Chicken Spaghetti

There is a culinary abomination in the South called, "chicken spaghetti." It is served at every potluck, church picnic and social gathering as some sort of delicacy. I suspect the recipe stems from some  housewife who had a bunch of leftovers and several hungry children with unsophisticated taste buds. And now this dish is as ubiquitous as pecan pie--and may my late Texas mother-in-law forgive me--just as gross. 

Chicken spaghetti is made with chicken: canned, rotisserie or if someone has the desire and ambition, they can cook up a chicken prior to making this nastiness. 

To the chicken, one adds Velveeta (which seems to be a staple) a can or two of cream of something soup (no milk or water to thin it) and--I'm not making this up--Rotel tomatoes. It is the Rotel that makes it "fancy" and appropriate for company. Mix the above with a pot of cooked and drained spaghetti and serve. Please note, seasonings appear to be optional.

Recently, guilted by my food snobbery, I looked up recipes, figuring someone somewhere has to make a better version. What I could find was the above ingredients and sometimes the recipe called for cream cheese or cheddar cheese as well. 

It isn't just me who thinks this casserole is gross. The entire family is on board with never putting this concoction in our digestive tracks. In fact, Buckaroo would rather starve than eat anything with Velveeta. I can't say I blame him.