is wildly popular for dinner in our family. My chicken tetrazzini with mushrooms recipe is creamy, and full of big chunks of rotisserie chicken.
You can enjoy this recipe in about 35 minutes, even less if you meal prep it before baking.
Although you can use any leftover chicken, I love to use rotisserie chicken. You can pick up a gluten free rotisserie chicken at Costco, or another grocery store that carries gluten free rotisserie chicken to make this recipe even easier.
We love comfort food like this tetrazzini. If you love comfort foods, you will also love my Gluten Free Chicken and Dumplings recipe.
Ingredient notes:
- Gluten free spaghetti - I prefer Tinkyada and Jovial brands for this recipe because they hold together with the sauce and baking.
- Rotisserie chicken - I love the flavor rotisserie chicken adds to this casserole, but you can use any leftover chicken.
- Cheddar cheese - Use your favorite. I love sharp cheddar, but you can use another cheese if you like.
- Mushrooms - You can use any mushroom, or add in any veggies to customize this recipe.
Are you ready to give this easy gluten free chicken spaghetti recipe a try?
Recipe step by step directions:
The first step is to gather up your chicken tetrazzini ingredients and put them all on the counter. I find it this helps keep me organized and I do this for any cooking or baking I do.
Step 1: In a skillet, add the butter, onion, and garlic and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add the mushrooms and cook until softened.
Step 3: Add the tapioca starch to the cooking vegetables and mix well. Mixing in the thickener now will prevent big lumps in the tetrazzini sauce.
Step 4: Add the rest of the liquid ingredients and cheese.
Step 5: Tear up the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add in the rotisserie chicken or any grilled chicken leftovers. Mix well.
Step 6: Cook your gluten free spaghetti pasta in a large pot. I add a teaspoon of oil to the pot to prevent the spaghetti from sticking. Important: Cook the pasta one minute less than package directions indicate! This will help it hold up to the tetrazzini sauce better.
Every brand of gluten free pasta has different cooking directions based on the ingredients the pasta is made with so definitely read the cooking directions. Read these tips to learn how to keep gluten free pasta from getting mushy.
Step 7: Drain the spaghetti in a colander and put it back into the big pot. Pour in the chicken tetrazzini sauce.
Step 8: Add the pasta and chicken mixture to a casserole dish and top with more cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 375º F until the cheese is bubbly.
Serve it hot with these Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon or these kid-friendly Maple Roasted Carrots.
Meal prep instructions:
To meal prep this recipe ahead, I recommend making the chicken and tetrazzini sauce recipe ahead. Because gluten free pasta can be finicky, I would boil the pasta and then just mix it all up to bake when you are ready.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ:
I really like how Tinkyada and Jovial gluten free pastas hold up to sitting and baking in sauce. Other brands may work well, but I haven't tested them in this recipe.
You can use any pasta you like in this recipe.
My favorite gluten free rotisserie chicken is found at Costco. Other stores also carry it including Nob Hill (part of Raley's supermarkets), Safeway (definitely confirm in case there is a regional recipe difference), and at our farmer's market, Rotti Rotisserie. Note: Whole Food rotisserie is NOT gluten free.
You can use any cooked chicken in this recipe. If you use plain boiled chicken, you may need to add more seasoning to the tetrazzini sauce.
This chicken tetrazzini will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
More easy gluten free chicken dinners:
If you love chicken as much as we do, check out all of my gluten free chicken recipes. Here are some of my favorites:
- Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie with a Drop Biscuit Crust
- Crispy Gluten Free Fried Chicken
- Slow Cooker Curry Chicken Legs (great if you are on a budget!)
- Instant Pot Gluten Free Chicken Stew
Recipe
Gluten Free Chicken Tetrazzini
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken * see note
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- ⅓ cup onion diced
- 1 tablespoon light oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 cups chicken stock low sodium
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch * see note
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 ¾ cups cheese I used cheddar
- 1 package gluten free spaghetti * see note
- 1 teaspoon light oil for the pasta water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375º F.
- Put a large pot of water to boil. Add 1 teaspoon light oil to the water.
- In a skillet, add a tablespoon of oil and heat 1 minute. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook on medium heat until softened.
- Stir in the tapioca starch into the vegetables. This will prevent lumps when you add the liquids.
- Add the rest of the liquid ingredients and half the cheese and mix. Add the rotisserie chicken and mix well. Bring to a boil.
- Cook the spaghetti, but cook it for 1 minute less than the package directions. This will help the spaghetti hold up to being baked in the sauce better.
- Turn the heat on the chicken mixture down to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Drain the spaghetti in a colander and pour it back into the pot. Pour the chicken mixture over the pasta and mix it well.
- Pour the tetrazzini into a casserole dish and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake at 375º F for 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot.
Notes
- I love to use leftover rotisserie chicken in this recipe. You can use any leftover chicken, but if you use boiled chicken, you will need to adjust the seasonings in the casserole.
- Tapioca starch is just one gluten free option as a thickener. You can also use cornstarch, potato starch, or arrowroot starch.
- The two brands of gluten free spaghetti I tested in this recipe were Jovial GF and Tinkyada. Both held up well to being baked in the sauce but I highly recommend cooking the pasta one minute less than the package directions.
- You can use any cheese depending on the flavor you like for this chicken tetrazzini. I have used cheddar, pepper jack, and a Mexican cheese blend.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Rita Griffin
I made the Tetrazzini with left over turkey and used Barilla spaghetti noodles. I followed the recipe exactly, no need to change it, it it delicious. My hubby says it's a keeper. Oh, and I only boiled the noodles for 9 minutes.
Sandi Gaertner
I am so glad everyone loved it. Thank you for the cooking time with Barilla spaghetti. I know that will help others who use that brand.
Jerrie
What do you think it would taste like with left over turkey?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Jerrie, this is perfect for leftover turkey!! I actually make this every year with some leftovers.
Jerrie
I just saw the link again that I followed to get to this recipe. It is a what to do with left over turkey! Haha. That tells you how crazy my life is right now. Haha. I am going to make this on Friday. It sounds yummy. Have a happy Thanksgiving.
Sandi Gaertner
No worries. I think we are all going a little crazy at this time of year. I hope you have an incredible holiday!
Carlene Fairchild
Love the recipe.
I made it using GF FETTICINE instead of regular spaghetti.
I would add more chicken next time as mine didn't seem to have that much in it.
Sandi Gaertner
I love the idea of using fettuccine. So yummy!
Natalie
Sounds delicious. And quite easy to make. I will have to make this for my family. Thank you for this lovely recipe!
Sandi Gaertner
You are so welcome Natalie :-).
Nellie Tracy
This is a fabulous recipe! My family LOVES it!
Sandi Gaertner
You made my day. Thank you Nellie :-).