Easy Chicken Tetrazzini

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Last Updated on October 14, 2026 by Kiersten James

This easy chicken tetrazzini with linguine is made with roasted chicken, a creamy sauce, and melted cheese for a simple 9×13 family dinner.

Some recipes become ours slowly. They start as something printed from the internet or clipped from a magazine, and then over the years the page gets covered in crossed-out ingredients, substitutions, and little notes written in the margins.

That’s exactly what happened with this chicken tetrazzini.

The original recipe has been in my binder for maybe a decade, but the version I make now looks quite a bit different. I use linguine instead of spaghetti, a whole roasted chicken instead of cooking chicken breasts specifically for the casserole, Better Than Bouillon in the sauce, and just enough cheese for a melty top.

There’s nothing elaborate going on – a big 9×13-inch casserole of creamy linguine and chicken that feeds everyone without requiring me to spend the entire afternoon in the kitchen.

You can make this with a chicken you’ve roasted yourself or pick up a rotisserie chicken from the store. I’ve done both plenty of times. Either way, once the chicken is cooked, the rest comes together very quickly.

Why You’ll Love This

• It uses linguine instead of spaghetti, which holds up really well underneath the creamy sauce.
• A whole roasted or rotisserie chicken makes enough meat for a hearty casserole.
• It’s made in one 9×13-inch baking dish.
• You can assemble the entire casserole ahead of time and bake it later.
• It’s a great way to turn leftover roasted chicken into another full dinner.
• It feeds about 6 people, making it useful when we have company or I want leftovers for the next day.

What Kind of Chicken Should I Use?

Most of the time, I make this with a 5(ish) pound whole roasted chicken. Once it’s cooked, I pull the meat from the bones and chop or shred it for the casserole.

You absolutely do not need to roast a chicken just to make chicken tetrazzini, though.

We don’t live right around the corner from the stores, so I tend to combine errands rather than constantly running back and forth.

About every other week I’ll have what I call a town day, when I get our errands done and stock up on the bulk things we need.

If I’m at Costco on one of those days and know I won’t have much time to cook when I get home, I’ll sometimes grab one or two rotisserie chickens. One becomes dinner and goes straight into something like this tetrazzini, while the other gives me cooked chicken for another meal.

Use whatever makes sense that day: your own whole roasted chicken, a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or leftover cooked chicken. Don’t make it harder on yourself.

A Note About the Cheese:

I use about 1 cup of shredded cheese for the top of this casserole.

Most of the time, I don’t measure and shred cheese from a block with my rotary grater. It takes hardly any time and melts really nicely over the top.

BUT – I also keep bags of shredded cheese in the freezer, and I’m certainly not above using one when that’s what I have.

A plain Mexican cheese blend works very well here. Just check the package and make sure it isn’t taco-seasoned. You only want the cheese, not all of the additional taco seasonings, in this casserole.

How to Make an Easy Chicken Tetrazzini Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 pound linguine
• 1 whole 5-pound roasted or rotisserie chicken, meat removed from the bones and chopped
• 2 (10.5-ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1 cup frozen peas or broccoli florets, optional

Instructions:

Cook the Linguine

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 1 box of linguine according to the package directions until just al dente. Try not to overcook it since the pasta will continue to soften a little while the casserole bakes.

Drain the linguine well and spread it evenly across the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish.

Add the Chicken

Remove the meat from your roasted or rotisserie chicken, discarding the skin and bones. Chop or shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Spread the chicken evenly over the linguine.

If you’re adding the optional frozen peas or broccoli, scatter them over the chicken. There’s no need to thaw them first. My little guy won’t eat anything green at the moment, so I leave it out.

Make the Creamy Sauce

In a medium saucepan, combine the two cans of condensed cream of chicken soup, 2 1/2 cups water,1/4 cup butter, and 3 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base.

Warm the mixture over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the butter has completely melted and everything has come together into a smooth sauce.

There’s no need to simmer it for a long time. You’re simply heating everything enough to melt the butter, dissolve the chicken base, and make a smooth sauce that can easily be poured over the casserole.

Assemble the Chicken Tetrazzini

Slowly pour the hot sauce over the chicken and linguine, moving around the baking dish as you pour, so it is distributed as evenly as possible.

Use the back of a spoon or spatula to gently press everything down into the sauce. It can look like quite a bit of liquid at this point, but the linguine will absorb some of it while everything bakes.

Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheese evenly over the top.

Bake

Bake the chicken tetrazzini uncovered at 350°F for about 25 minutes, or until the casserole is piping hot, the sauce is bubbling around the edges, and the cheese is completely melted.

Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving. This gives the sauce a few minutes to settle into the linguine.

Can I Make Chicken Tetrazzini Ahead of Time?

Yes, and I have “make ahead + bake later” written right on my old recipe for exactly that reason.

Assemble the casserole completely, including the cheese on top, and then cover and refrigerate it until you’re ready to bake. I prefer to assemble it no more than a day ahead so the linguine isn’t sitting in the sauce for too long.

When you’re ready to make dinner, take the casserole out of the refrigerator while the oven preheats.

Because everything is starting out cold rather than warm, it will need longer than the usual 25 minutes in the oven.

Bake until the center is completely heated through and the sauce is bubbling. If the cheese begins browning more than you’d like before the center is hot, loosely cover the casserole with foil for the remainder of the baking time.

Can I Use Leftover Chicken?

Absolutely. This is actually a really useful recipe for leftover chicken.

You don’t need exactly one rotisserie chicken if you already have cooked chicken in the refrigerator. Use enough chopped or shredded chicken to make a substantial layer over the linguine.

Leftover roasted chicken works especially well because you get a mixture of white and dark meat. I like having both in the casserole – the dark meat stays especially tender when everything goes back into the oven.

Do I Have to Add Peas or Broccoli?

No. The peas are completely optional.

When I use them, I add about 1 cup of frozen peas right from the freezer. They can go directly into the casserole without being cooked or thawed first.

If your family doesn’t want peas in their tetrazzini (like mine at the moment), simply leave them out. Nothing else in the recipe needs to change.

What to Serve With Chicken Tetrazzini

Chicken tetrazzini is substantial all by itself. You have pasta, plenty of chicken, creamy sauce, and cheese all in one dish, so I don’t think this needs a table full of side dishes.

If I want something alongside it, I’ll usually keep it simple with a garden salad or some bread.

Honestly though, I don’t usually serve anything with it at all. This is a “busy night” dinner for us; a mound of hot chicken tetrazzini in a bowl is dinner, and that’s plenty.

How to Store Leftover Chicken Tetrazzini

Let any leftovers cool before transferring them to a covered container or covering the baking dish. Refrigerate promptly and use the leftover tetrazzini within 3 to 4 days.

Individual portions reheat very easily in the microwave.

If you’re reheating a larger amount in the oven, cover the casserole and warm it at 350°F until heated through. The linguine will continue absorbing sauce as it sits in the refrigerator, so if it seems a little dry, you can add a small splash of milk or chicken stock before reheating.

More Easy Chicken Dinners

If you’re looking for another simple chicken dinner for a busy night, try one of these next:

• Stovetop Chicken Pot Pie
• Skillet Chicken Fajitas
• Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
• Crispy Italian Chicken Cutlets

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