No one loves a good casserole recipe more than a mom. From her perspective, it’s a complete meal, loaded with veggies, and baked all in one dish. It’s easy for serving and cleanup and can be made in advance. And as an added bonus, the recipe can usually be doubled and half of it frozen for another meal!
Besides this cheesy chicken broccoli casserole, my family’s favorite casserole is my sweet potato shepherd’s pie. Both are excellent and easy to make on a busy day.
Easy Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Casserole
It’s easiest to make this recipe with pre-cooked chicken. I frequently cook extra chicken on weekends or when I’m making some for another recipe (like chicken enchiladas verdes) so that I have some ready to go when I’m short on time. However, you can absolutely start with raw chicken and bake it in the oven or dice it and then saute it in a skillet.
I also like to use frozen veggies, again to save on time and prep work. But go ahead and use fresh ones if you’d like. I typically use broccoli and cauliflower because they’re easy to find and my family likes them, but you could also use frozen carrots.
Delegate It to the Kids!
I love to let my kids help cook whenever possible. Letting the kids help cook is one of the ways I help them learn to love a wide variety of foods. It’s also a really great way to help avoid developing picky eaters.
Years ago I enrolled them in an online cooking school. They learned the basics of recipe reading, measuring, and knife safety and loved it. We also have a crinkle cutter with a wooden handle. It’s a great tool for letting little hands help with chopping and grating.
Now that they are older I’m reaping the rewards of the earlier challenges of teaching the kids to cook. My kids are actually a tremendous help many nights and can even cook several meals on their own. The messes and spills we cleaned up by letting them “help” when they were younger have paid dividends.
Chicken Broccoli Casserole Recipe
Servings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts (cooked)
- 4 TBSP butter (cubed)
- 1 bag frozen broccoli (or 1 head fresh)
- 1 bag frozen cauliflower (or 1 head fresh)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 2 cups cheddar cheese (shredded, optional)
- ⅔ cup sour cream (optional)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- If not using pre-cooked chicken, bake chicken until cooked or dice and sauté in a skillet.
- Place the butter in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- Add the broccoli, cauliflower, and diced onion.
- Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until heated and mostly cooked.
- While the vegetables are heating, chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and grate the cheese if necessary.
- Remove the vegetables from oven.
- Add the chopped chicken, cheddar cheese, sour cream, spices, and ¼ cup water to the vegetables and mix well.
- Top with Parmesan if desired and return the baking dish to the oven.
- Continue cooking until the cheese is melted and everything is heated through.
Nutrition
Notes
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