Crunchy Chicken Casserole with creamy filling, crunchy bits, and a buttery cracker topping. Your family will love this!
There is just something comforting about a casserole, don’t you think?
This creamy, crunchy chicken casserole is sure to be a family favorite in your home, just like it is in ours. It’s also great for potlucks and get togethers!
To Make Crunchy Chicken Casserole You Will Need:
- unsalted butter
- onion
- celery
- all-purpose flour
- milk
- salt
- black pepper
- thyme
- cooked chicken
- cooked rice
- water chestnuts
- cashews
- Ritz crackers (roasted vegetable)
- poppy seeds
- baking dish
- mixing bowls
- whisk
- saucepan
How to Make the Crunchy Chicken Casserole:
To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a saucepan, melt a third of a cup of butter over medium heat.
Add in the diced onion and celery. Cook for just a few minutes, until the onion and celery soften a bit.
Whisk in the flour. Let it cook for 1 minute.
Pour in the milk.
Add in the salt, pepper, and thyme.
Cook this over medium heat, stirring continually, until it just begins to boil and is thickened. Remove it from the heat.
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In a mixing bowl, combine the diced chicken, cooked rice, water chestnuts, and cashews.
Pour in your sauce and stir this all together.
Spread the mixture into a lightly oiled 9×13 (or similarly sized) baking dish.
Place the crushed crackers in a small bowl. Add in the melted 3 Tablespoons of butter and the poppy seeds. Stir to combine.
Spread the cracker mixture all over the top of the casserole.
Bake it for 20-25 minutes, or until the cracker topping is golden brown.
Enjoy!
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Crunchy Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 1/3 c unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1/4 c all-purpose flour
- 2 c milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 2 c cooked chicken, diced
- 3 c cooked rice
- 8 oz canned water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 c cashews, chopped
- 36 Ritz crackers, roasted vegetable flavor, crushed
- 3/4 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 3 Tb melted butter
Instructions
- To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a saucepan, melt a third of a cup of butter over medium heat.
- Add in the diced onion and celery. Cook for just a few minutes, until the onion and celery soften a bit.
- Whisk in the flour. Let it cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the milk.
- Add in the salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Cook this over medium heat, stirring continually, until it just begins to boil and is thickened. Remove it from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the diced, cooked rice, water chestnuts, and cashews.
- Pour in your sauce and stir this all together.
- Spread the mixture into a lightly oiled 9×13 (or similarly sized) baking dish.
- Place the crushed crackers in a small bowl. Add in the melted 3 Tablespoons of butter and the poppy seeds. Stir to combine.
- Spread the cracker mixture all over the top of the casserole.
- Bake it for 20-25 minutes, or until the cracker topping is golden brown.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
Nice recipe. Sounds good. Thanks Constance.