Cheesy chicken spaghetti

Like so many young women, my daughter has become fascinated with Pinterest. It’s an online source of many things from fashion and home decor to technology and food. Users of Pinterest post their ideas and share them with others.

Anna has a good eye and has led me to several wonderful ideas and many recipes.

For a few months now, she’s wanted to make an easy slow cooker recipe for cheesy chicken spaghetti that she saw on Pinterest. We finally got around to it, and she loved it. So did everyone else who tried it.

The recipe is simple enough: just add the ingredients and let the slow cooker do the work. Cooking time is just two to three hours.

We played around with the ingredients, of course.

For one, I have this rule about soups. I try to never use more than one can of soup (usually cream of chicken or cream of mushroom) in any one recipe, mostly because I worry about sodium, even though I purchase the low-sodium versions. So I changed the part of the recipe that called for both cream of chicken and cream of mushroom and used just the mushroom soup. But just before the end of cooking time, I mixed in 8 ounces of low-fat sour cream as a substitute.

I also cut the Velvetta in half and instead of using canned chicken, I used diced meat from chicken breasts I cooked.

To make this recipe even more simple, I cooked the chicken breasts in the slow cooker the day before I planned to serve the new dish. I also cooked the spaghetti ahead of time. That way I could assemble the recipe during my lunch hour, and Anna could turn it off when she got home from school.

And then, supper was ready!

This is a great, easy recipe for someone who’s just learning to cook or for those of us who have been cooking for a long time but enjoy the easy recipes, too.


Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

• 8 oz. spaghetti, cooked
• 1/2 pound Velveeta 2 percent, cut into chunks to melt easily
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (about 2 cups)
• 1 can reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup
• 10 oz. can diced tomatoes and green chilies (I used Rotel mild)
• 4 oz. can mushrooms, drained
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 medium green or red bell pepper, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ounces low-fat sour cream

Use a slow cooker liner in your crock or use non-stick cooking spray.

Combine all ingredients except the spaghetti and sour cream. Cook on low for 2 to 3 hours.

At the end of cooking time, mix in spaghetti and sour cream and cook briefly until heated through.

Veggie Spaghetti

Some of my favorite recipes are ones found on the “back of the box.” Come to think of it, two of those favorites -— for baked macaroni and cheese and lasagna — are both from Mueller’s. And that’s where I got this week’s recipe: from the back of a Mueller’s box.

I was making a stir-fry dish recently, using whole grain spaghetti, and I spotted the recipe for veggie spaghetti on the back of the box. The pretty picture made my mouth water. I’m a pushover for a new pasta recipe, and this meat-free recipe looked both easy and healthy.

So I kept the spaghetti box on the counter where I could see it because I didn’t want to forgot to make it. I’m so bad about clipping a recipe and never making it!

I made it for my husband and me for lunch one day last week, and we both really liked it.

I did make a few minor changes to the recipe. Instead of asparagus, I used two small zucchinis, sliced, and I added a few of my chopped fresh basil leaves to the simmering sauce. I also used shaved Parmesan cheese instead of grated; I like the way it melts when sprinkled on a bed of hot pasta!

Veggie spaghetti is simple to make. After cutting and sauteeing the vegetables, I let my pasta water come to a boil and the pasta cook while the easy tomato sauce simmered. In less than 30 minutes, Reggie and I were enjoying a hot meal for lunch and had plenty leftover for the next day. This would be a good dish to make on the weekend to keep in the refrigerator for quick weekday lunches. Just warm up a serving and sprinkle on the shaved Parmesan, and you have a healthy and filling midday meal. We’ve also decided we really like this recipe cold!


Veggie Spaghetti

• 1 box (13.25 oz) whole grain spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, cook peppers, onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender, or about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.
Cook pasta according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, add to simmering sauce, asparagus, mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste.

Combine pasta and sauce and toss with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Mueller’s

Notes: I used two small, sliced zucchinis instead of asparagus. I added them towards the end of my sauteeing along with the garlic, and they also simmered in the pot. I also added some fresh basil to the simmering sauce and used shaved Parmesan cheese instead of grated. We waited to add the cheese to our individual serving; that works better if you know you are going to have leftovers.