Every week we’ll post a recipe that we both made. This week’s recipe was Velveeta Spicy Chicken Spaghetti, found over at Key Ingredient. Printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.
Robyn’s Take:
This week’s recipe was Nance’s choice, and as usual I just glanced at the title of the recipe before I okayed it. Then when it was time to gather my ingredients and make it, I took a closer look at the recipe, saw that it called for Velveeta (I know, you’d think the name of the recipe might have tipped me off to that), and I was all:
I don’t know that I’ve never used Velveeta before, but I don’t have a problem with it. HowEVER, the snob I live with is kind of a SNOB when it comes to “Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product”s. I originally wasn’t even going to tell him that it had Velveeta in it, but I hit a snag when I was at the grocery store. Wouldn’t you think Velveeta would be in the refrigerated cheese section? That’s where I expected to see it, but nay. It was nowhere to be found. Rather than ask a store employee where it was (I will generally just leave a grocery store instead of asking an employee for help, DO NOT JUDGE ME), I called Fred. Who was spectacularly unhelpful. I hung up the phone with his snobby “This recipe has VELVEETA in it?!” ringing in my ears and thought maybe, since it’s often used in queso dip (free surprise recipe for queso dip: melt Velveeta, mix in can of Ro-Tel, serve with tortilla chips), it might be in the chip aisle.
It was not in the chip aisle.
I was headed for the door, sailing on a wave of indignant FUCK ALL Y’ALL when I thought of one last place to look.
In the aisle where the pasta and spaghetti sauce are kept is where they keep the Velveeta. Near the pizza sauce. Near my beloved Kraft Old English Cheese (I love the SHIT out of Old English Cheese, spread on celery, and did I mention SHUT UP, YOU?)
The only other ingredients I didn’t already have at home was the can of Cream of Chicken soup, and chicken breasts.
YES. I USED STORE-BOUGHT CHICKEN.
YES. WE HAVE 7,000 CHICKENS OUT IN THE BACK FORTY.
It’s much like the cobbler’s children having no shoes, here in this house. Fred dislikes processing the chickens and I sure as shit am not going to do that, so when he does process them he processes a LOT of them. So I thought we had chicken in the freezer and didn’t realize we’d used up the rest of it, so it was kind of an emergency. Is what I’m saying.
Would you believe that there was NOT ONE CAN of Cream of Chicken soup in the soup aisle? Maybe someone somewhere had bought them all. Luckily, since the recipe calls for mushrooms anyway, I just opted to use Cream of Mushroom soup instead.
ANYway. Let’s get on with this, shall we?
Your ingredients:
Velveeta, cubed. Chicken, cut in chunks. Milk, a can of Ro-Tel, Cream of Mushroom soup, can of mushrooms. Also, angel hair pasta. The original recipe called for spaghetti, but I buy the big packs of angel hair at Sam’s, and I don’t think it makes a difference whether you use spaghetti or angel hair.
Cook your pasta.
Drain your pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, start cooking your chicken. Heat your skillet over med-high heat, spray it with cooking spray, and add the chicken. Cook, stirring, until it’s cooked through. Your mileage may vary; it took my chicken about 7 minutes to cook.
Add everything except your cooked pasta to the skillet with the chicken.
Stir everything together until the Velveeta is melted and everything is heated through.
Stir all THAT together with your cooked pasta. I used the pot I’d cooked the pasta in, so that I had room to combine it well.
Pour it into a greased 9×13 baking dish.
Bake it for 35 – 40 minutes.
Eat.
HEY LOOK, GUYS. I STILL CAN’T TAKE A DECENT FOOD PIC.
It was my plan, before we had this for dinner, that we’d eat it for dinner once, and then Fred would take the leftovers to work for lunch. I didn’t expect to HATE it, but I also didn’t expect that I’d want to eat it more than once.
I was mistaken.
Damn, it was GOOD. We ended up eating every last bit of this stuff for dinner. Even Fred, the Velveeta snob, thought it was awesome.
It’s going into the recipe box, and I’ll definitely be making this again. Good choice, Nance!
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Nance’s Take:
Things you have to know…
1. It is all of my fault that we are late with this entry. I had one helluva weekend with an internet stranger staying here (gasp!), lots of yapping, phone calls and birthday gatherings. My plan was to complete my entry on Monday morning (I’m an early riser)…except Shirley (AKA: my mother) threw me off of my game by needing to go to the Emergency Room (she’s home now and doing better).
2. I had planned to make this dish on Friday evening (April 5th) and everything was ready when I was hit with the migraine from hell. My mother and Rick stepped in to save my ass (probably because they were hungry) while I hid under a blanket on the couch trying to survive the mother of all headaches. I’m not sure what triggers my occasional migraines, but those of you who get them on the regular have my heartfelt sympathy. Those fuckers are something else and I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy.
3. We skipped the mushrooms because Rick is allergic.
The biggest concern (discussed prior to the headache) was being able to cook the chicken without drying it out. Especially when it was going to be baked again. The women in this family are notorious for over-cooking meat, but we’re aware of it and getting a lot better. I would also like to note that Shirley is using her stainless steel pan to do this chicken. We got her the set at Christmas and it’s become an issue about whether or not we are allowed to use it. Shirley loves it and is afraid we’re going to mess it up. Hmph. Some people have no faith in my cooking abilities.
Rick took this picture. Obviously Shirley dressed for the occasion because she’s wearing her special sweatshirt and not the tube-top. Do you guys break your spaghetti or are we just weird? I don’t think I have ever had “long” spaghetti. I don’t order spaghetti in restaurants where I assume they leave it long because I never order things that I can make at home. Yeah, I take dining out pretty seriously. And also, since Shirley is now laid-up and under my control, I think it’s time for some beauty-girlie stuff to go on. Maybe some nail polish? Lotion? Pedicures. Yup. We’re gonna go nuts. All in the name of proving to the world that it can’t always be about tube-tops and sweat pants. Anybody want to place bets on how far I can get with the glamorizing? Just wait until I put Gram in a green mud mask. It’ll be fun. Maybe I’ll take pictures and make it an entry for here. How To Cook Up A Lady. Whee!
I’m pretty sure I’m going to get killed.
Oh, hello poor people. Yup, these are not name brand items. I am broke. Blame it on the vet bills.
The recipe didn’t really say how to cut up the Velveeta (HOLY HEART ATTACK, BATMAN) so Shirley went with cubes. I think. I see some rectangles in there so now I’m not sure. Whatever. Pro Tip: Just cut it up so it won’t take all day to melt. You’re welcome.
Action shot? I’m assuming due to the blur. I know my mom was loving the fact that it all got thrown in a pot because that means it’s easy. She likes that kind of shit.
After all that goddamn processed cheese melts down you toss in the pre-cooked spaghetti.
And then you mix it all together with the world’s oldest beat-up white trash looking spaghetti spoon (or whatever the hell they are called). We do have a really nice one, but nobody seems to use it. Apparently some of us are attached to things that came from the dollar store. Ahem. Ah, shit. I can’t say anything, I love that goddamn thing too. It bends where it’s suppose to and it works. But I am that type of woman that will pull out the other one if company comes. Like someone is going to be impressed with my nicer spaghetti spoon. Yes, I know that people who are judgemental assholes are the ones that worry the most about being judged. Hi, I’m that asshole.
After Shirley mixed it all up she poured it into a greased casserole dish while Rick attempted to take an avant garde photo. Jesus H. He thinks he’s a photographer and he sucks as bad as the rest of us. But at least we know better than to use weird angles.
This is what it looked like when it was done. Weird angle compliments of Rick (no shit). Shirley did put salt and pepper on it before she baked it. Full Disclosure cause that’s how we roll!
My mother and Rick LOVED IT. Raved about how great it was, blahblahblahblah. My uncle Chuck liked it enough to yap to my aunt Gin about it. I took one forkful and was over it. An entire box of Velveeta cheese for one freaking meal? HELL NO. I obviously didn’t read the recipe when I picked it. It’ll go in the recipe book because I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t put it in there. But there’s a pretty good chance that I’ll hide it so that this mess will never show up in our house again!
- 12 oz spaghetti or angel hair, uncooked
- 1¼ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into smallish chunks
- 16 oz Velveeta, cubed
- 1 - 10¾ oz can condensed cream of chicken OR cream of mushroom soup
- 1 - 10 oz can Ro-Tel (tomatoes and green chilies)
- 1 - 4 oz can (drained) sliced mushrooms
- ⅓ c. milk
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Cook spaghetti or angel hair as directed on package; drain.
- Heat skillet over med-high heat. Spray with no-stick cooking spray.
- Cook chicken until cooked through (5 - 7 minutes).
- Add Velveeta, soup, Ro-Tel, mushrooms, and milk. Stir together until Velveeta is melted and mixture is heated through. Add pasta and stir until well combined.
- Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
- Bake for 35 - 40 minutes at 350ºF.
So fat. So stupid. I have an @ sign on my watermark and just noticed it now. Sigh. So much for copyright!
Fuck those stars.
HA – I totally didn’t notice that ’til you pointed it out. 🙂
I know that you both love me so you mind when I say “EWWW!” As a proper Italian, I cannot abide any sort of baked spaghetti casserole (yeah, yeah, I guess stuffed shells are SORT of baked spaghetti). Also, I guess I’m also a cheese snob because I have never bought Velveeta, but I know it’s with the Kraft Singles in our stores (leading me to once again question Alabama, but that’s another subject).
I also hate mushrooms and chiles so… LOL My opinion on this recipe should be disregarded 😉
Robyn, I cannot believe you had to buy chicken! That made me laugh and laugh….
Velveeta doesn’t need to be refrigerated, which is why it was on the shelf and not taking up valuable refrigeration space. 🙂
Also, I’m not Italian, but if I was I’d be an awesome cook and wouldn’t touch any of this faux-Italian shit I make regularly. Since I’m not, I’ll just have to wait for you to come cook properly for me, Cetta. 😉
My Sam’s Club keeps it in the refrigerated section – with all the other cheeses. Like it’s a motherfucking dairy product or some shit.
We need to start a list of companies that we know will never sponsor us or advertise with us. I’ll have to go back and see who all we trashed. 😉
When you come visit, Robyn, we’ll go see Cetta for a proper Italian meal – she’s only about 2 hours away from me. I’m sure she won’t mind if we roll up in there and force her to cook. Hee!
You give me 24 hours’ notice and I’ll make the sauce and meat-a-balls!
I’m in!
Velveeta isn’t refigerated here either. I’m not a fan now because it is so salty and I’ve been on BP meds for 20+ years and don’t like super salty things anymore.
I’m not Italian either but my friend’s full blooded Sicilian Mom made a spaghetti pie that was to die for.I have the recipe somewhere in this house. I never made it. I knew it wouldn’t be the same without her homemade sauce but she’s been gone a couple of years now. Maybe someone in her family would give me sauce advice. I have some recipes but I mostly use Ragu tomato and basil light.
I know this is probably sacrilege or some shit, but I think I might like a spaghetti pie if it had both mozzarella and Velveeta in it. Now that’s white-trash eatin’ right there! I’m going to try it some night instead of Rotel and surprise the family. Could end up great, could end up in the garbage – who knows? 😉
“WON’T Mind” duh… at least I hope you won’t mind!
“Cuisine: Contains pasta, so is obviously Italian”
Y’all need a new category known as “White Trash” as that much Velveeta is such a thing you’d see at a WT type gathering.
Having said that, I’m gonna make this just to make the husband crazy. Although, without the mushrooms as I too am allergic. Rick’s the only other person I’ve ever heard of that has that allergy, too!
I’m going to need to make this with the husband GONE, otherwise the Velvetta might hit the trash before it gets cooked into the spaghetti. He’s a bit of a… um… snobby little food jerk. Yep, I said it. J-E-R-K.
Just say the cheese is from a Trappist Monistary high up in the Alps or made by Lepers in Michigan or something.
Foodies eat that kind of thing up.
Foodies crack my shit up because I like the way they try to make old school food (stuffed cabbage or haluski) into something fancy. It’s freaking cabbage, sheesh!
And NOW I want haluski. Why didn’t I pick up some cabbage when I was at the store just now? Wah!!!
According to Shirley you should never pay more than 29 cents/lb for cabbage. Don’t tell her I just buy the shit and move along.
One of my favorites is the “Deconstructed X” where they toss all the compontent parts all over.
So a deconstructed PBJ would be bread sitting next to a gob of peanut butter and jelly. But fancy-like.
I am getting so many ideas for next year’s April 1st post… 😀
I never, ever met a man who would turn down Velveeta. Hmm, I guess that tells you about the kind of men I know, huh? Hee!
We must know the same kind of men, Nance-every guy I know LOVES the stuff! My husband being head of the Velveeta fan club. I think I will try this with the regular tomatoes as Sherry and Robyn mentioned-neither of us like the spicy Rotel.
See what is really fun is to make these recipes FOR cheese snobs and don’t tell them there’s Velveeta in there till after they’ve licked their plate clean!
Hah! Sherry, I’ve done that with my fancy-schmancy queso dip. You’re supposed to use aged cheddar, but velveeta melts so much smoother for me. I’ve been asked why mine tastes better than hers. hee.
I like Velveeta for the same reason. In my Mac N Cheese I’ll use a little bit of sharp cheddar and a whole lot of Velveeta (with a hint of mustard, of course) and it’s fabulous.
It’s good to see that even the Jerks get love around here. 🙂
Suzy,
I totally don’t believe he’s allergic to mushrooms. I swear he’s just afraid of them and says he’s allergic to keep them away. He also told me he was allergic to cats.
See what I mean? 😉
So,I’m still a freak. I will say my allergy to mushrooms doesn’t bother me, the shellfish one though? Sucks. I miss lobster.
Oh Robyn! We should do a white trash meal once a week and post it. Rick and my mom would absolutely LOVE IT. Just wait until I up his life insurance, okay?
Every meal in my house has a white trash element to it. It’s only right that I properly honor my heritage. 😀
Amen. Mine too.
I think my arteries just exploded. Never in a million years would have thought of spaghetti with Velveeta and Rotel. I’m a-skeered of it too. Mostly I’m afraid of the reaction of the non-cheese-eating child (who I’m pretty sure was switched at birth with another baby who happens to look EXACTLY like my husband). He may meltdown as easily as that smooth, synthetic, somewhat cheez-like substance that’s holding the spaghetti together. But ultimately, that will be okay, because I’m sure it will be tasty and then there will be more for me. 🙂
((And Nance? I grew up with a parent who lost brain cells whenever a long spaghetti noodle was slurped in his presence which means I am pre-conditioned to break the spaghetti before cooking. JUST ONCE I aspire to a meal of spaghetti slurpage that will rival “Lady and the Tramp” proportions. But I’m waiting until the kids move out… no one wants to clean THAT mess up))
Just because I can’t help myself… 🙂 your directions (at the end) left the pasta draining and not combined…. 🙂
SORRY!!!! I should have been an editor except I can’t punctuate worth #@$!!!
and velveeta rocks!!! I have a mac and cheese recipe made with it that’s my favorite recipe.
awww Jareth!!!! so precious!!!
OMG – I laughed so hard that Robyn didn’t have chicken…. 🙂
Glad to hear Shirley is OK! Hope she feels great soon!!
Thanks for letting me know about the missing step in the printable recipe, Sherry, I’ll fix it tomorrow when I’m in front of my computer. 🙂
And now it’s fixed – thanks again for the heads up, Sherry! 🙂
OH! and the whole reason I checked over here tonight was I have a friend who had gallbladder surgery last Friday and I’m taking food over to her this weekend and she requested chicken, and Italian, but not spicy. I don’t personally eat chicken (unless forced. Yes, I’m a southerner. No I can’t explain it. Except that if a meat is called the same thing after it’s cooked as when it’s running around – I won’t eat it. Fish, chicken, turkey – nope. hamburger, steak, bacon – bring it on!!) so anyway…. came looking over here to flip through and see what I could find and lo and behold!!! New entry that fits the bill perfectly! (except I’ll probably leave the Rotel tomatoes out as they are a little spicy and just put regular tomatoes in for this instance.)
I had actually meant to mention that if you prefer to avoid the spiciness of the peppers in the Ro-Tel, I’m sure regular diced tomatoes would work just fine. Great minds think alike. 😉
You could call them breasts, drumsticks, and such…
You made me LOL, Oldcat. 🙂
Yikes, I would hold off on the Velveeta in a recipe for a gallbladder patient! Even without the Rotel, it could still maybe bother her. At least that was my experience for a little while after I had mine removed. Good juju’s for a speedy recovery for her and you’re a great friend for taking stuff over!!! 🙂
Amanda no doubt has a variation on this theme that involves a $36-an-ounce imported cheese. And if her kitchen staff overcook the pasta, heads roll! Best wishes to Shirley — hope all is well — and sorry to hear about the migraine, Nance.
Thanks, Kerry. All is well on my migraine front (knock on wood) and Shirley is slowly recovering (and getting rather cranky, go figure). We’ll get there yet!
Looks like the comments can be divided into folks who are white trash and those who are food snobs. Put me in the white trash category! I have a special place in my heart (literally, probably, ha) for Velveeta!
White trashies unite! 🙂
That looks FUCKING DELICIOUS and I will never make it because each serving must have 50,000 calories and Velveeta snobs, I don’t want to know you.
Oh! And – Pioneer Woman has a very similar recipe that she makes (yes, I can’t help it, I’ve been reading her for years before she became famous, and I still love some of her older recipes. Judge not lest ye be judged peeps.) and NANCY – she breaks up her spaghetti before cooking it too. And I have always broken mine up but that’s partly cause I have a 10 year old boy who will slurp it and make a mess and pitches a FIT if I cut it up before giving it to him, so I break it before I even cook it and then he doesn’t notice so much.
Sherry, I thinking Pioneer Woman with her four kids (and OMG, how lovely are her daughters? – I just saw a picture of them the other day and they have grown in such pretty young ladies) doesn’t want to clean up any slurpy messes either – hence the breaking of the spaghetti. I’ll be a spaghetti breaker until I die!! (but I secretly want to try it long just one time to see if it tastes different – what a weirdo I am). 😉
I hope Shirley is better and I’d LOVE to see you glam her up, Nance.
A former co-worker’s husband was allergic to turkey and I found that one very strange.
I used to love velveeta before BP issues made me stop eating it.
Shirley’s getting cranky so she must be feeling better, Annette. And so far, she has conveniently stayed away from any glamming I tried to do. I’ll get her one of these days, but for now I’ll let her be since she’s not back to 100% quite yet. She can still kick my ass, though. Maybe I should have gotten her when she was really down. Hee!
How the hell can you be allergic to turkey? I wonder what’s in it that triggers it?
No lie, I prefer Velveeta on my cheeseburger (melted all gooey over it), but I don’t have it too often because I do enough bad things to my body – I don’t need to add another. But damn, now it got me hankering for one. Sigh.
Okay, for all you cheese snobs freaking out, how about using something like this? http://www.the-taste-tester.com/2013/01/homemade-velveeta-cheese.html
There’s a bunch of different methods if you google “homemade velveeta”. IMO… it’s easier just to buy the velveeta ;). This recipe sounds *really* good!
Ha! I rolled my eyes when I saw the words “bucket list” – but I agree that it’s just easier to go buy some Velveeta (although Robyn had quite the problem – maybe she should try this, hee!)
I can’t even… and I thought I KNEW you two! Ya’ll – Velveeta is a major food group in Kansas! That fancy schmancy queso dip with Velveeta and Rotel? Grew up on it! Favorite Mac and Cheese? Velveeta and chicken noodle soup are the main ingredients. I’m just glad to hear you’re finally discovering the wonderful goodness that is Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product! Welcome to the other side of the tracks!
Personally I love ANY cheese. So bring on the $14.99/lb super snobby cheddar I love OR a big ol hunk of Velveeta and I will be happy either way.
This recipe is pretty much “chicken spaghetti” that is a pot luck staple here in Texas, we just don’t bake it.
I feel like it should be covered in cheese, maybe some bacon and some sorta crushed cracker or potato chip before you bake it.
I like that it’s baked, because that makes it easier to deal with – ie, you can cut a square of it rather than spooning out a big blop of it. I’m a pretty big cheese fan myself – and I’m not sure that if you handed me two bowls, one made with Velveeta and one made with the fancy stuff, that I’d really be able to tell any kind of difference.
This is totally on my list for next week’s dinner. It looks fantastic. I have found a lot of recipes that are now in our regular rotation from this site. Betting this one will be too!
I hope you like it Angela! Please report back. 🙂
We had it tonight and two very picky children ate it, so it’s a winner in my book!
Yay!!!
This kills me in oh-so-many ways! Love The Enforcer, the approved substitutions, etc. So I was going over this ’cause I’m just about to head to the store to get what I don’t have for this … and, um, while I DO have an oven already (thank God!)… I noticed the time to bake this is in the recipe, but the temperature isn’t! 🙁 I’d guess that ol’ standby of 350 degrees, but just in case it’s not that… just letting you know!
Ack! So sorry about that, Dorothy – you’re correct, it’s 350ºF. I’ve fixed the recipe.
One day I’ll learn the skill of proofreading myself! 🙂
You’re fired. Oh wait, that means I would have to do it.
Carry on…
I have never eaten or indeed SEEN or heard of Velveeta in my life. (Hanging head in shame). Live in BC Canada. Will have to have a look see for it..
Amy,
Velveeta is AMAZING but it’s also one of those food items that non-Americans see and think “Yep, this is why everyone in your country is fat.”
If you want HEAVEN – here is what you do:
Get 2 slices of very dense wheat-berry type bread and SLATHER them liberally with real butter – throw 1 piece in a hot skillet and add on thick slices of Velveeta and top it with the other piece of bread, flip it till very brown and OMG.
If you’re me, repeat.
You’re my kinda gal, Bonnie, because you know how to do it up right! 😀
Made this on Friday, and it was okay. Took the leftovers to Game Night on Saturday, and everyone raved about it. I will definitely make this again, and have passed the recipe on to several other people. YUM!
My momma made this when I was a girl. I loved it! Pretty talk ladies.