Last Updated on June 2, 2020 by Kimberly Crawford
We all love our grandma’s chicken casserole recipe. It is comfort food, and to be honest; it reminds us of our childhood, our home, and those days in the kitchen with our grandma. It is a fun snack that we used to have when we were little. And even just thinking of it brings back all the fond memories of our life back in the days. Casseroles are insanely easy to prepare. They are filled with healthy ingredients and are a one pot meal. People really like this recipe just for this reason. It contains everything from chicken, cheese, and vegetables.
If you just remembered the old days when your grandma used to make you chicken casserole, then you are in for a treat because in this post we are going to decode Grandma’s secret chicken casserole recipe.
Ingredients:
- Chicken breasts – skinless and boneless (1 pound)
- Reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese – 1 cup
- Fat-free mayo – 3 tablespoons (optional)
- All-purpose flour – ½ cup
- Chopped celery – ½ cup
- Chopped onion – ½ cup
- Minced garlic – 2 cloves
- Salt – 1 teaspoon
- Butter – ¼ cup
- Buttermilk baking mix – 2 cups
- Chopped baby carrots – ½ cup
- Dried basil – 2 teaspoons
- Peas – 1 can (drained)
- Chicken broth – 4 cups
- Ground black pepper – ½ teaspoon
- Milk – ⅔ cup
- White sugar – 2 teaspoons (optional)
Preparing the chicken:
Chicken is the primary ingredient of our Grandma’s secret chicken casserole recipe. So first, we need to start with the preparation of chicken.
- Take a deep boiling pan, fill it with water, add some salt, place it on medium heat.
- When the water begins to heat up, add your chicken breasts to the boiling container and bring it to boil.
- It will at least take 25-30 minutes to completely boil the chicken breasts.
- Once done, drain it completely and put the chicken breasts over the kitchen towel so it can soak the excess water.
- Use a fork to see if the chicken is cooked perfectly. If it is cooked appropriately, the meat will shred in pieces.
- Once the chicken breasts cool down, shred them into small pieces. Or you can use your kitchen knife to evenly cut the chicken breasts into small pieces.
Your chicken is ready for the recipe.
Preparing the mixture:
- Prepare your iron skillet by placing it over medium heat. Add some butter and wait till it melts.
- Into the skillet, add your vegetables (chopped carrots, celery, onion, and garlic) and cook and stir until tender.
- Once your vegetables are cooked, mix in pepper, dried basil, salt, sugar, and flour. Thoroughly combine the mixture so that all the ingredients are well coated with the spices and juices.
- Once the mixture starts to dry out, add chicken broth to it and slowly bring it to boil. While it boils, make sure that you continuously stir the mixture, else it will form lumps. After it boils, bring down the heat, and add a can of peas.
- You can add fat-free mayo as well into the mixture. It will give you the extra tanginess. Simmer it for five minutes before adding shredded chicken.
- Allow it to simmer for another 5-7 minutes to let all the flavors are properly spread. The final product will give you a thick gravy-like texture.
Take it off the stove and let it cool for a couple of minutes.
Final Step:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease your enameled cast iron casserole dish with olive oil or butter
- Take a medium-size bowl, mix all-purpose flour, and dried basil together. Next, pour some milk to form a fluffy, smooth dough.
- Now, you can use the dough as a whole or divide it into small portions to have multiple small casseroles.
- If you decide to go with a single dough, powder it with some flour and flatten it out.
- On to the flattened dough, add your prepared chicken mixture. Before wrapping it up with the dough, sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese on top of the chicken mixture.
- When you wrap the dough, it will look a lot like a pie. Carefully put it inside your casserole dish and make some cuts on top of it.
- Put the casserole dish inside the preheated oven and bake it for at least 30 minutes.
Your grandma’s secret chicken casserole recipe is ready! Use oven mitts to take the casserole dish out of the oven and garnish it with dried basil leaves and shredded cheddar cheese. Serve hot. If you are not considering to eat it soon after preparation, do not take it out of your casserole dish.
Now, it looks like a lot of work, but it isn’t really. All it takes is an hour to prepare this dish. It is a healthy dish for the whole family. You can serve it to your children, telling them your childhood stories and how much this dish meant to you at that time.
Image credit: bettycrocker
