Pantry Chicken Casserole

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Servings: 10
Yield: 10 servings

Description

This pantry chicken casserole easily comes together with dried pasta, leftover chicken, cheese, mushrooms, canned tomatoes, and canned green chiles.

Ingredients

cooking spray
1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper - stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (8 ounce) packages processed cheese food (such as Velveeta®), cubed
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (such as RO*TEL®), undrained
1 (4 ounce) can mild chopped green chile peppers
4 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 9x13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
2 Fill a large pot of lightly salted water and bring to a roiling boil. Stir in penne and return to a boil. Cook pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes; drain.
3 While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook until their liquid is released, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4 Stir in cheese, diced tomatoes with juice, diced tomatoes and green chiles with juice, and chile peppers; cook and stir until cheese melted, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cooked pasta and chicken then pour into the prepared baking dish.
5 Bake in the preheated oven until heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.