Easy Chicken Casserole is creamy and savory, made with chicken, onion, and bell peppers in a seasoned sauce and topped with Ritz crackers and cheddar cheese, perfectly cooked in 45 minutes!
We love making easy weeknight dinners, and casseroles are the perfect dish to meal prep ahead of time, like Broccoli Casserole, Tater Tot Casserole, and Tuna Noodle Casserole!
EASY CHICKEN CASSEROLE
Easy Chicken Casserole is the PERFECT throw-together weeknight dinner recipe. You can make it ahead and freeze it, or put it together that night. This dish is quick, easy, and kid friendly, taking a total time of 45 minutes to make!
This chicken casserole is a great recipe for meal prepping. I like to make a double batch, and freeze it in catering dishes, so I can throw it straight into the oven to bake when I need it. This is a great potluck recipe, or for when you have company coming over.
HOW LONG WILL EASY CHICKEN CASSEROLE KEEP?
Chicken casserole will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for 4-5 months. Make sure it is sealed in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn. Defrost in the refrigerator the day before serving.
You can also freeze this casserole cooked or uncooked, depending on your preference.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN CASSEROLE IN THE SLOW COOKER
- In a large skillet, brown chicken breasts with butter on all sides.
- Add everything to the slow cooker (except for the topping) and stir together.
- Close the lid and set on high for a total time of 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours.
- When time is up, remove the chicken and shred with two forks. Return to slow cooker and stir.
- Add topping, and leaving the slow cooker on high crack the lid open slightly for 30 minutes. This mimics what happens when you bake the casserole, and makes the topping nice and crispy.
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MORE CHICKEN RECIPES
- Broccoli Casserole
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Leftover Turkey Casserole
- Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup
WHAT OTHER VEGETABLES CAN YOU BAKE IN THIS CASSEROLE?
- Mushrooms
- Asparagus
- Green beans
- Carrots
- Frozen mixed veggies
- Broccoli
TIPS FOR MAKING EASY CHICKEN CASSEROLE
- Add 1 extra cup of shredded cheddar cheese in with the chicken mixture to make a cheesy chicken casserole.
- You can make this chicken casserole using my go-to homemade cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, or cream of mushroom soup.
- You can also use a cooked rotisserie chicken, just remove the skin and bones and shred the chicken, then add it to the sauce.
- You can substitute Ritz crackers for potato chips or regular breadcrumbs in this chicken casserole recipe.
- The chicken breasts are cooked through when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Serve this chicken casserole over rice or pasta to add a starch to the dish.
- You can use chicken thighs for this recipe instead of chicken breast if you prefer.
- Add a cup of instant long-grain rice to this chicken casserole recipe.
- Make this chicken casserole spicy with diced green chiles, poblano or jalapeno peppers, or a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Garnish this dish with chopped green onions, or fresh parsley. Or top with cheddar or parmesan cheese.
- Make a Tex-Mex chicken casserole by adding black beans, pepper jack cheese, or salsa. Or, you can make a creamier sauce by melting in one package of cream cheese.
- Make this dish with other meat, like beef, lamb, or turkey. Any of these would bake up fine in this casserole.
Easy Chicken Casserole
Easy Chicken Casserole is creamy and savory, made with chicken, onion, and bell peppers in a seasoned sauce and topped with Ritz crackers and cheddar cheese, perfectly cooked in 45 minutes!
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 4 chicken breasts boneless skinless
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 10.75 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 28 Ritz crackers crumbled
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a large skillet on medium heat and cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side before removing the chicken to a plate and chopping roughly.
Add two more tablespoons of the butter with the onion, bell pepper, garlic and black pepper on medium heat and cook for 4-5 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Add in the cream of chicken, sour cream and milk and mix well then pour the mixture into your baking dish.
Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and mix with the ritz crackers and cheddar cheese and sprinkle it over the chicken then bake for 30-35 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
Wow! This was both easy and delicious! I cooked it for my wife and some friends and got rave reviews! Kudos, Sabrina, I will definitely be checking out more of your recipes!
One very tiny comment, I’d suggest including adding back the chicken in Step 4 (after removing it in Step 3). It wasn’t explicitly stated and it took me a minute to figure it out. Yes, I can sometimes be a little “slow on the uptake” (just ask my wife) but I’m probably not the only one.
any tips on incorporating rustic potatoes instead of adding rice or noodles how could one do so?
I haven’t tested it but I’d suggest cutting them into 1 inch pieces and adding them into dish. You might need to double the cook time as well. Just keep an eye on it. Good luck!
This is a great recipe. I cut back on the butter and used olive oil instead. I also put in green Chile’s which really made this taste good.
Could I use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts? If so would I need to increase the cooking time or change anything else?
Nope, it’s an easy swap. Enjoy!
If making this for someone else to make should I bake it half the time and let person who will be receiving it finish baking it? Or bake it and have person just re-heat it?
If you’re not freezing it, I would bake it and then just have them reheat.
do you cover this in the oven or leave open?
I didn’t cover it. Enjoy!
I haven’t made this yet, but, what is the green stuff in the casserole in the photograph? I didn’t see anything that was green in the recipe ingredients.
It’s just parsley. I sometimes will add it just for the presentation of photography. Completely optional.
Absolutely loved this casserole! Very simple, slightly time consuming, at least for me…but oh so worth it! What I also love is how versatile this dish is, you can substitute different veggies or different meats, like turkey or ham, or even just throw in your leftovers!! It’s always a success and has now become my go to dish for any event!
I made this recipe twice in 3 days for 2 different groups. Absolutely delicious! It will be a regular in my dinner rotation!
That definitely sounds like a winner! Thanks for coming back to let me know, Chris.
I’ve had more time to cook from home lately and have been looking for fairly easy, from scratch (as much as possible) recipes for the cool fall and going into winter. This chicken casserole is a winner! I’ve made batches of stuff from other sites where I was shocked at the positive ratings because the stuff tasted so processed or just plain icky…. often having to throw large portions of it away. Clearly, because the author is a trained chef, she knows how to combine foods, spices and flavors in such a way as to make this dish actually taste good. I’m book marking this site and going to try other recipes — — its so nice to have something come out really tasty for a change! Thank you!
I’m so glad you’re loving the site!