Growing up in the Midwest, casseroles are just sort of ingrained in you, and when the weather starts turning anything colder than 40 degrees, I’m ready to break out the baking dish for creamy, comforting meals to warm us up.
Classic Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
Keeping homemade cream soup in the freezer is an easy way to have comforting meals like this one ready in a jiffy.
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- ¼ cup friendly fat to cook in butter, coconut oil, lard
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 large carrots chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tsp All Purpose Seasoning
- 5 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 pints homemade condensed cream of chicken soup Or 2 cans. See Tips section for a link my my recipe - it is really simple and tastes just like the stuff you are used to!
- 2 cups organic cheese shredded
- 1 lb frozen organic broccoli thawed
- 1 ½ - 2 cups cooked chicken See the Tips section to see how I usually crockpot a couple whole chickens every month and keep the meat portioned and shredded in the freezer so this pulls out quick!
- ½ cup organic long grain white rice
- ¾ cup bone broth or water
Instructions
- Sauté the onion, carrot, and celery in the friendly fat with the sea salt, pepper, and all purpose season for about 7-10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
- Put the cooked/seasoned veggies in a large mixing bowl along with the rest of the ingredients, and combine.
- Pour the casserole mixture into a 9x13, buttered baking dish. At this point you can either bake it off, or cover it up and put it in the fridge to bake later or bring to a friend in need.
- Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 1 hour.
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Tips:
- This batch makes enough for my family to have for dinner plus leftovers for later in the week for lunch or dinner.
- Keep shredded chicken portioned out in your freezer so it is ready to go quickly for meals like this. At the first of every month I do 2-3 whole chickens in my oven roaster, freeze the meat so it is ready to go quick, and then make my bone broth for storage as well.
- Here is my recipe for the condensed cream of chicken soup. This goes really fast and is a great way to avoid MSG and other additives in store bought condensed soup.
- I keep about 4 of these 9×13 baking dishes
in home so I can get meals out to new mommas or friends in need. They are pretty inexpensive and that way I don’t “need” to get my dish back from them right away.
- If you are bringing this meal to a friend you could bake it off and bring it to them warm if they are going to eat it right away, or you could freeze it before baking it. Then then can have it when they need. Just leave them instructions to thaw it out and bake it off at the right temp.
This post was shared at Homestead Barnhop, Real Food Wednesdays, & Allergy Free Wednesdays!
41 Comments
Renee this looks great. It’s the perfect comfort food. I love casserole’s this time of year. Thanks for sharing another one of your yummy recipes with us.
Wow! Such beautiful comfort food! I am definitely trying this one right after I make your cram of chicken soup!
Love it. Michiganders love their casseroles. My kids will love this.
Hehehe 🙂
Oh my gosh. I love such easy, comforting foods like this!
Goodness gracious I am so glad to have found your site here! The casserole looks delish and easy (right up my alley!)… and I love your tips at the end… I seriously never considered roasting more than one chicken at a time, but that is Brilliant! Thanks 🙂
Oh great! Thank you for your kind words – and YES – getting those chickens all done at the same time will change your life! Hahah!
This sounds delicious – thanks for sharing! I love casserole dishes and thankfully, so does my family!
This sounds so good, I have to try it. I first need to change the name as no one in my house will touch anything with “casserole” in the name, dumb. I am definitely trying this!
Haha! Sounds good 😉
Yum! looks so delicious & warming. love the photos too!
Thank you May!
Delicious!! This looks very “come-hither!” When my husband and I were first married, he was always very excited when I served casseroles. My mom was gourmet in the other direction and never made them. I adjusted to what made him excited for dinner and now my kids LOVE casseroles too. Thanks for the recipe; and I love how it uses your condensed chicken soup!
My husband’s comment: “Ah, the casserole. Basically a baked stew.” 🙂 It looks really yummy. I love veg-heavy dishes.
Oh, man, this looks good! I make lunch each day for my husband to take to work, and I felt like I’ve run out of ideas. This is on the list to make soon. Pinned.
Ah yes Debi 🙂 It packs up really great for work lunch! I love that!
Thanks for another great recipe!
Mmmmm this looks delicious! I’m in the process of putting together our next meal plan and this is definitely going in. 🙂
Perfect Ashley! I hop the family enjoys it!
I just wanted to comment that I love your blog. You are such a sweet person. It’s so encouraging to read about health from your point of view. You never talk down or make anyone feel inferior cause they do something different than you and I really love that. You just do what’s best for your family. Keep it up 🙂 thank you! I am putting this recipe on my menu plan this week and I just pinned your mayo and first bday cupcakes to try soon as well.
Hey Lori 🙂 That actually really makes my day to hear. That is exactly the point of view I hope to put out there. I hope you enjoy the casserole!
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Is the rice supposed to be cooked or uncooked? I just made this with uncooked rice and one hour later the rice is still hard. I just placed back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Hoping that will do the trick.
Hi Rita – I use uncooked long grain white rice – I never have an issue with it being uncooked but I suppose if you are using a different rice than I am maybe the cook time would be longer – just be sure you are using all the liquid recommended in the recipe 🙂 I hope it turned out!
I made your casserole last night, and it was delicious! The only thing I’m wondering is if it was supposed to be cooked rice or uncooked. I made it with uncooked (raw) rice and it took about twice as long to bake as the instructions. So I was wondering how you do it. Thanks! I do plan on making it again! Thanks.
Hi Debbie! I do use uncooked long grain white rice – I’m not sure if there is a difference in cook time if you use a different kind of rice maybe? Be sure you have the liquid amounts right too! Glad it turned out anyway! Thanks for coming by!
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This recipe is wonderful! I made the cream of chicken soup last week and froze it- thawed a couple today and put this casserole together. I did substitute organic cauliflower for the broccoli because it’s what I had in the frig. Other than that I followed your recipe to a tee and it’s fabulous! Alway looking for new ways to use my bone broths………..
Thank you for this…..everyone LOVES it!!!
Ah that’s great Kathleen! A family favorite that includes bone broth is always a winner!
Do you cook the rice first?
Hi Ashley! Nope just add it right in as is!
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Honestly this is something I would have never picked to make. I’m not usually huge on casseroles. BUT I was craving some comfort food and your recipes have never steered me wrong. It was prefect!!! I made the condensed chicken soup first…my children we’re liking the bowl clean and sneaking fingers into full jars. This is a new family favorite. Thank you once again!
Ah! That’s great! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
Renee, I love this recipe, and we’ve enjoyed it many times, but have since gone dairy free… do you think it would really work without the cheese??
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This looks amazing and fairly simple to do. I have never made stuffed anything but these look simple enough to try sometime. I love how you made garlic zucchini noodles to go with the dish. That’s my favorite way to eat zucchini noodles. I use my spiralizer weekly. Definitely one of the best birthday gifts I have received.