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Chicken Tetrazzini

A baked pasta dish with chicken, mushrooms, peas, and a creamy sauce.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓

Chicken Tetrazzini

8 persons
Oven450°F
Time12–14 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

  2. Grease the baking dish.

  3. Fill a pot with 4 quarts of water or enough to fully boil the pasta.

  4. Add 1 tablespoon salt to the water.

  5. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.

Cook the mushrooms

  1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat.

  2. Sauté the sliced mushrooms and finely chopped onion, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates (about 7–8 minutes).

  3. Add the minced thyme, salt, and pepper to the skillet.

  4. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are brown (another 8–10 minutes).

  5. Set the mushroom mixture aside in a bowl.

Cook the pasta

  1. When the water is boiling, add the spaghetti.

  2. Cook the spaghetti until al dente (about 8–12 minutes).

  3. Taste periodically to ensure the pasta does not overcook before baking.

Make the sauce and bake

  1. Return the skillet to the stove and melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the all-purpose flour to the melted butter to make a roux.

  3. Whisk the roux until smooth with a light golden color (about 1–2 minutes).

  4. While whisking, add a little chicken broth at a time to the roux. Fully incorporate the broth until smooth before adding more broth.

  5. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer until the sauce thickens (about 3–4 minutes).

  6. Remove the sauce from the heat.

  7. Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

  8. Add half of the lemon juice to the sauce. Continue adding lemon juice to taste.

  9. Combine the shredded rotisserie chicken, cooked spaghetti, sautéed mushrooms, frozen peas, and sauce together.

  10. Spread the combined mixture into the greased baking dish.

  11. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly on top.

  12. Bake until the dish is heated through and the breadcrumbs are light brown, about 12–14 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

982Calories
63 gProtein
25 gFat
127 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chicken100g cooked165
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,172 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

  2. Mushroom + thymetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Mushroom + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  4. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dried spaghetti
Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it its chewy, pasta-based structure.
All-purpose flour
Thickens the butter and broth into a smooth sauce as a roux.
Butter
Carries flavor, enriches the sauce, and forms the base of the roux.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory, salty depth and helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
Mushrooms
Add earthy flavor and moisture, and brown for savory depth.
Rotisserie chicken
Provides the main protein and substance of the dish.

The step that matters

Adding the broth to the roux. Adding broth gradually while whisking lets the starch in the flour hydrate evenly, producing a smooth sauce instead of lumps.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, mushroom, thyme, chicken, meat, flour, parmesan cheese):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, mushroom, thyme, chicken, meat, flour, parmesan cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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