The Popular Chicken Comfort Dish Of The '60s And '70s You Can Elevate Or Simplify

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Some retro dishes (like Jell-O salad) firmly belong in the past. But, many culinary creations of yore — or, at least of the '60s and 70s — still totally hold up. Chicken Tetrazzini is one such dish. All hail the humble casserole: A cozy, one-pan meal built to please on a dime. Chicken Tetrazzini has the unique distinction of being economical and accessible, crowd-pleasing and crowd-filling, all while retaining the capacity to be elevated into an upscale comfort food.

At its core, chicken Tettrazini consists of spaghetti in a thick, rich cream sauce with chopped chicken, all covered in golden breadcrumbs and baked in a casserole dish. It's tuna-noodle-casserole-adjacent, not requiring any special cooking techniques for busy or beginner home cooks. The dish is named after Italian colatura soprano Luisa Tetrazzini (1871-1940), a widely revered opera singer at the turn of the 1900s. Her namesake casserole is a distinctly Italian-American fusion, an amalgam of the convenience-centric canned or boxed ingredients in mid-20th century American kitchens with classic baked Italian pasta dishes. 

It remains unclear when, exactly, chicken Tetrazzini was first created, or whether it initially came from a restaurant or a home kitchen. Either way, written recipes bearing the name chicken or turkey Tetrazzini began cropping up as early as the 1940s, and by the '60s and '70s, the dish was a household staple. Recipes appear in Poppy Cannon's "The New New Can-Opener Cookbook," published in 1968, and in Jean Anderson's "The American Century Cookbook" (1997).

As with many recipes adopted by home cooks, preparations vary often and widely. Chicken Tetrazzini is commonly made with turkey instead of chicken, and can be a thrifty way to use up leftovers from last night's dinner. Some '60s-era versions used seafood like shrimp, salmon, or canned tuna; others added chopped hot dogs. Peas are a common addition. As for the thick cream sauce, it typically includes some combination of sherry or white wine, Parmesan, canned cream of mushroom or chicken soup, chopped mushrooms, butter, bouillon, garlic, and onions. Others swap the Parm for cheddar, or even canned cheese spread.

Happily, versatile chicken Tetrazzini is a casserole both glamorous and informal, easily steered in one direction or the other by the addition or omission of a few choice ingredients. This elevated chicken Tetrazzini recipe, for instance, trades the canned ingredients for their from-scratch counterparts. Sautéed Porcini and cremini mushrooms, pan-seared chicken breast, and a rich sauce of chicken broth, cream, and grated Parmesan yield a more sophisticated profile. 

Or, alternatively, this one-pot turkey Tetrazzini takes a simpler approach with frozen peas and shredded, pre-cooked turkey, coming together in just about a half hour. Feel free to break out the canned condensed soup for a warming, accessible weeknight meal. For a quick, high-intrigue finishing touch, garnish your chicken Tetrazzini with chopped parsley, and pair it with these garlic butter Brussels sprouts, plus a glass of dry, robust Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.