Busy Nights, No Problem: Chicken Noodle Casserole to the Rescue (2024)

🍗 What Chicken Do You Use for Chicken Noodle Casserole?

I usually use home-canned chicken or store-bought canned chicken because it’s inexpensive and a pantry staple. But you can boil and shred your own chicken breasts for a fresh flavor, grab a store-bought rotisserie chicken for convenience, or even repurpose leftover roasted or baked chicken.

🍝 Why Egg Noodles Make a Difference

Egg noodles boast a resilient texture that holds its shape beautifully, even after reheating, making them ideal for chicken casseroles. This ensures a consistent, satisfying bite throughout the casserole, making them ideal for dishes that need to hold their shape. Beyond structure, their subtle eggy flavor perfectly complements the savory chicken and creamy sauce, tying all the elements together for a delightful eating experience.

🤑 How Do I Make this Chicken Pasta Casserole Feed a Crowd on a Budget?

By pure chance, I stumbled upon a hidden hack to extend the serving size of this casserole! When I went to make this the other day, I didn’t realize that the bag of noodles I had grabbed was 16 ounces instead of the regular 12 oz that the recipe suggests. I realized my mistake when I went to fill the casserole dish and I had far too much chicken noodle mixture.

I didn’t have any more ingredients to add to the extra noodles, so I split it between two casserole dishes – put one in the freezer and baked the other. And you know what? It still turned out fantastic! My family didn’t even notice!

So if you’re trying to economize or need a few additional servings, simply use a 16 oz bag of egg noodles. The extra noodles won’t dry out the casserole, and the other ingredients will still stretch to feed more people without breaking the bank.

If you don’t need the extra servings right away, divide half of the casserole into a freezer-safe dish, ensuring it’s tightly covered, and then freeze it for an effortless freezer meal for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

🧀 Why the Cheese Matters for a Creamy Casserole

You can use many different blends of cheese and still have it taste good. But if you want a creamy cheesy chicken casserole, then the cheese choice matters.

Most recipes only use 2 cups of cheddar cheese, but I prefer 3 cups of a Fiesta blend cheese because it is a mix of cheddar with Monterey jack and other Mexican cheeses. The cheddar offers the sharp flavor that enriches the cheesy chicken casserole while the Monterey Jack and Mexican cheeses melt better and are far more creamy than cheddar alone. Adding an additional cup of this cheese blend elevates the creaminess of the chicken casserole.

Instructions:

Preheat the Oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a 9X13-inch baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray. Shred your chicken or open and drain any excess water from the can and break up the large chunks.

Boil noodles in a large pot and then drain. To achieve the perfect egg noodle texture in your casserole, cook them al dente, which is about 5 minutes. This means they will be slightly undercooked. As they bake in the oven they will continue to soften and absorb the cheesy cream sauce.

Combine the chicken, cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, milk, onion, peas and corn, salt and pepper and cheese into a large bowl.

Stir until combined.

Gently stir in the noodles until everything is evenly coated in the cream sauce.

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Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread around until it is even.

Sprinkle the top evenly with panko bread crumbs.

Drizzle the top with the melted butter evenly over the bread crumbs.

Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until heated through and the top is golden brown.

Serve Warm.

🥕 FLAVOR VARIATIONS

While this recipe is delicious, you can change up some of the flavors to suit your own taste or family preferences:

Vegetables: You can add all kinds of vegetables including diced carrots, chopped green beans, cauliflower, and broccoli. You can also omit either the peas or corn if that is your preference as well.

Cheese: as I mentioned above, there are many cheese choices. You can try just cheddar cheese, or try pepper jack for a bit of spice. You can even make your own cheese blend.

Seasonings: If you want your casserole to have more flavor, you can add additional seasonings like ground red pepper flakes, roasted garlic, fresh thyme or parlsey to the sauce. Or you can top with fresh herbs like cilantro or chives and drizzle a little olive oil or an herb oil once it’s out of the oven.

How to Freeze a Chicken Noodle Casserole

Storing casseroles in the freezer is an excellent strategy for ensuring a quick dinner option for future use or a convenient dish to bring to a potluck.

1 – Assemble the casserole as instructed, but skip the baking step.

2- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for ultimate protection. Press the wrap against the surface of the casserole to eliminate as much air as possible. Make sure it is well sealed well around the edges.

3- Use a Marker to label the foil with the name of the dish, the date it was frozen and the cooking instructions.

4 – Place in a level spot in the freezer. This frozen casserole will last up to 3 months.

5 – When you need a quick and easy family dinner, pull it out of the freezer and partially defrost before baking.

6 – Remove the foil and plastic wrap before baking.

7 – Bake at 350 degrees and bake it for 40 minutes, or until warm.

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