Chicken Spaghetti with NO Velveeta or Canned Soups

The Mister and I have both been nursing wicked colds all week.  I'm finally getting my appetite back and decided that a big batch of chicken spaghetti would be just the thing to revive my neglected taste buds.  Most of the recipes I came across centered around cans of cream-o'-crap and a big block of Velveeta.  I'm not a fan of either, so I was excited to see that a blogger had created a version of this dish with a cheddar sauce.  The outcome was delicious!

Note:  I went ahead and baked my spaghetti, which makes for a drier dish.  You are free to just mix everything in the pot and skip that step if you'd like.  If you want to bake it but prefer a saucier casserole, I would recommend upping the liquids by about a cup.

Also, a lot of cooks use poached and shredded chicken breast for this dish.  I opted to dice my chicken, season it with seasoned salt, cumin, and chili powder, and sear it on the stovetop.

Adapted from Lauren's Latest

INGREDIENTS
3/4 lb. thin spaghetti
3 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chiles, drained
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt & pepper, to taste
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350.  Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook spaghetti to al dente and drain.

Meanwhile, melt butter and saute onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk to prevent lumps. Increase heat to medium high.  Allow to bubble until sauce thickens.

Reduce heat to medium low.  Sprinkle in shredded cheese a bit at a time, stirring continuously until melted into sauce. Stir in cumin, salt, pepper, Rotel, chicken, and cooked spaghetti. Toss to coat everything evenly in sauce.

Pour into greased 9 X 13 glass dish.  Bake 30 minutes.