Thursday, December 17, 2015

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

My husband is crazy about casseroles, and I hadn't made one for a while, so decided to go with this one when I saw it on the Macaroni and Cheesecake blog.  This is a very simple casserole, but proves how nicely things can turn out if you use decent ingredients.  I'm quite certain that the same casserole made with canned chicken, cream of blank soup (which I do use sometimes, no regrets!), and frozen veggies would have landed several rungs lower on the casserole tasty-meter.  this is just a nice cozy casserole, nothing fancy, but great on a cold night and pretty quick to prepare!



Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

10 oz mix of fresh, chopped broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
3/4 C milk
3/4 C chicken broth
1/2 C sour cream
5 oz container plain (NOT vanilla!) greek yogurt
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp Montreal chicken seasoning (I used Montreal steak seasoning)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
  
for topping:
1 Tbsp butter
12 Ritz crackers, crushed
  
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 2 quart baking dish.
  
Microwave vegetables in a covered bowl until barely beginning to turn tender, about 5 minutes.
  
In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium-high.  Whisk in flour until smooth, then cook for one minute, whisking constantly.  Whisk in milk a little at a time, making sure it's completely smooth before adding more.  Whisk in the chicken broth in the same fashion.  Bring to a boil and simmer, whisking constantly, for another minute or two.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and greek yogurt, then seasonings.  Stir in chicken and veggies.
  
Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish.  Melt butter and toss with the crushed crackers, then spoon the crumbs evenly over the casserole dish.
  
Bake until bubbling around the edges and crackers are golden, about 20 minutes.
  
Yield: 6 main dish servings

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like it will become a family favorite. We eat a lot of chicken and I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it. Plus, I am a big fan of poppy seeds.

    ReplyDelete