Weight Watchers Recipe of the Day: Pioneer Woman Chicken Spaghetti Made Lighter and Easier
I love taking my favorite "comfort food" recipes and making them lighter and more Weight Watchers friendly.
Staying on plan is so much easier when you make foods the entire family will enjoy - Weight Watchers Family Meals (affiliate link)!
This dish for chicken spaghetti from The Pioneer Woman is a great example.
As Ree says, "Everyone loves this dish and I know you will too!"
Here's a Food Network video of Ree whipping up her version of chicken spaghetti casserole...
Recipe Notes
I'm a lazier cook than Ree. She starts by cooking chicken to make her casserole. I tend to wait till I have leftover chicken available before making my version.
Here's what I did to make my chicken spaghetti lighter, healthier and more Weight Watchers friendly...
- Made a smaller batch
- Used more chicken breast and less spaghetti
- Used Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup
- Substituted reduced fat cheddar cheese and used less
I also substituted chopped roasted red bell pepper for the pimentos and sliced green onion for onion to work with what I had in the pantry/fridge.
And I skipped the green bell pepper out of personal preference.
I love the versatility of comfort food casseroles like this. You can change them up to suit your needs and what you have on hand.
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Chicken Spaghetti Casserole?
According to my calculations, each serving has about 382 calories and:
8 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
7 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
7 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
8 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Recipe Variations
No spaghetti?
Substitute with your favorite pasta.
No cream of chicken soup?
Substitute cream of mushroom or celery or lowfat sour cream or nonfat Greek yogurt.
No cheddar cheese?
Substitute whatever cheese you have on hand.
More vegetables?
I think the addition of chopped cooked mushrooms, cauliflower and corn could all work.
If you like this recipe for lighter pasta be sure to check out: Slow Cooker Spaghetti Frittata, Light & Healthy Creamy One Pot Pasta, Skinny Pasta wit Broccoli & Chicken, Creamy Slow Cooker Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta, The Pioneer Woman Lightens Up with Low Carb Recipes
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The Pioneer Woman Chicken Spaghetti Made Lighter
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken breast
- 1-½ cups dry spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces and cooked until al dente
- 1 can low fat cream of chicken soup (I used Campbell's Healthy Request)
- 1-½ cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese (divided)
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onion
- ¼ cup finely chopped roasted red bell pepper (or pimentos)
- 1 cup low fat chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of the shredded cheese and all other ingredients. Stir together until everything is well mixed.
- Coat a casserole dish (affiliate link) with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the mixture in the casserole pan and then top with the remaining ½ cup cheese.
- Bake until bubbly, 35 to 45 minutes. (If the cheese on top gets too brown, cover with foil.)
Equipment
Recipe Notes
- No spaghetti? Substitute with your favorite pasta.
- No cream of chicken soup? Substitute cream of mushroom or celery or lowfat sour cream or nonfat Greek yogurt.
- No cheddar cheese? Substitute whatever cheese you have on hand.
- More vegetables? I think the addition of chopped cooked mushrooms, cauliflower and corn could all work.
Source: Adapted from The Pioneer Woman
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
More Weight Watchers Friendly Pasta Recipes
- Mediterranean Pasta with Chicken (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Turkey Sloppy Joe Pasta (EmilyBites)
- Sausage Pasta with Veggies (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Pasta with Chicken Sausage & Broccoli (SkinnyTaste)
- Baked Pasta with Zucchini & Cottage Cheese (Simple-Nourished-Living)
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Beth
I love Ree's recipes but most of them are very high fat. It's great to see this lighter re-make and inspires me to do the same to other recipes.
Tracey Till
Cook time says 6 minutes, but within the recipe it says it's in the oven for 35-45 minutes... Now I'm assuming the 35-45 is correct, but would you please confirm cook time. Thanks! Looks great and I'm excited to try it!
Martha McKinnon
Hi Tracey,
Yes, this needs to bake until bubbly 35 to 45 minutes. I've corrected the recipe. Thanks for letting me know. Warmly, Martha
Monica Benbow
Looking forward to trying this "skinny" version of the recipe I saw on TV!
Karen rose
Oh my gosh, this hit the spot!! My husband and I ***love*** it! I added broccoli, cauliflower and corn, used vegetable broth (because that’s what i had) and I added a little gruyère because I only had extra sharp reduced fat cheese. SOOOOO GOOD!!!
Martha McKinnon
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful comment! So glad you like it too!!
Stephanie
Love all the recipes. Had a question about substituting Kirkland Brand Canned Chicken for this. What do you think?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Stephanie, Though I haven't tried it I think the canned chicken would work fine. Hope this helps! - Martha
Trish
Be aware that using the Kirkland chicken might have points, as their frozen grilled chicken strips use rib meat, making it not zero points.
Tammy Shutler
What size casserole dish do you use for this?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Tammy, I used a 9-inch round deep dish pie plate when I made this. An 8 or 9-inch square baking pan or 1-1/2 quart baking dish should also work. - Martha
Marlene wright
Has anybody made this with Greek yogurt
Can't wait to make this after thanksgiving using leftover turkey
Marlene
How many cups is a serving
Jay
I'm confused by this recipe. I plugged all the info into WW website and it equates to 11 free style points, not 6 free style points. Am I missing something?
Patti Lloyd-Garrett
Do you have any recipes to substitute spaghetti squash for pasta in such recipes or would it be too mushy? I like my squash al dente.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Patti,
Here's a recipe for an Asian Spaghetti Squash Salad - https://simple-nourished-living.com/asian-spaghetti-squash-salad-0-smartpoints-weight-watchers-recipe/
I think you could substitute spaghetti squash for spaghetti in any recipe you choose, provided you cook it al dente. Hope this helps. ~Martha
Tamra
If you used whole wheat pasta, wouldn't that drop the points for the purple plan?
Martha McKinnon
Yes, Tamra, whole wheat pasta is 0 points on the purple plan. ~martha
Sherry
Thank you so much! This recipe of PW's is one of our favorites! Can't wait to try it, but I already know I'm going to love it! We change up our recipes too, to make them healthier, lower calorie, lower fat, etc..
Thanks a bunch!
Barb
This recipe is amazing. I do think I used too much spaghetti tho. Not sure how to measure it. It says 1 1/2 cups dry spaghetti. How did you measure? Thank you for all of your recipes. I use them regularly.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Barb,it says 1-1/2 cups dry spaghetti broken into 2-inch pieces. I broke up several strands of dry spaghetti at a time and placed them in a measuring cup. Just kept breaking them up until I had 1-1/2 cups. Hope this helps. So happy to hear that you use my recipes regularly. Thanks for letting me know! ~Martha
Sharon Devey
Had a hard time showing restraint. Absolutely comfort.. Thank you
Robin
Enjoyed new recipe. Thank you.
SusieMA
I've been so hungry for spaghetti & was excited to try this recipe...I used the Ronzoni Whole Grain Spaghetti which tasted great. My problem is when putting this recipe into the WW recipe calculator I came up with oodles too many points. I did change the servings to 6 (rather than 4) still came up with 10 points (Green) which was so disappointing to me. I baked it in an 11x7" pan, it looked really pretty and bubbly but it just lacked something. If I make it again (probably won't cuz of the points) I'd add garlic and more onion/roasted read bell pepper. Just needs more flavor. I do appreciate your help Martha and look forward to trying more recipes to aide in my healthy weight reduction plan!
Amber Sauls
This is so delicious!
Trish
A great substitute for the original recipe???
Jane
Thanks for this lighter version and adapting to a smaller casserole size. I love that you have included some extra hints on changing it up. My family loved this recipe.
JMYANK
How many points per serving would this be on Purple if I used whole wheat spaghetti?
Martha McKinnon
According to the WW APP this would be 5SP per serving on Purple with whole wheat spaghetti. ~Martha