Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole
A casserole named for an Italian opera star sounds almost too good to be true, yet Chicken Tetrazzini has been sitting comfortably in American kitchens for more than a century.
The dish belongs to the early twentieth century, when restaurant chefs regularly named elaborate preparations for celebrated singers, actors, and society figures. Tetrazzini took its name from Luisa Tetrazzini, the Florentine coloratura soprano whose fame carried her across Europe and eventually to the United States.
She made her American debut on January 11, 1905, at San Francisco’s Tivoli Opera House, singing Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. San Francisco adored her. Five years later, during a contract dispute that threatened her return to the city, Tetrazzini famously declared that she would sing there even if she had to sing in the streets because the streets of San Francisco were free. On Christmas Eve 1910, she did exactly that.
A platform was erected near Lotta’s Fountain in downtown San Francisco. Paul Steindorff conducted the Tivoli orchestra, traffic was stopped, and an estimated 250,000 people packed the surrounding streets. Contemporary reports placed the crowd even higher. Tetrazzini appeared in a white gown covered in rhinestones and an enormous plumed hat and sang without amplification into the December night. Her program included music from Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, “The Last Rose of Summer,” and finally “Auld Lang Syne,” which the crowd joined her in singing.
Somewhere during those years, her name also found its way onto a plate of pasta.
The exact cook responsible remains unresolved. San Francisco has long laid claim to the dish through stories involving the Palace Hotel, while New York origin stories point toward restaurants and hotels around Forty-second Street and the Metropolitan Opera. The surviving printed record gives us firmer ground. Turkey Tetrazzini appeared in Good Housekeeping in 1908 in a collection of dishes associated with New York restaurants, and Chicken Tetrazzini was being circulated in print by 1909.
The name was Italian. The casserole that developed around it was thoroughly American.
Its basic construction proved remarkably durable: poultry, long pasta, mushrooms, a rich sauce, cheese, and a browned top. Through the decades it moved from restaurant dining rooms into newspaper food pages, household cookbooks, community collections, and eventually the familiar rectangular casserole dish.
Turkey versions became particularly useful after Thanksgiving, when an impressive roasted bird had become several containers of leftovers by Friday afternoon. Chicken made the dish practical throughout the rest of the year.
My version uses a full pound of pasta, which makes a substantial casserole and means the proportions matter. There should be chicken in every serving and enough sauce to coat the pasta generously before the dish ever reaches the oven. I cook the pasta until al dente, leaving it slightly firm because it will continue cooking in the oven beneath the hot sauce and cheese.
The mushrooms deserve attention of their own. They contain a surprising amount of water, and putting them into the casserole before that moisture has cooked away can leave both the mushrooms and the sauce disappointing. I give them enough time in the pan to release their liquid and begin to brown. That small bit of stovetop work pays for itself in the finished dish.
Then comes the sherry.
Sherry has had a long association with Tetrazzini-style sauces, and it makes particular sense here. Dry sherry works beautifully with browned mushrooms, cream, chicken, and Parmesan. A small amount brings a savory, nutty depth to the sauce without taking over the casserole. By the 1940s, printed Tetrazzini variations were explicitly calling for sherry alongside mushrooms, cream sauce, spaghetti, and Parmesan.
This is also a very good destination for chicken that has already done duty at another meal. Leftover roasted chicken works beautifully, as does a rotisserie bird when dinner needs to move along. I remove the skin and cut or shred the meat myself so I can judge the amount and seasoning as I go.
The pan should taste of chicken throughout, with pasta providing the structure rather than becoming the whole story.
Once assembled, Chicken Tetrazzini is well suited to the kind of cooking American casseroles have always handled especially well. It can be prepared ahead, refrigerated, baked when needed, carried across town, or placed on a table where several people need feeding from one dish. That practicality helped dishes like this find a permanent home at family dinners, church suppers, potlucks, and holiday tables during the twentieth century.
At home, I usually serve it with a green salad. For a larger dinner, green beans, asparagus, or roasted broccoli with lemon are good beside the richness of chicken, pasta, mushrooms, cream, and Parmesan.
Then I leave the casserole alone for a few minutes after it comes from the oven. The bubbling sauce settles into the pasta, the cheese remains browned across the top, and the first serving arrives on the plate looking considerably better than one scooped out the instant the pan leaves the heat.
Chicken Tetrazzini has endured because the combination still works. Poultry, pasta, properly browned mushrooms, a rich sauce, dry sherry, and Parmesan make excellent companions in a baking dish.
And attached to all of it is the name of Luisa Tetrazzini, the Florentine soprano who stood beside Lotta’s Fountain on Christmas Eve in 1910 and sang to a crowd of roughly a quarter of a million people.
Few American casseroles come to the table with a better story.
Until next time, thank you for spending a little time with me. I hope you find a recipe to make, a story to enjoy, and something new to take into the kitchen. ♥️
Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 1 hour
oven temperature 350°F
SERVINGS: 6 SERVINGS
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 large celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 packages, 8 oz each sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, more or less to taste
1 tsp kosher salt, more or less to taste
1 cup dry sherry
2/3 cup flour
4 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 cups shredded fresh parmesan cheese, divided in half
8 oz block-style cream cheese
4 cups cooked chicken breasts, diced into cubes
1 - 1 1/2 lbs pasta of choice, prepare according to package instructions
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large stockpot, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat, add onions and celery sauté until translucent. Add garlic, sauté for a few minutes until soft, making sure the garlic does not burn. Add sliced mushrooms, sauté until mushrooms have softened. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add sherry, cook until reduced by half. Add flour, stir and cook for one to two minutes, the mixture will be thick. Whisk in chicken stock, stirring until stock comes to a boil and flour has been incorporated. Reduce heat to low, simmer for 10 minutes.
- Turn off heat, stir in 1 cup of parmesan cheese and cream cheese, continue to stir until cream cheese melts.
- Add prepared chicken and pasta to the sauce, mix well. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a large casserole dish, sprinkle the top with the remaining parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly and warm throughout. Enjoy!
about the AUTHOr
Stasia Boschetti is an American culinary writer and the founder of American Country Living. With more than thirty years of experience in the kitchen, a background in catering, extensive travel, and a strong knowledge of regional food traditions, she writes about the recipes, histories, and customs that have shaped the way America cooks. She lives in the United States with her husband, family, and rescue animals.
