Mexican Spaghetti

By: Julie Blanner9 Comments
Posted: 3/18/20

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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!

Mexican spaghetti on a white plate, topped with a little cilantro, placed on a white marble countertop.

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!

Mexican spaghetti in an oval baking dish, topped with shredded cheese, a scoop being pulled out with a spoon.

Table of Contents

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.

An array of ingredients laid out for Mexican spaghetti.

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.

Mexican spaghetti in an oval baking dish, topped with shredded cheese

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!

Mexican spaghetti in an oval baking dish, topped with shredded cheese, wooden spoon in the corner.

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.