Slow Cooker Chicken Tetrazzini
39 Comments Aug 29, 2016
Updated Nov 28, 2022
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Comfort food at its finest! Slow Cooker Chicken Tetrazzini has tender shredded chicken in a creamy sauce with mushrooms. A one pot meal the entire family will love.
Table of Contents
Having dinner together with my family is most important to me. We try as much as possible to eat dinner at the table, so finding a meal we all love makes dinner time run smoother (remember I have a very picky 13-year old).
This recipe uses cream cheese and chicken broth as the base, you won’t find any condensed cream of chicken soup (or mushroom soup) in this meal.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken: Use boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Cream Cheese: Often, cream cheese is used in slow cooker recipes to create a thick sauce without having to use flour and butter.
- Chicken Broth: A touch of chicken broth is added to the sauce base.
- Vegetables: Sliced mushrooms and diced white onion are classic vegetables for chicken tetrazzini.
- Seasonings: Salt, pepper, dried tarragon, and garlic powder will season the chicken and noodles perfectly.
- Cheese: Shredded mozzarella cheese is used (can use parmesan cheese too).
- Spaghetti Noodles: You can use a different noodle than spaghetti noodles, but I strongly recommend the spaghetti noodle for it soaks up the sauce perfectly.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – I start by adding the chicken, seasonings, mushrooms, and onions to the slow cooker. I let that cook all day.
Step Two – When I am ready to serve dinner, I add cream cheese, shred the chicken then stir in a half-pound of cooked spaghetti.
Step Three – Add a bit of mozzarella and cover the slow cooker until the cheese melts.
Recipe FAQs
This meal is great with 1/3 less fat cream cheese and reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, make it to accommodate your family’s diet!
Yes, if you can find a small turkey breast or turkey tenderloin, that would work great in this recipe.
For this recipe, raw chicken is best for it lets off some natural juices into the sauce. If a rotisserie chicken is used, you may find you need to add broth.
What I love about this crock pot chicken tetrazzini is that it’s great for spaghetti night, but a fresher spin on pasta.
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Slow Cooker Chicken Tetrazzini
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, can use 1-2 lbs.
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp. dried tarragon, or oregano
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, ⅓ less fat or regular
- ½ pound dried spaghetti noodles, 1/2 a box, cook according to package directions
- 8 oz. pkg. mozzarella cheese, grated (reduced-fat or regular)
Instructions
- Add the chicken, sea salt, garlic powder, pepper, tarragon, onions and mushrooms. Pour over the chicken broth. DO NOT ADD THE CREAM CHEESE OR SPAGHETTI YET. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- Cut the cream cheese into squares and add the slow cooker, cover. In the meantime cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.
- After the cream cheese has had some time to melt. Take 2 forks and shred the chicken. Stir the sauce and chicken together. Add the cooked and drained pasta. Stir. Add the mozzarella cheese over the pasta and sauce. Cover for about 10 more minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve and enjoy!
How to Video
Sarah’s Notes
- Turkey breast or turkey tenderloin can be used instead of chicken.
- Best to use raw chicken, not rotisserie chicken for this recipe.
- This meal is great with 1/3 less fat cream cheese and reduced-fat mozzarella cheese; make it to accommodate your family’s diet!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
This recipe is not a dump and go, but it’s still pretty darn simple and worth the effort. Especially when the entire family ate it, even the 2 year old. Thanks for sharing! Printing for my family recipe binder.
I added garlic and Mongolian hot sauce, and you can’t go wrong with more cheese!
My family loved this and it was requested again by my soon to be sister in law, I actually just chucked the pasta in and left it half an hour at the end of the cook, (admittedly was a little long and was a bit mushy, next time I’ll only leave it in for twenty minutes and check it after fifteen). Thank you.
Delicious! I left out the mushrooms and used Italian seasoning instead of tarragon. So so good. Making again today for my mom’s birthday supper. Crockpot makes the best chicken and I use it even if i’m home all day (like roast).
I made as directed and really wanted to like it, but all that cream cheese just ruined it for me. The cream cheese in the sauce was just too intense.
Another awesome recipe Sarah tks you..omy it was so so good..
Could you use a rotisserie chicken? If so, when would you add it to the crockpot ?
I added some fresh tarragon instead, about 3-4 sprigs. Chopped them up finely. I also added some minced garlic, about two cloves instead of the garlic powder. Quick hint. If you’re using fresh herbs and can only buy A LOT, chop it all up and divide them into an empty icecube tray, fill up with olive oil (I prefer flavored olive oil) and reuse whenever you fry veggies or something. Thanks for the recipe it was a huge hit at my house!
Sounds yummy and easy. I’ve always used celery salt in my tetrazzini so I will use that verses the tarragon. Thanks for the post!
Absolutely delicious. I followed your recipe exactly. The only thing I did different is that when I mixed the melted cream cheese and shredded the chicken, I added a little more salt and pepper to taste. My husband loved it too! So great to do this in the slow cooker. We went to a movie and then came home to eat this wonderful dinner. I forwarded the recipe to a friend. We are always looking for good crock pot recipes because they are not easy to find. BTW it is great reheated in microwave next day. I just added a little of the leftover chicken broth I had saved in the refrigerator.
that is so great to hear! And yes, I agree SO good the next day, not many slow cooker recipes are!