Chicken Casserole Recipe

Chicken casserole is the embodiment of a warm hug in casserole form: gooey, delicious, and savory. It's a classic dish that we're happy to eat again and again! If you grew up in a typical North American household, chances are you have tasted some form of chicken casserole at least a few times. It was probably either made by your grandmother, aunt, or you had it at a potluck — or perhaps even a funeral. It's one of those ubiquitous dishes that may or may not have been invented by Campbell's Soup — but either way, we don't care because it tastes so darn good.

Put those old jars of canned cream of mushroom soup to good use in our cheesy chicken casserole with mushrooms, celery, and a crispy topping of bread crumbs.

Making chicken casserole is truly an easy task that's made all the simpler by prepping all the ingredients ahead of time. For our chicken casserole, you'll need some dry pasta. We recommend using either penne or fusilli pasta, though you can also use egg noodles in their place for a more old-school feel (penne or fusilli have a bit more bite and make the dish feel classier and less mushy).

On the produce side, we like to use mushrooms and celery in our chicken casserole, and sauté them briefly. You'll also want to grab one large chicken breast, a can of cream of mushroom soup, milk, breadcrumbs, and butter. No breadcrumbs? Don't worry, we have a breadcrumb substitute.

Finally, you'll also need 1/2 cup shredded cheese — you can use any cheese you like, though we recommend a mix of mozzarella and cheddar for the best flavor.

Let's get our mise en place ready, as it's going to make cooking the rest of this chicken casserole a breeze.

You'll first want to cut your chicken breast into two halves, to make the handling easier. Then, dice chicken breasts into cubes, about 1-inch in size is perfect. Go ahead and finely dice up the mushrooms and celery. The smaller your pieces are, the less noticeable they'll be when cooked — and after all, isn't the purpose of a creamy chicken casserole to sneak in all those vegetables without anyone noticing? We sure think so!

Set the oven to 400°F to preheat.

While the oven is preheating, cook the noodles according to package instructions. Usually, that means boiling a large pot of water, and adding a hefty amount of salt. A good gauge for how much salt you need to cook pasta is the following proverb: "pasta water should be as salty as the sea". So don't skimp on the salt!

Cover your pot with a lid, and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Now, the time of cooking will vary based on what kind of pasta you are using — fusilli or penne pasta will usually require 7-10 minutes, while egg noodles cook a bit faster.

So check your package, or better yet, taste the pasta to be sure. You want your pasta to be cooked al dente, which means it should still retain some bite and not be mushy.

While the pasta is cooking, proceed to half-cook the rest of the components. Sautéing the chicken helps seal in the moisture and flavor. To ease our work, we recommend you use the same pan for sautéing as you do to bake the casserole. To do so, choose a large pan that is oven safe. If you don't have an oven-safe pan, then feel free to use any large pan you have and then transfer everything to a casserole dish.

Preheat the pan to medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add diced chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through, about eight minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Next up, we will be searing the veggies lightly. Browning the celery and mushrooms deepens their flavor, which will give your casserole overall a much better taste. It will also help dry the vegetables, which will give the casserole a better texture than dumping in raw veggies.

To sear the vegetables, add another 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan. Add the diced mushroom and celery. Cook until the mushrooms have browned around the edges and the celery begins to get golden, around five minutes. Remove the pan from heat, but keep the vegetables in it if you're using the same pan.

If you're using the same pan to sear the vegetables and chicken and to bake the chicken casserole, then add the chicken back to the pan.

If you're using a casserole dish for baking, then season it with a pat of butter, and add the vegetables and chicken to it. To season a dish with butter, all you need to do is just rub a tablespoon-sized dab of butter all over the inside of your dish. Add cream of mushroom soup, milk, noodles, and grated cheese to the casserole dish. Stir well to combine. The mix should be uniform, with no big clumps of any single ingredient.

Using oven gloves, transfer chicken casserole to the oven. Set it on the middle rack for best results, or set your oven on turbo (for toaster ovens) baking. For best results and a more even cooking, we recommend covering the pan with aluminum foil or even a cover, if you have one that fits. This helps keep the moisture in and avoids drying out your chicken casserole. Because a dry, sad casserole just won't make anyone feel very comforted!

Bake chicken casserole in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, until it is cooked through and the top is golden. 

While the chicken casserole is baking, mix bread crumbs with melted butter in a medium sized bowl. To melt the butter, place the butter in a small bowl and microwave it for 30 seconds. If it's not fully melted, stir it and return it to the microwave for another 10-20 seconds.

Top chicken casserole with the breadcrumb mixture, spreading it evenly across the top. You may need to work with a teaspoon or even a spatula to avoid dumping large clumps of breadcrumbs in just a couple of spots. Finally, return the chicken casserole to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

After a total cooking time in the oven of 30 minutes, it's time to get that chicken casserole on the table! The best chicken casserole is served and eaten piping hot, straight from the oven. You don't need anything else with it, except maybe a light salad to balance out all those creamy, cheesy flavors.

Any chicken casserole leftovers will keep in the fridge for four days. It will dry a bit with time, so you may want to add some sour cream to make reheated chicken casserole taste and feel better. Either way, it's going to be delicious!