Mexican spaghetti is a rich and filling baked pasta that comes together easily for a hearty family meal. This chicken spaghetti dish is pure comfort food and requires just a few pantry ingredients!
This Mexican spaghetti recipe is a longtime family favorite, and with good reason. It’s filling, comforting, and delicious. Let’s make it together!
I’m going to veer from my traditional, made-from-scratch recipes to share one of my nephew’s favorite recipes! Any time he returns home from college he begs for my sister to make it.
Pasta bakes are a great comfort food. They are so easy to make and because of the shortcuts in this recipe, there’s no need to make a sauce from scratch. It’s loaded with Mexican flavors and is for sure a crowd pleaser.
If you love chicken, and you love pasta, don’t skip this incredible round-up of Chicken Pasta Recipes!
Why You’ll Love this Spaghetti Bake
- So Easy to Make
- Shortcut Ingredients
- Filling + Hearty
- Easy to Customize
- Feeds a Crowd
★★★★★
5 STAR REVIEW
“Easy and delicious- that’s just our style! My 8 year old even helped with this. Such a crowd pleaser! Thanks for sharing!”
— MELISSA—
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken Breast – I like to use my juicy baked chicken breast which takes just a few minutes to make – try any of your favorite chicken recipes, like this cilantro lime chicken. Alternatively you can use pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. It will be coated in the cheesiest sauce.
- Taco Seasoning – You can make your own taco seasoning for this recipe or use store bought.
- Angel Hair Pasta – Skinny spaghetti makes for tender noodles.
- Rotel – Rotel canned tomatoes are fire roasted with green chilies and boost the flavor in this dish.
- Cream of Chicken Soup – Using canned soup is a quick and easy way to get this pasta wonderfully creamy without needing to make a sauce from scratch. It’s the easiest shortcut for a recipe like this!
- Salsa – Use your favorite salsa. I used traditional for this dish, but you can mix up the flavor with your favorite!
- Sour Cream – adds to the creamy rich flavor of this pasta bake.
- Cheese – I used cheddar and monterey jack in this dish, but you can experiment with what you have on hand or use one or the other.
Variations
- Try it with ground beef (or any other protein) in place of chicken!
- Make it vegetarian and eliminate the chicken entirely.
- Try it with a different kind of pasta- any shape will work!
How To Make Mexican Spaghetti
- Prep – Preheat oven and grease baking dish.
- Prepare Chicken – Brush chicken breast on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with taco seasoning. Bake 20-25 minutes. If you’re using frozen or rotisserie chicken you can skip this step. Cube chicken and reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
- Prepare Pasta – Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles. Drain pasta and set aside.
- Prepare Sauce – Combine rotel, cream of chicken, salsa, sour cream, 1 cup cheese and taco seasoning in pot (not over heat). Stir.
- Combine – Add spaghetti and chicken to mixture and stir until well combined.
- Bake – Transfer into baking dish and cover with remaining cheese. Loosely cover with aluminum foil. Bake 25 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro.
Tips
- Need help with conversions? Check out my Essential Measurement Conversion Chart or use the slider in the recipe card.
- I make the sauce in the pot to eliminate excess dishes. If you make in cast iron, it’s a one dish pasta recipe! Simply boil your noodles in a large cast iron, drain pasta, mix the sauce in the pot, return pasta, stir and bake.
- I like to make this bake with angel hair pasta, it has a much lighter quality to it. You can substitute spaghetti or any pasta you have on hand.
- Under-cook your pasta a little since you’re adding so much time in the oven for baking.
- Bake pasta in a preheated oven so that it cooks evenly.
- Cover the pasta with foil when you bake it. This will prevent cheese from burning while ensuring that the dish is cooked through.
Serving Suggestions
- We really enjoy this served as it is, scooped into bowls and finished with a little fresh cilantro.
- If you like, you can scoop it into hard taco shells and top with fresh lettuce for a twist on taco Tuesday.
- If you want to go all out, add some of your favorite Mexican-inspired taco toppings to this chicken spaghetti bake; sliced avocado, jalapeños and a little extra shredded cheese will all work well.
For a healthy side dish accompaniment, consider our family favorite Mexican inspired salad with homemade cilantro lime dressing!
Make Ahead
- You can make, then keep it covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours until you are ready to bake it.
How to Store
- Room Temperature – This pasta can rest at room temperature for up to two hours before it must be refrigerated.
- Refrigerator – Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat portions in the microwave or heat through in the oven.
- Freezer – you can also freeze this pasta dish for up to three months.
Nutritional Considerations
- Nut Free
- To make Gluten Free, choose a gluten free pasta.
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Mexican Spaghetti
Mexican Spaghetti is an easy dinner casserole that comes together in just 15 minutes hands on time. This chicken spaghetti dish always a hit at the dinner table.
Ingredients
For the Baked Chicken Breast
- 1 large chicken breast (approximately 8 ounces) (Once it's baked, you'll cube it)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
Mexican Spaghetti Bake
- 8 ounces angel hair pasta
- 1 can rotel (10 ounces)
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup (10 ounces each can)
- 1 cup salsa
- 2 cups cheese finely shredded – cheddar, monterey jack or a combination of both
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease 9×13 baking dish.
- Brush chicken breast on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with taco seasoning. Bake 20-25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles.
- Drain pasta and set aside.
- Cube chicken and reduce oven temperature to 350° F.
- Combine rotel, cream of chicken, salsa, sour cream, 1 cup cheese and taco seasoning in pot (no heat). Stir.
- Add cooked spaghetti and chicken to mixture and stir until well combined.
- Transfer into baking dish and cover with remaining cheese. Loosely cover with aluminum foil. Bake 25 minutes.
- Optional: garnish with cilantro
Tips
Variations
- Try it with ground beef (or any other protein) in place of chicken!
- Make it vegetarian and eliminate the chicken entirely.
- Try it with a different kind of pasta- any shape will work!
Tips
- I like to make this bake with angel hair pasta, it has a much lighter quality to it. If you are in a pinch you can use spaghetti.
- Bake the pasta in a preheated oven so that it cooks evenly.
- Cover the pasta with foil when you bake it. This will stop the top from burning but ensure that the whole dish is cooked through.
- You can prepare up to 24 hours in advance and bake when you are ready to serve.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container or covered refrigerated for up to three days.
Video
Calories: 410kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 1053mg | Potassium: 463mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 884IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 279mg | Iron: 2mg
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
Love it
Loved this dish. Flavorful.
Thank you, Nancy! Glad you enjoyed it. It’s a fun, flavorful dish, isn’t it!
Easy and delicious- that’s just our style! My 8 year old even helped with this. Such a crowd pleaser! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! So fun! It’s nice to have a little help in the kitchen right now, isn’t it!
My family absolutely loves this recipe! So easy to make! I used precooked chicken strips which made it fast! Our friends were over for dinner and requested the recipe!
Thank you!!!
I have not made this myself but was granted a delicious container of it to try! It is amazing! I had to divide it up into smaller containers so I wouldn’t eat the whole thing at once!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it, Deanna!