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Test Kitchen Approved

The Gathering Bake

Time: 2 hours 35 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

About

Why is this called The Gathering Bake? It all comes down to how it brings everyone together. Everyone just loves sitting down at the dinner table to enjoy a cheesy, savory pasta meal, with bites of tender chicken cooked in a homemade chicken broth and plenty of butter-cooked vegetables mixed in. Of course, everything being coated in a creamy sauce makes every bite so much more delicious! The Gathering Bake will bring your taste buds together in a community of great flavor!

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Ingredients

  • 1 (4-5-pound) whole chicken
  • 4 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more, to taste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • water, to taste
  • 8 ounces spaghetti, broken into thirds
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 medium green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
  • 2 celery ribs, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • hot sauce, to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup medium cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

Step 1 -In a large Dutch oven, add the chicken, 4 tablespoons of the salt, the bay leaf, and enough of the water to cover the chicken.

Step 2 -Place the Dutch oven over high heat and bring the water to a boil.

Step 3 -Cover the Dutch oven and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Step 4 -Simmer until the chicken is tender and the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F in its thickest part, about 1 hour.

Step 5 -Transfer the chicken from the Dutch oven, reserving the cooking broth in the Dutch oven, and allow the chicken to cool completely, about 20 minutes.

Step 6 -Remove and discard the bay leaf from the broth.

Step 7 -Remove and discard the skin and the bones from the chicken.

Step 8 -Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.

Step 9 -Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 10 -Lightly coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Step 11 -Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking broth in a separate bowl.

Step 12 -Bring the remaining broth in the Dutch oven to a boil over high heat.

Step 13 -Add the spaghetti to the boiling broth and cook until tender, about 12-15 minutes.

Step 14 -Drain the pasta, discarding the broth used to cook it.

Step 15 -Return the cooked spaghetti to the Dutch oven.

Step 16 -In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter.

Step 17 -Add the onions, the green bell peppers, the celery, and the garlic to the melted butter and cook, while stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes.

Step 18 -Add the onion mixture to the pasta in the Dutch oven.

Step 19 -In a bowl, add the cream of mushroom soup and the reserved chicken broth and stir to combine.

Step 20 -Add the soup mixture to the pasta mixture and stir to combine.

Step 21 -Add the cooked chicken, the tomatoes, the Worcestershire sauce, the hot sauce, and the black pepper to the pasta mixture and stir to combine.

Step 22 -Season the pasta mixture with the extra salt, as needed.

Step 23 -Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish, spreading it out evenly.

Step 24 -Sprinkle the pasta mixture with the cheddar cheese.

Step 25 -Bake until the cheese melts, about 15-20 minutes.

Step 26 -Serve hot.

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