My husband keeps a list of things he’ll eat on a random weeknight without being asked. Rotisserie chicken. Pizza. Mac and cheese. And this — a chicken and broccoli casserole built on a bed of herb stuffing. He doesn’t even ask what’s in it. He just eats, and then he asks for seconds.
That’s the whole trick here. The broccoli is real, the cheese is real, but nobody at the table is thinking about vegetables. They’re thinking about the golden, crispy, cheesy top they can scoop up with a spoon. I grew up in a house with four brothers, and no one ever complained about the greens in this dish, because it was just too tasty to care.
Real time: 40 minutes · Hands-on: 10 minutes
You prep this in ten minutes if you have cooked chicken on hand. Bake time is 30 minutes at 350°F, plus a ten-minute rest before serving. It fills a 9 x 13 inch dish and serves six — and it costs pennies, the kind of cheap that makes you feel smart when you’re grocery shopping.
Why this dish works
Casseroles get a bad reputation for being fussy. This one isn’t. Stuffing is my favorite ingredient outside of the holidays, and here it does the heavy lifting: it holds the sauce, soaks up the broth, and turns into the crispy edge you end up fighting your family over. The chicken and broccoli ride on top, and a cup of melted cheddar seals the whole thing into one golden slab.
It’s also the perfect vehicle for whatever broccoli you have in the freezer. I keep frozen florets on hand constantly. I like fresh broccoli too, but weeknights don’t always cooperate. If you do buy frozen, look for flash-frozen — that means it was frozen soon after being picked, so more of the nutrients made it through.
Ingredients
- 4 cups herb seasoned stuffing (prepared per package directions)
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 10 ounces frozen broccoli florets (1 package)
- 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
- 1 can Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup (Cream of Chicken works too)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Tools: a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and cooking spray. Some people cover the dish with foil to keep the top from browning too hard. I didn’t, but if you think your oven runs hot, toss foil over it for part of the bake, or slide the dish onto a lower rack.
How to make it
- If you’re starting with raw chicken, bake it on a non-stick tray in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes, flip, and bake 15 more minutes until the juices run clear. Let it cool and cube it.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the 9 x 13 inch dish with cooking spray.
- Prepare the stuffing with butter and water per the package directions, then press it evenly across the bottom of the dish.
- Spread the broccoli and cubed chicken over the stuffing.
- In a small bowl, stir together the soup, milk, and 1/2 cup of the cheese until smooth. Pour it over the chicken and broccoli.
- Scatter the remaining cheese across the top, spreading it out evenly.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling. Let it rest for ten minutes, then serve.
Each serving comes in around 502 calories, with 22 grams of protein and 37 grams of carbohydrates.
Two questions I get about this
Can you put raw chicken in a casserole? Technically yes — as long as the center of the dish hits 160°F, where the bacteria die. But you’d be baking it longer, and I’m not crazy about raw chicken touching vegetables while they share a pan. Cook it first. It takes no extra effort if you’re already in the oven for the chicken.
Do you have to cook the broccoli first? Not strictly, but I recommend it. Raw broccoli bakes down and turns that unlovely brown — the cell walls break down and the chlorophyll escapes. Frozen broccoli is already blanched, so it cooks right alongside everything else and stays bright. That’s the main reason I default to it.
Make it yours
Swap in whatever soup you already have — cream of chicken makes it even more mellow. Load the top with extra cheese if you’re feeding a crowd. Or double the recipe, since it reheats beautifully for the next two nights.
Happy cooking,
Maya