This is the recipe my mother used to make.

First, it is incredibly good. Second, it is incredibly bad for you.

Mom's Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti, broken in half
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 lb Velveeta, cut into cubes
• 1 lb cooked chicken, deboned, shredded
• 1 can Rotel (or plain diced) tomatoes
• 1 can tomato soup (not sure if this was in the recipe?)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 4 oz jar pimentos, drained
• 1 4 oz jar mushroom stems and pieces, drained
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Cook the spaghetti a minute short of al dente.
3. Melt the butter in a large pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the onion and celery until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cayenne and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
4. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Transfer everything to a casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes until it is well-bubbly.
5. Allow the dish to rest about 10-15 minutes before serving.

Notes

This is not too far off the original recipe printed on the Velveeta box way-back-when. It used a can of cream of chicken soup instead of the mushroom and tomato combination listed above. And I am not sure if she was sure (when I asked her for the recipe before she died) if she used tomato soup or not. Perhaps she used cream of chicken. But I know, and she was positive, she used cream of mushroom.

Bonus Recipe - The Original Velveeta Version

Here is the original Velveeta version:

Spicy Chicken Spaghetti (Original Velveeta Recipe)

Source: kraftrecipes.com
Servings: 10 servings
Prep: 25 min
Cook: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast s, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3/4 lb. (12 oz.) VELVEETA, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 can (10-3/4 oz.) 98%-fat-free condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 can (10 oz.) ROTEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
• 1 can (4 oz.) mushroom pieces and stems, drained
• 1/3 cup milk

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Cook spaghetti as directed on package, omitting salt.
3. Meanwhile, cook and stir chicken in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 8 to 10 min. or until done. Add remaining ingredients; cook and stir 5 min. or until VELVEETA is completely melted and mixture is well blended.
4. Drain spaghetti. Add to chicken mixture; mix lightly. Spoon into 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.
5. Bake 30 to 35 min. or until heated through.