CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE

Craving some comfort food? Try this Chicken Noodle Casserole! It’s full of chicken, egg noodles, and veggies in a creamy sauce topped with buttery cracker crumbs (and there’s no canned soup!). It’s hearty, satisfying, and an easy dinner for any night of the week!

Well, it’s looking like winter still isn’t quite ready to move on here in my neck of the woods. It’s been really cold, windy, and there’s been just enough snow every day to be annoying. March is certainly living up to it’s reputation of coming in like a lion. I sure hope it goes out like a lamb – like SOON! Pretty please?

We’re usually well into making maple syrup during March, but it hasn’t been warm enough yet, and now we’re wondering if we’ll even get a chance to make any this year (which is a total bummer because it is THE BEST SYRUP EVER!). I’m so glad I squirreled away a few jars from last year’s batch!

With winter still holding on, I’m still in full-on comfort food cooking mode, and this Chicken Noodle Casserole is one of my all-time favorites (although I do actually make it all year long). It’s everything that you would find in chicken noodle soup turned into a creamy casserole with a crunchy topping. How could that be anything but delicious?

If you’re like me and like to cook from scratch as much as possible, you’ll be happy to know that there’s no canned soup in this recipe! It’s so easy to make a quick substitution with some butter, flour, chicken broth, and milk. There’s really no need to open a can.

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE:

• Butter
• Flour
• Chicken broth or stock
• Milk
• Egg noodles
• Onions
• Carrots
• Celery
• Garlic
• Sour cream
• Cooked chicken breast
• Dried parsley
• Ritz crackers
• Salt and pepper

HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE:

This recipe is a great way to turn leftover chicken (or turkey) into something totally new. If you don’t have any leftover chicken, you could use the meat from a rotisserie chicken, or maybe you’re like me and you keep some pre-cooked cubed and/or shredded chicken in your freezer.

Want more veggies? Mushrooms (I would saute them first) or peas would both be excellent additions to this casserole.

If you don’t have a lot of mouths to feed and aren’t a big fan of leftovers, you could easily halve the recipe, which I often do. If you do, use a smaller dish like an 11×7-inch or 9×9-inch.

COMMON QUESTIONS:

• I don’t have any pre-cooked chicken, but I would like to make this recipe tonight. Any suggestions? Cut up a pound of chicken breasts or tenders into bite-sized pieces, season with salt and pepper, and cook them in a skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil until just cooked through. You could also cook the chicken in an Instant Pot, if you have one, while you are getting the other ingredients ready.
• Can I use canned soup? Yes. Two 10.75-ounce cans of condensed cream of chicken, cream of celery, or cream of mushroom soup can be used in place of the homemade soup substitute.

I hope you try this recipe for Chicken Noodle Casserole and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Craving some comfort food? Try this Chicken Noodle Casserole! It's full of chicken, egg noodles, and veggies in a creamy sauce topped with buttery cracker crumbs (and there's no canned soup!). It's hearty, satisfying, and an easy dinner for any night of the week!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: 8 Servings

Calories: 507kcal

Author: Michelle / Now Cook This!

Ingredients

Soup Substitute:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken stock or broth
• 1 cup milk
• salt and pepper, to taste

Casserole:

• 12 ounces medium or wide egg noodles
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 to 2 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
• salt and pepper, to taste
• cooking spray, for greasing the pan

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Make the soup substitute:

• Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
• Add 6 tablespoons of flour and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.
• Slowly whisk in 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened (the consistency should be very similar to canned condensed soup - if you feel it is way too thick, add a little stock or milk to thin it out). 
• Remove from heat and set aside. It will thicken a little more as it cools down.

Assemble the casserole:

• In a large pan, saute the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the carrots and celery are starting to become tender. Keep an eye on the heat, as you don't want to burn the garlic. 
• Add the soup substitute and the sour cream; mix well. The sauce will be thick at this point.
• Add the egg noodles, chicken, and parsley; mix well.
• Add enough chicken stock to make the mixture very creamy. You don't want it too thin or soupy. Just think about the final consistency you'd like to have, keeping in mind that the noodles will soak up some of the liquid as the casserole cooks. I usually use about a cup of stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Transfer the chicken mixture to the baking dish.
• Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly.
• Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the crushed crackers; stir to combine. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole.
• Return the casserole to the oven and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until the cracker crumbs are lightly golden brown.

Notes

• You can replace the soup substitute with two 10.75-ounce cans of cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, or cream of celery soup.
• If you don't have any pre-cooked chicken, cut one pound of chicken breasts or tenders into bite-sized pieces, season with salt and pepper, and cook in a skillet in one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until just cooked through.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes. Soup substitute recipe adapted from The Kitchn.

If you made this or any of my other recipes, take a photo and tag @nowcookthis on Instagram and hashtag it #nowcookthisrecipes.

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