Fantastic Chicken Broccoli Casserole
"Southern comfort food. My mom makes this when cold weather hits - ooey, gooey, and oh so rich. Occasionally, I'll swap out part of the cheddar cheese with Velveeta Crumbles. Cook time includes time for the casserole to sit. You can use about a pound of cooked chicken breasts, shredded or cubed, in place of the canned chicken."
photo by Nif_H
- Ready In:
- 1hr 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Yields:
-
1 casserole
- Serves:
- 8
ingredients
- 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli
- 2 (10 ounce) cans white chicken meat packed in water
- 16 ounces cottage cheese
- 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups shredded)
- 36 Ritz crackers (1 sleeve)
- 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick) or 8 tablespoons margarine (1 stick)
directions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F Thaw the broccoli, making sure it is well-drained. Drain the canned chicken chunks.
- In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, and cheddar cheese.
- Spoon half of the broccoli in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread one can of the chicken over the broccoli, followed by half of the cheese mixture from step 2. Smooth with a spatula, and repeat layers. You will end with the cheese mixture on top.
- Crush the Ritz crackers, and melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the cracker crumbs to the melted butter, tossing to coat. Spread over the top of the casserole.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until bubbly and the crackers are slightly browned. Let set for 30 minutes before serving.
- NOTES: Casserole can be assembled through step 3 the day ahead. Cover with foil and store in the refrigerator until time to bake. Pick up with step 4. Also, the cracker topping can be made by melting the butter in the microwave, crushing the crackers in a large ziptop bag, and pouring the butter over the crumbs. Squeeze the bag to make sure the butter is distributed evenly. Ingredients can be swapped for their low-fat counterparts, but the texture won't be as creamy.
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Reviews
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My son thought this would be great without the broccoli. My husband and I enjoyed it. A whole stick of butter was a bit much, I thought. I used cooked chicken breast, cubed. Thank you for posting.
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I'm giving this 5 stars, but I did make several adjustments to the recipe. I used fresh chicken cooked and diced myself (seasoned the chicken with garlic salt and onion powder, cause otherwise, the recipe has no seasonings). Also, I thought it was such a waste of fat and calories to cook the Ritz in a stick of butter, so I just crumbled them on top, sprinkled on some onion flakes, and sprayed the top with Pam to keep from burning. Cooked at 350 for 30 minutes, and it was perfect. I absolutely LOVED this dish! Thanks for posting. -
Great tasting casserole. Very simple to make. My whole family devoured it. Thanks for posting this lovely dish. -
This casserole is wonderful! I had lots of fresh broccoli left over from a party, so I chopped and used it instead of the frozen broccoli. I also had 3 left-over roasted chicken breasts which I used in place of the canned chicken. I didn't have quite enough cottage cheese on hand so I used some sour cream along with the cottage cheese. I was out of Ritz crackers, so I used saltines instead. I love a bit of curry flavor, so I added 1 tsp of curry powder. Since I used fresh broccoli instead of frozen, I baked the casserole about 10 minutes longer. This recipe is good enough to serve to company! My husband kept saying, "This is good...this is really good!"
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Wow! This was really good and very easy to throw together. I cut the recipe in half and diced a huge cooked chicken breast because I wasn't sure if we would like canned chicken. Also, I used regular crackers and tossed them in a bit of olive oil. It turned out great! I served it on penne. Made for Kittencal's Chef's Pick. Thanks Misa! :)
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I've been hanging around here for awhile, so I guess filling this part out is overdue...:oops: (6/09)
I am a teacher, married to a pretty swell fella, and have a spoiled rotten princess, er, I mean, cat.
I'm pretty eclectic with my passions - obviously cooking and eating being high on the list! I love to read (from cookbooks to horror/suspense to fiction, fantasy, sci-fi to nonfiction...if it's still long enough, I'll read it). I make beaded jewelry, mostly bead weaving, some stringing. Enjoy listening to most sorts of music - and it's a darn shame I can't dance, sing, or have any sort of rhythm. Computer geek at heart - I'm frequently on the net or playing games in my spare time. I also like drawing and writing, but I don't have as much time to do as much as I used to. I have amassed quite the Good Eats DVD collection (thanks to my DH.... and he's sweet enough to make sure I've picked up the plungers and dino squirt bottle along the way :D). And to complete the quintessential nerd profile, yes, I do read comics.
I couldn't pick a single favorite cookbook, but golly, I looove fundraiser cookbooks. Talk about tried and true! I tend to collect all sorts of cookbooks, most of them southern cooking. Guess I cook what I know.
If you ever try any of my recipes - thank you! I hope they tickle your tastebuds!
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