Monterey Chicken Casserole
Monterey Chicken Casserole is a creamy baked pasta dish that’s easy to make, comes together in under an hour, tastes fantastic and makes for great leftovers too!
A Creamy Cheesy Chicken Bake
Monterey Chicken Casserole is loaded with Monterey Jack cheese, seasoned chicken, pasta with French-fried onions, spinach and plenty of creaminess. This is such a fun dish to make because it’s so easy, you literally mix everything right there in the baking dish (yay for less dishes!) Monterey Chicken Casserole is a family favorite dinner that comes together in no time!
Frequently Asked Questions:
So, you may had heard of Monterey Chicken (like the kind served at restaurants) that is chicken topped with BBQ sauce, cheese and bacon. Whereas with this recipe, it is made with chicken, spinach and cheese in a creamy casserole. They are two different things but are both made with Monterey Jack cheese which is where they get their names. That is the only similarity.
You can add peas or green beans to the casserole as well. You can also omit the spinach and use either of those in place of it.
Yes you can use pepper jack cheese in place of the Monterey Jack cheese. You could also add red pepper flakes or even cayenne pepper.
This is probably the most frequent question I get when a recipe has sour cream. First, I will say, maybe just try it. Usually they really have no idea it’s in there unless you tell them. Of course that is a little harder when you are the sour cream hater and you are the one making the meal – ha! You don’t really taste it as a separate ingredient. It’s not like dolloping a big heaping spoon of sour cream on a taco. This is being mixed in with a bunch of other ingredients to add thick creaminess.
Google will tell you to use something like ricotta. Ricotta will add texture to this that some may not find palatable (it really depends on just how picky the picky eater is.) I would suggest (if you just can’t bring yourself to use sour cream) to use creme fraiche. It has the same thickness and creaminess without any tang or any texture. But please use what is in your budget and what you think will taste best for you.
Mayonnaise is usually an alternative but I worry that would be way too much mayonnaise in here and may throw off the other flavors. You could maybe get away with doing half mayo and half sour cream.
Make sure you add the fried onions in the last 10 minutes because if you add them at the beginning of baking, they can get really dark brown. They will also taste bitter when overcooked.
You can keep this in the fridge for up to 5 days. Sometimes creamy dishes like this don’t freeze very well. You can freeze it but you have to be very careful when reheating or the creamy part of the dish can separate and be gross.
Ingredients Needed: (See Recipe Card Below For The Full Recipe)
- rigatoni– if out of rigatoni, you can try other smaller pasta like penne or bow tie pasta.
- reserved pasta water– keep it after cooking the pasta. If you forget to save some, you can just use some tap water or milk instead.
- diced or shredded cooked chicken– You can cook up some Shredded Chicken in the Instant Pot, Air Fryer Chicken, or even use some rotisserie chicken. To me, that’s the easiest option. Additionally, you could boil up about a pound of chicken or just roast it.
- reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup– if you can’t find reduced sodium versions, I like using my Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup where I can really control the ingredients used. As I get older, I find that I prefer to start with lower sodium options then add salt to taste but if you are not sensitive to salt, just go with the regular cream of chicken soup.
- sour cream– I don’t think you really taste this as its own separate ingredient, but if you really can’t bring yourself to use, try creme fraiche instead. It’s the closest thing in consistency and doesn’t have the tanginess that sour cream does have. If in a real pinch, you could try heavy cream, it just won’t end up as creamy— I haven’t tried this yet. As a last resort, you can try a half and half mix of sour cream and mayo. I have a feeling if you did all mayo it would be too much mayo and may taste off.
- frozen chopped spinach– if spinach isn’t your thing, you can omit it. I haven’t tried it, but, I suppose you can try broccoli. I just don’t know how well it will soften up while cooking, so you may want to cook it ahead of time. If you need another option, try using canned peas or green beans instead. I haven’t tested this with fresh spinach.
- shredded Monterey Jack Cheese– Monterey Jack is the preferred cheese (after all, that is what the dish is named after), but you can use cheddar, Colby Jack, or pepper Jack if you want a little spice.
- French-fried onions– if you really don’t enjoy these, you can try crushed up crackers or just leave them out altogether.
- garlic powder, onion powder, paprika – my go-to seasoning blend of choice but please feel free to use your favorite seasonings here.
How To Make Monterey Chicken Casserole
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve one cup of the pasta water then drain and set aside. drain, and set aside. To the baking dish (or a bowl if you prefer), add the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, reserved pasta water, spinach, one cup of cheese, half of the fried onions, and all the dried seasonings. Mix until fully combined.
Add the pasta and mix until completely combined. If you used a bowl to combine everything, pour it all into the baking dish.
Top with the remaining cheese. Bake on the middle oven rack for 30 minutes uncovered. Top with the remaining French-fried onions. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Top with fresh parsley (optional)
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Monterey Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 16 ounce box rigatoni
- 1 cup reserved pasta water (after cooking the pasta)
- 2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
- 2 (10.5 ounce) cans reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup (can use no sodium)
- 16 ounce container sour cream
- 12 ounce frozen chopped spinach (defrosted and drained very well)
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (divided use)
- 6 ounce container French-fried onions (divided use)
- ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cook 16 ounce box rigatoni according to the package directions. Reserve one cup of the pasta water then drain and set aside.
- To the baking dish (or a bowl if you prefer), add 2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken, 2 (10.5 ounce) cans reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, 2 (10.5 ounce) cans reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, 16 ounce container sour cream, 1 cup reserved pasta water, 12 ounce frozen chopped spinach, 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, half of the French-fried onions, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder and ½ teaspoon paprika. Mix until fully combined.
- Add the cooked rigatoni pasta and mix until completely combined. If you used a bowl to combine everythinging, pour it all into the baking dish.
- Top with the remaining 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
- Bake on the middle oven rack for 30 minutes uncovered.
- Top with the remaining French-fried onions. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Top with 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
The recipe says 2- ( 10.5 ) cans of cream of chicken soup twice a- is that a typo ?
Where is it twice? I’m sorry, I’m not seeing it. In the recipe card?
Can I use fresh spinach? If so, how much?
I’m sure you could. I haven’t tested it with that though so I can’t tell you how much
My husband is also a major problem when it comes to sour cream lol. Guess maybe I’ll try to sneak this by him.
LOL – it is a very common problem. You are not alone
Made it! Hubby had no idea there was sour cream in it and he’s usually pretty good picking it up. LOL. Delicious, thank you!!
Love hearing that Dana! Thanks so much! I always say it really depends on how picky the picky eater really is lol