Lighter chicken tetrazzini
45 min · 45 g protein · 451 cals / serving
The American potluck classic, lightened: whole-wheat spaghetti, golden chicken, 1 1/4 pounds of browned mushrooms and peas in a creamy sherry and parmesan sauce made with milk, stock and Greek yogurt instead of cream, under a crisp panko and parmesan top. All the comfort, made for leftovers.
Ingredients
- 7 oz whole wheat pasta, whole-wheat spaghetti, broken in half
- 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, in bite-size pieces
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 1/4 lb pre-sliced cremini mushrooms crimini mushroom
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 cup sherry, dry
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups 1% milk
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 1/3 cups cooked frozen green peas
- 2/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2/3 cup grated parmesan, divided
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
To serve
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Steps
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (a kettle speeds it up).
- Cook the spaghetti 2 minutes less than the package says, then drain.
- Meanwhile, season the chicken with half the salt and the pepper. Heat the oil in a large, deep ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken 5–6 minutes, turning, until golden and 165°F inside. Tip onto a plate.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until browned and their liquid has cooked away. Add the onion, garlic and thyme and cook 3 minutes until soft. Heat the broiler (grill) to high.
- Pour in the sherry and let it bubble 1 minute. Sprinkle over the flour and stir 1 minute, then slowly stir in the stock, then the milk and the mustard. Simmer, stirring, 3–4 minutes until it thickens like gravy.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the peas, yogurt, half the parmesan and the rest of the salt, then the chicken and spaghetti. (If your skillet is not ovenproof or big enough, tip it all into a broiler-safe 9 × 13-inch dish.)
- Mix the panko with the rest of the parmesan, scatter it over the top and broil 3–4 minutes, watching it, until golden and crisp; everything underneath is already hot. (Or bake 8 minutes at 425°F.)
- Scatter with parsley. It keeps 3 days in the fridge and freezes for 2 months in portions; reheat covered with a splash of milk, as the sauce thickens as it sits.
Good to know
No sherry?
Use the same amount of extra chicken stock with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar for the sharpness; it comes out at about the same score.
Leftover turkey or rotisserie chicken?
Tetrazzini began as a way to use up holiday turkey. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of cooked, shredded meat in step 6 and skip step 3; with rotisserie chicken it comes out at about 61 instead of 65.
Why stir the yogurt in off the heat?
Yogurt splits if it boils on its own. Stirred into the flour-thickened sauce off the heat it stays smooth, even under the broiler, and gives the creaminess and tang a cup of heavy cream used to.
Per
- Calories
- 105
- Protein
- (41%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (20%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (39%)
- 11 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 213 mg
About 55% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2706 kcal goes into the pot and 2850 g of ingredients comes out as about 2575 g of food: 105 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.