Chicken and Dressing Casserole gives you tender chicken under a creamy sauce and a soft, savory stuffing layer with a browned top. It’s a weeknight dinner for when you want a casserole without cooking the chicken or preparing the stuffing separately.
How to make chicken and dressing casserole: Layer chicken, creamy sauce and dry stuffing in a baking dish, then moisten the stuffing with broth. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.
Why You’ll Love It
- Quick to assemble: You need 10 minutes of prep before the casserole goes into the oven.
- One baking dish: The chicken cooks beneath the sauce and stuffing, so you don’t need to cook it in a separate pan.
- Two topping textures: The stuffing stays soft where it meets the creamy filling and browns across the exposed surface.
- Easy to serve: You can spoon the chicken, sauce and dressing together straight from the dish.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken breasts: Buy boneless, skinless breasts and cut them into bite-size chunks. You want pieces that can spread across the dish rather than a few large pieces buried beneath the sauce.
Cream of chicken soup and milk: The condensed soup gives you the creamy layer; the milk loosens it enough to spread over the chicken.
Chicken-flavored stuffing mix: Get a 6-ounce box. The seasoning is already in the mix, so you don’t need to add a separate dressing seasoning to the ingredient list.
Chicken broth: Measure it separately from the milk. Each liquid has its own job here: the milk goes into the sauce, while the broth goes over the stuffing. I keep them in separate containers on the counter so I don’t accidentally pour both into the soup.
Salt and black pepper: Season the chicken to taste before it disappears beneath the sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks
- Salt and black pepper, for seasoning the chicken
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 10.5 ounces each
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 box chicken-flavored stuffing mix, 6 ounces
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
How to Make Chicken and Dressing Casserole
1. Prepare the oven and dish. Heat your oven to 375°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with oil so it’s ready for the chicken.
2. Mix the sauce. Whisk the cream of chicken soup and milk together in a mixing bowl. I do this before handling the chicken; you can then pour the sauce over the filled dish without stopping to clear space for a bowl.
3. Add the chicken. Put the bite-size chicken pieces in the dish in a single layer. Sprinkle them with salt and black pepper, then stir the pieces to season them.
4. Layer the casserole. Spread the soup mixture over the chicken until it’s covered. Sprinkle the dry stuffing mix across the sauce; don’t prepare it according to the box directions.
5. Moisten the stuffing. Slowly drizzle the chicken broth over the stuffing. Move across the whole dish as you pour so you reach all the dry mix rather than soaking just the middle.
6. Cover, bake and brown. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 15 minutes more, until the casserole is bubbly and the stuffing is browned. Use a food thermometer to check that both the chicken and the center of the casserole reach 165°F.
7. Serve. Serve the casserole hot. Spoon down through the topping to pick up some chicken and creamy sauce with each portion.
Should the Stuffing Mix Go On Dry?
Yes. Sprinkle the stuffing mix straight from the box over the creamy chicken, then add the measured broth. You’re not looking for a bowl of fully prepared stuffing before the dish goes into the oven; the broth moistens it in the baking dish.
The part worth slowing down for is the pour. If you tip the broth into one spot, some of the mix can remain dry while another area gets soaked. I move the pour back and forth across the dish and look for any pale, dry-looking patches before I pick up the foil.
Cover the dish tightly for the first stretch of baking, then uncover it for the browning stretch. That gives you dressing that’s moist beneath the surface and browned on top, rather than a uniformly soft layer. The browned top and bubbling sauce show you what’s happening on the surface; the thermometer tells you when the chicken and center are done.
Tips for Success
Why are some chicken pieces cooking more slowly?
Look at the size of the pieces before you add the sauce. If you’ve left a few much larger than bite-size, cut those down and spread the chicken across the dish instead of leaving it piled in one area. That way, you can check pieces from different parts of the casserole without a large chunk hiding underneath.
Why are there thick pockets of soup?
You’ll notice them when you try to spread the sauce: one area looks dense while another is milky. Whisk the condensed soup and milk together in the bowl until the mixture looks even, then spread it over the chicken. I’d fix that before adding the topping rather than trying to stir through all the layers afterward.
Variations
- Change the soup: Use cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup in place of cream of chicken for a different creamy sauce.
- Add vegetables: Include mixed vegetables with the chicken if you want vegetables in the casserole as well as alongside it.
- Use prepared stuffing: Prepare the stuffing according to its package directions, dollop it over the creamy chicken and omit the additional broth. This gives you a fluffier topping instead of the broth-moistened layer described above.
Storage & Reheating
USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow, covered containers; don’t wait for them to reach room temperature. Keep them refrigerated for 3 to 4 days or frozen for 3 to 4 months. Thaw frozen leftovers in the refrigerator, cold water or microwave—not on the counter—and reheat leftovers to 165°F, checking with a food thermometer.
What to Serve With It
This is a filling main dish, so you can keep the rest of dinner simple. If you’re planning a future casserole night instead, chicken and dumpling casserole has a different comfort-food topping, while Ritz cracker chicken casserole takes the cracker route. For another creamy option, look at million dollar chicken casserole or cheesy sour cream chicken casserole. If you’d rather make rice the starch, save broccoli rice cheese and chicken casserole or creamy chicken rice casserole for next time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to cook the chicken before assembling the casserole?
No. Put the bite-size chicken pieces into the baking dish uncooked; they cook beneath the sauce and stuffing in the oven. You don’t need a skillet or a separate chicken-cooking step.
Is this made with cornbread dressing?
No. The dressing layer here starts with boxed chicken-flavored stuffing mix. Crumbled cornbread with celery, onion and poultry seasoning is a different kind of dressing, not a direct substitute for the boxed mix in these instructions.
Final Notes
Keep your foil beside the baking dish before you start layering, so you can cover the casserole as soon as it’s assembled. If you have a question or make it for dinner, tell me how it turned out in the comments.
Chicken and Dressing Casserole
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Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts Cut into bite-size chunks
- salt and black pepper For seasoning the chicken; amounts are not specified
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup 10.5 ounces per can
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 box chicken-flavored stuffing mix 6 ounces; use dry
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth For moistening the stuffing
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with oil.
- Whisk the cream of chicken soup and milk together in a mixing bowl.
- Put the chicken in the dish in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and stir to season the pieces.
- Spread the soup mixture over the chicken so it is covered. Sprinkle the dry stuffing mix over the sauce.
- Slowly drizzle the chicken broth over the stuffing, making sure all of it is moistened.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly and the stuffing is browned. Check that the chicken and center of the casserole reach 165°F with a food thermometer.
- Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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