Chicken Cobbler Casserole is a dump-and-bake dinner of chopped rotisserie chicken, frozen peas and carrots and a creamy chicken gravy under a golden cheddar biscuit crust, all layered over melted butter in a 9×13-inch dish and baked without stirring. A seasoned butter brushed over the top finishes it. It serves 9.
How to make it: Pour melted butter into the dish, then layer the chicken, the frozen vegetables, a whisked mix of cream of chicken soup and broth, and a batter of cheddar biscuit mix, milk and cheese. Don’t stir. Bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden and bubbly with the center at 165°F, brush with the seasoned butter, and let it rest at least 10 minutes.
Why You’ll Love It
- No stirring: every layer goes straight into the dish, and the biscuit batter rises to the top on its own.
- Pot pie flavor, casserole ease: creamy chicken filling under a golden biscuit crust.
- Rotisserie chicken shortcut: one store-bought chicken covers the meat.
- A full 9×13: 9 servings from one dish.
Ingredient Notes
Butter: 6 tablespoons of salted butter in all: 4 melted into the bottom of the dish and 2 for the seasoned topping.
Chicken: About 4 cups of chopped cooked chicken, the meat from 1 rotisserie chicken. Any shredded or chopped cooked chicken works.
Vegetables: One 12-ounce bag of frozen peas and carrots, straight from the freezer. Frozen mixed vegetables work too.
Sauce: One 10.5-ounce can of condensed cream of chicken soup (plain or with herbs), 2 cups of chicken broth, 1 teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Go easy on any added salt; the soup, broth and biscuit mix already contain plenty.
Biscuit layer: One 11.36-ounce box of cheddar biscuit mix, 2 cups of 2% or whole milk and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar. Set aside the seasoning packet that comes in the box for the topping.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted, for the dish
- 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped (from 1 rotisserie chicken)
- 1 bag (12 ounces) frozen peas and carrots
- 1 can (10.5 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 box (11.36 ounces) cheddar biscuit mix, seasoning packet set aside
- 2 cups milk, 2% or higher
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted, for the topping
- 1 seasoning packet from the biscuit mix, for the topping
How to Make Chicken Cobbler Casserole
1. Heat the oven and butter the dish. Heat the oven to 350°F. Pour the 4 tablespoons melted butter evenly into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish, tilting the dish to spread it.
2. Layer the chicken. Spread the chopped chicken in an even layer over the butter. Do not stir.
3. Add the vegetables. Sprinkle the frozen peas and carrots evenly over the chicken. Do not stir.
4. Whisk the sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper together.
5. Pour the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Do not stir. Rinse and dry the bowl so it can be used again in the next step.
6. Mix the biscuit layer. In the same bowl, stir the biscuit mix with the milk and shredded cheddar until combined well. Do not add the seasoning packet from the box; it is saved for the topping.
7. Add the biscuit layer. Pour the biscuit mixture as evenly as possible over the other layers. Do not stir.
8. Bake uncovered. Bake uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly, the top is golden brown and the center reaches 165°F. Oven times vary, so it can take longer or shorter in your oven; cook until the crust is a light golden brown.
9. Brush on the topping. Stir the 2 tablespoons melted butter with the contents of the seasoning packet. Brush it evenly over the top.
10. Rest and serve. Let the casserole rest at least 10 minutes. The filling is thin when it comes out of the oven and thickens as it rests. To serve, scoop up a portion, then spoon any filling left in the dish over the top.
Why It Looks Runny (and How to Serve It)
Chicken cobbler comes out of the oven looking soupy under the crust. That is normal, and the fix is time:
- Rest it: give it at least 10 minutes, or up to 15. The sauce thickens into a gravy as it sits. Cut in too soon and it stays runny.
- Bake it long enough: the batter needs the full time to rise through the sauce and bake through. Let the top turn golden brown, and check that the center reads 165°F.
- Scoop, then spoon: even after resting, the filling stays on the thin side. Scoop out a portion with its crust, then spoon the gravy left in the dish over it.
- Don’t stir the layers: stirring mixes the batter into the sauce, and it can’t rise to form a crust.
What’s in Chicken Cobbler?
Chicken cobbler is a cross between a chicken pot pie and a casserole. It starts the way many fruit cobblers do, with butter melted in the bottom of the dish. Then come cooked chicken, frozen vegetables and a mix of cream of chicken soup and broth, with a pourable biscuit batter on top. In the oven the batter rises to the top and bakes into a golden crust over a creamy chicken filling.
For the same dump-and-bake method with a plain baking-mix topping, onion and bell pepper, see our chicken and dumpling casserole.
Variations
- Extra cheesy: sprinkle a cup or two of shredded cheddar over the frozen vegetables before the sauce, or save half the cheese for the top and add it for the last 5 minutes of baking.
- Other vegetables: frozen mixed vegetables or frozen broccoli.
- Seasoned chicken: toss the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and poultry seasoning plus a pinch of smoked paprika before layering.
- No boxed cheddar mix: use plain biscuit mix and add garlic powder, paprika, a little cayenne and salt, or your own homemade biscuit mix.
- Hotter oven: bake at 375°F for 55 to 65 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and the batter is cooked through.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow covered containers. USDA FSIS says to eat them within 3 to 4 days.
Freezer: You can freeze it for 3 to 4 months, but cream sauces don’t always freeze well, so the filling may separate a little. Thaw it in the refrigerator, or reheat it from frozen, which takes about one and a half times as long.
Reheat: Cover and reheat to 165°F. Don’t reheat it in a slow cooker.
What to Serve With It
It’s a full meal on its own; a crack of black pepper over each serving is all it needs, with a sprinkle of dried parsley for color if you like. More chicken and biscuit dinners: chicken and dumplings with biscuits, creamed chicken and biscuits casserole, slow cooker chicken pot pie and Ritz cracker chicken casserole. For a beef version with a cheddar biscuit top, try cheddar biscuit casserole.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s in chicken cobbler?
Melted butter, cooked chicken, frozen peas and carrots, cream of chicken soup mixed with chicken broth, and a batter of cheddar biscuit mix, milk and cheese, layered in that order and baked without stirring.
Why is my chicken cobbler runny?
It always looks runny straight from the oven. Let it rest at least 10 minutes so the sauce thickens, and make sure it baked long enough for the top to turn golden brown and the center to reach 165°F.
Can I use a different biscuit mix?
Yes. Use plain biscuit mix seasoned with garlic powder, paprika, cayenne and salt, or your own homemade biscuit mix.
Can I use other vegetables or add more cheese?
Yes. Frozen mixed vegetables or broccoli work, and you can sprinkle a cup or two of shredded cheddar over the vegetables before the sauce goes in.
Final Notes
Layer it, leave it alone, and give it the full rest. Then scoop and spoon. If you make it, tell me in the comments which vegetables you used.
Chicken Cobbler Casserole
Want This Recipe Later?
We'll send this recipe straight to your inbox.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter salted, melted, for the bottom of the dish
- 4 cups cooked chicken chopped, meat from 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1 bag frozen peas and carrots 12 ounces; frozen mixed vegetables also work
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 10.5 ounces; plain or with herbs
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 box cheddar biscuit mix 11.36 ounces; set the seasoning packet aside for the topping
- 2 cups milk 2% or higher
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter salted, melted, for the topping
- 1 packet seasoning packet from the biscuit mix stirred into the melted butter for the topping
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Pour the 4 tablespoons melted butter evenly into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish, tilting the dish to spread it.
- Spread the chopped chicken in an even layer over the butter. Do not stir.
- Sprinkle the frozen peas and carrots evenly over the chicken. Do not stir.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper together.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Do not stir. Rinse and dry the bowl so it can be used again in the next step.
- In the same bowl, stir the biscuit mix with the milk and shredded cheddar until combined well. Do not add the seasoning packet from the box; it is saved for the topping.
- Pour the biscuit mixture as evenly as possible over the other layers. Do not stir.
- Bake uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly, the top is golden brown and the center reaches 165°F. Oven times vary, so it can take longer or shorter in your oven; cook until the crust is a light golden brown.
- Stir the 2 tablespoons melted butter with the contents of the seasoning packet. Brush it evenly over the top.
- Let the casserole rest at least 10 minutes. The filling is thin when it comes out of the oven and thickens as it rests. To serve, scoop up a portion, then spoon any filling left in the dish over the top.
