Best Chicken Casserole (+ Fav Chicken Casserole Recipes)

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Casserole season is every season and today we’re sharing our very best chicken casserole recipes! Best part? All of these dishes are both balanced and healthy made with real ingredients.

PS: before we share all of our favorite chicken casserole recipes, sink your teeth into the most flavorful (and easiest!) chicken casserole!

spoon in chicken and rice casserole dish

You know when you have “nothing to eat?” That’s when you make a chicken casserole recipe! Today we’re sharing all of our very best chicken casserole inspo + a classic chicken and rice casserole recipe that you’re going to absolutely love.

What is Chicken Casserole?

A chicken casserole is when you cook all parts of your chicken meal in a baking dish. Usually, the ingredients you use in your chicken casserole are uncooked for a quick “throw everything into a dish and bake it” kind of meal. Typically a chicken casserole includes 4 parts:

Grain: pasta or rice
Chicken: breast or thighs
Vegetables: all kinds!
Sauce: cheese sauce, roux, etc.

From midwestern chicken and rice casserole to creative Asian-inspired casseroles like orange chicken casserole, we are huge fans of taking classic chicken dinners and turning them into casseroles.

Like I mentioned above, most chicken casserole dishes that you’ll find on FFF use raw ingredients so you can toss everything into your baking dish and bake it. None of that hour+ prep time!

Take Chicken Tikka Masala for instance. You’re going to serve that with some kind of vegetable and grain, so why not make a Chicken Tikka Masala Casserole?

Ceramic Dish vs. Baking Pan

First things first, let’s talk casserole dishes! Our chicken casserole recipes call for ceramic casserole dishes and let me tell you, there is a difference between that and a baking pan. Casserole dishes are like cast iron pans in that they bake things more evenly and faster than a normal metal baking pan.

We much prefer to use a ceramic casserole dish for our chicken casserole recipes for this exact reason. However, no fear if you don’t have one! A baking pan will work just fine, you may just need to adjust your bake time.

Favorite Ceramic Casserole Dishes

What can I use if I don’t have a casserole dish?

Feel free to use a deep cast-iron skillet or a dutch oven in place of a casserole dish! You can even use a cake pan.

Do you cook chicken before putting it in a casserole?

You do not need to cook your chicken before putting it into a casserole if you plan to cook your casserole for at least 45 minutes in the oven.

How long can you keep chicken casserole in the fridge?

Most chicken casseroles will last 3-5 days in the fridge.

Storage tip: make sure to store your casserole in an airtight container with the lid on.

Can I freeze chicken casserole?

Chicken casserole is a great meal to freeze for later. Let your casserole cool completely and then cover it with a piece of plastic wrap, pressing it onto the top of your casserole and removing as much air as possible. Then, cover it with a piece of tin foil doing the same thing.

freezer tip

We suggest baking your chicken casserole in a disposable tin casserole dish. This will free up your other casserole dishes for real-time baking.

What do you eat with chicken casserole?

The great thing about a chicken casserole is that all parts of your meal are usually baked right into the casserole. Typically you get a grain, vegetable, and carb, so there really is no need to serve it with anything else. However here are a few suggestions:

Fav Chicken Casserole Recipe

Before we share all of the very best chicken casserole recipes from FFF, we want to share a very midwestern dinner that is what we like to call — BASIC.

This easy chicken casserole recipe is the epitome of a casserole. It’s got all 4 parts: veggies, rice, chicken breasts, and a cheesy sauce to bind everything together. And, it doesn’t call for cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom soup, making this better-for-you!

2-Part Prep

To make things even simpler, I’d like to break the prep of this recipe into 2 parts!

Part 1: Veggies + Chicken

Part 1 is all about prepping your veggies and chicken. This chicken, broccoli, and rice casserole calls for the following ingredients that need to be chopped:

broccoli
carrot
onion
chicken breast

Once you chop those things, place them on the bottom of your casserole dish along with some green peas and quick-cooking rice.

You’ll notice that everything on this list is raw/uncooked. That means you don’t need ore-cooked chicken which is an absolute dream.

Part 2: Sauce

Up next it’s time to make your homemade cheese sauce! That’s right, no need to buy cream of mushroom soup. For this, you’ll need shredded cheddar cheese, broth, and milk (any kind).

Heat a small pot over medium/high heat and add your liquid. Once simmering, add cheese and turn the heat down to low/medium. Continuously stir until cheese melts. Finally, pour sauce on top of the veggies in the casserole dish.

Bake it!

All of that should take you around 20 minutes to prepare. From there, all you need to do is bake your casserole in the oven at 375ºF for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and add a generous amount of cheese to the top. Place back in the oven for 15-20 more minutes.

Let it Sit

Once your chicken is fully cooked, it’s time to let your casserole rest. This may sound like a funny thing to do, but I promise it’s important!

By letting your casserole rest on the stove-top for 15 minutes, you’ll let all of the liquid the chicken gave off soak up into the rice and veggies. I promise it’s worth it!

Best Chicken Casserole (+Fav Chicken Casserole Recipes)

This is one of our favorite chicken casserole recipes! A chicken casserole that’s cheesy, filling, and HEALTHY! Our chicken, broccoli, and rice casserole is made without pre-made soup, it’s so easy and even more delicious from scratch!

Prep: 15 minutesCook: 45 minutesTotal: 1 hour

Fat 14 Carbs 23 Protein 32

Yield 8 1x

Ingredients

1.5 cups minute brown rice
5 cups chopped broccoli florets (1 full head)
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 medium carrots, finely diced
1.5 cups frozen green peas
2 cups chicken broth
1.5 cups 2% milk
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese, divided (6 oz. and 2 oz.)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1.5 lb.s boneless, skinless chicken breast (raw)
1 oz. shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions

First, preheat oven to 375ºF and spray a large ceramic casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Next, place minute brown rice, broccoli florets, yellow onion, carrots, and green peas on the bottom of the casserole dish.
Prepare cheese sauce by placing broth and milk into a small saucepan. Heat over medium/high heat.
Once simmering, turn down low/medium and add in 6 oz. shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Continuously stir until the cheese dissolves and your cheese sauce has formed.
Immediately pour over rice and veggies and mix.
Next, slice chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes and add that to the casserole dish and mix making sure everything is fully coated in cheese sauce.
Bake at 375ºF, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Then, add 2 oz. shredded cheddar cheese and 1 oz. shredded parmesan cheese to the top of the casserole dish and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Let casserole rest on the stovetop for 15-20 minutes before serving to further thicken.

Tips & Notes

Chicken: the chicken goes into the casserole raw.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/8 Calories: 337 Sugar: 4 Fat: 14 Carbohydrates: 23 Fiber: 3 Protein: 32

Author: Lee FunkeCategory: CasseroleMethod: OvenCuisine: American

Keywords: chicken casserole, chicken casserole recipes

Best Chicken Casserole Recipes

And now, here is the lineup of all of our best chicken casserole recipes from Fit Foodie Finds. Here’s you’ll find flavors from all over the world! Enjoy.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

This lighter-fare Chicken Pot Pie Casserole is jam-packed with veggies, lean chicken, and that amazing creamy pop pie flavor!

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Say hello to the most delicious chicken parmesan casserole. This pasta casserole has crispy chicken, savory marinara sauce, and lots of CHEESE. It is the perfect family dinner that everyone will love!

Chicken Tikka Masala Casserole

This chicken tikka masala casserole recipe is one of the most delicious and easy chicken casserole recipes around! It has all of the traditional flavors of chicken tikka masala in casserole form. Make this chicken tikka masala casserole for dinner this week!