Chicken Poppyseed Casserole

Last night I made chicken poppyseed casserole for dinner, and we have been enjoying the leftovers today. My best friend introduced me to this recipe in college, and nearly a decade later, it’s still one of my go-to dinners. The last couple of times I’ve made it, I have tweaked a few things to make it easier and creamier! This is delicious, filling, comfort food, and it is always a hit with the family.

I begin by preparing my chicken. I used to use several chicken breasts, but sometimes they would end up dry and a little disappointing. I now use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, and I try to cut it up while it’s still warm. This helps the skin come off easier too. I discard the skin and then pull or cut off all the meat, both light and dark pieces. All of it goes into a mixing bowl, and the chicken carcass goes into the trash.

To shred the chicken, the easiest and quickest method I have found is with my KitchenAid. I use a paddle attachment and put it on the “stir” setting for a couple of minutes. This shreds it much finer than forks, but if you don’t have a mixer, forks will work too.

Once the chicken is shredded, I dump the cream of chicken soup and sour cream in and stir it by hand. I usually use the light sour cream and find that it does not affect the flavor; it is still creamy and rich!

I spray a 9×9 pan with cooking spray and then spread the chicken mixture in the pan until it is even. Then I sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers all over the top and cover them with a light layer of melted butter. (I use almost a whole sleeve of crackers. I may leave 4 or 5 crackers behind.) Last, the poppyseeds get sprinkled on top (as many or as little as you want).

The casserole goes in to the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I like to get water boiling on the stove and cook egg noodles to go with the casserole. Yum! Just spoon the casserole over your noodles, stir it up, and it’s ready to eat!

Recipe for Chicken Poppyseed Casserole

Ingredients:
1 small rotisserie chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup (I use Campbell’s)
1 c sour cream (= 8 oz container)
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Poppyseeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray a 9×9 pan with cooking spray.

Pull skin off of the rotisserie chicken and discard. Pull meat off and shred, either with a KitchenAid mixer or with forks. In the same bowl, dump the soup and sour cream, and mix well.

Using a spatula, spread the chicken mixture into the prepared pan. Evenly sprinkle the crushed crackers on top. Carefully pour the melted butter over the crackers, and sprinkle with poppyseeds.

Bake for 30 minutes, until crackers are golden, and mixture is heated through.

Serve over egg noodles or rice!