Chicken and stuffing casserole with cheese and sour cream

An addictive comfort food casserole recipe with Pepperidge Farm stuffing, sour cream and chicken. 

One of my VERY favorite recipes is Mama's Squash Casserole. You know the one with the Pepperidge Farm stuffing and sour cream? UMPH! I could eat the whole thing by myself!

Seriously. It’s almost shameful how much I love that stuff. I will literally get out of bed, tiptoe downstairs and heat up the leftovers in the middle of the night.

It CALLS to me.

So I got to thinking… since I love it so much, why not use the same recipe to make a main dish casserole with chicken (instead of squash)! Which is exactly what I did.

And it was glorious!

I added some stock and a little more butter since we wouldn’t have the moisture from the cooked squash but everything else is pretty-much the same.

You’ll notice the recipe calls for GRATED onion and carrots.

Grating the veggies in this (and in the Squash Casserole) recipe “chops” them fine enough that they won’t need to be sautéed before going in the casserole (the heat from cooking the casserole will cook them enough).

If we were to dice them (even finely), we’d need to sauté them first so they wouldn’t be crunchy.

If you don’t have a box grater (which is what I use) or a food processor, you can absolutely dice the onion and carrots instead.

You’ll just need to sauté them in the butter from the recipe before mixing in with the other ingredients.

I thought about adding celery to this but I wasn’t sure what sort of stringy mess I’d end up with if I took my box grater to a stalk of celery.

I do think the flavor would be great though! If you’re going to have to sauté your onions and carrot, I’d consider throwing some celery in there too!

If you love comfort food casseroles like this one, check out a few of these recipes too!

• Smothered Chicken Casserole - Layers of creamy potatoes (think Potatoes Au Gratin) topped with chicken, smothered with cheese and bacon!
• Sausage & Rice Casserole - a simple recipe perfect for supper, side dishes, potlucks and Thanksgiving (sometimes called Rice Dressing).
• Pork Chop Casserole - An easy pork chop bake made with rice and French onion soup.
• Hamburger & Rice Casserole - Ground beef and rice baked together in a classic casserole recipe that's easy to make your own.
• Chicken Tetrazzini - Classic tetrazzini made with pasta, mushrooms, wine (optional) and cheese. Super easy AND super delicious!

best, recipe, easy, casserole, stuffing, dressing, pepperidge farm, chicken, sour cream, easy, cream of, soup

Chicken & Stuffing Casserole

prep time: 20 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 50 mins

ingredients

• 3 small chicken breasts
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (+ more if needed)
• 4 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb stuffing, divided

instructions

Place chicken in a stock pot then add just enough water to cover. Season with salt and pepper (to taste) then cook chicken over medium heat until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from stock and set aside to cool. Reserve stock. Once chicken is cool, shred with two forks or cut into bite-sized pieces; set aside.

Add onion, carrot, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, butter and 1/2 cup reserved chicken stock then mix well. Fold in chicken and 3 cups of stuffing. Add more stock per preference. You want the consistency to be how you like your dressing at Thanksgiving (which varies from person to person). Taste for seasoning then add more salt and pepper if desired. 

Add mixture to a 2-quart baking dish then top with remaining stuffing. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Cover dish loosely with aluminum foil if stuffing starts to brown too much before dish is bubbly.

Notes:

• You can absolutely use a rotisserie chicken (or other leftover chicken) if you prefer. I just cook mine since the recipe needs chicken stock/broth and I’d rather use homemade than buy it. If you decide to use cooked chicken, be sure to add chicken broth to your grocery list because you’ll need it in the recipe. 
• I use my box grater to grate the onion and carrot. By grating the veggies we don’t need to sauté them first (they’re grated fine enough to cook up tender when cooking the casserole). If you don’t have a grater (or food processor), finely dice the veggies then sauté in the butter before adding to the recipe. 
• This recipe doubles beautifully. The 14-oz bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing has about 7-8 cups of stuffing in it. Use 6 cups in the recipe then top with the remaining stuffing. 
• I think this could be made in a crock pot. If you want to try it, I’d start at 3-4 hours on low or 2-3 hours on high.
• You can use the Pepperidge Farm CORNBREAD stuffing in this too!
• I’ve never made this with other brands of stuffing so I’m not sure how they would turn out. 

Keep up with my latest shenanigans by following South Your Mouth!

How do you make chicken casserole with Ritz crackers?

How long do you cook chicken breast in the oven?

What is in Stovetop Stuffing?

How long does chicken take to bake?