Casseroles are tailor-made for busy families! We all need dinners we can put together in a hurry and toss in the oven. And this chicken casserole is a great example of that.
I always love recipes that start with leftover chicken. Rotisserie chicken works just as well! Just shred it up and it’s ready to use.
Combine the chicken with hash browns and veggies, add a cheesy sauce and bake away. You’ll soon have a yummy and bubbly casserole ready to feed to your family in classic comfort food style.
Why I Love this Recipe
Comfort food is king in my house, and this casserole is a great example of that! Full of chicken and hash brown potatoes, in an easy cheesy sauce. The bacon bits give it a little extra punch of flavor, and the Ritz cracker topping is such a satisfying crunch.
And by combining chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, you have made a complete meal. Which is what a good casserole is all about.
Did I mention easy? Let’s talk about all the time savings when your casserole uses: frozen hash browns, frozen mixed vegetables, and pre-cooked chicken. Mix everything together, put it in a baking dish and start cooking. You’ll have dinner on the table in an hour!
You’ll love this one!
Ingredients Needed
**Be sure to scroll to the recipe card for detailed quantities and directions**
How to Make this Cheesy Chicken Casserole
You are starting with frozen vegetables and hash browns, but I do like them to be semi-thawed before mixing. Either let them sit out on the counter for a bit, or just pour into your mixing bowl and give them a quick zap with the microwave. A minute or two is usually enough.
Then, start adding everything else to the bowl. Cooked chicken, condensed soup, bacon bits, milk, and thyme. And of course, cheese. Add one cup of shredded cheese to the mix and reserve the rest for the topping.
Stir these ingredients until everything is evenly distributed.
Prepare your casserole dish by lightly greasing or spraying with cooking spray. The recipe is scaled for an 11x7-inch baking dish. It feeds the two of us with plenty of leftovers, so would be suitable for a small family. If you’re feeding a crowd, you can easily double the recipe for a 9x13-inch pan.
Transfer the mixture into the greased pan. In a small bowl, mix the crushed Ritz crackers with the remaining shredded cheese, then sprinkle this evenly over the top of the casserole. Cover the dish with foil.
Bake it, covered, at 400F for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes, until the casserole is bubbling, and the top is slightly brown.
Remove the casserole from the oven and let it rest for 10-15 minutes, then serve.
Would you like to save this recipe?
I'll email this post to you, so you can easily come back to it later!
Expert Tips/Variations
Greasing the pan slightly helps prevent your casserole from sticking to the sides. It makes serving and clean up so much easier!
I use mixed vegetables, either peas and carrots or the kind that also include cut green beans. All are great, just use the mix that appeals to you.
You can similarly customize the cheese. The recipe officially calls for cheddar cheese, but I am also partial to cheese blends. Think Cheddar-Monterey Jack, Colby-Monterey Jack (CoJack), or even 4-cheese Mexican blends. Whichever one I already have on hand is the one I’m going to use!
If you buy an 8-ounce package of shredded cheese, it is officially 2 cups of cheese. Which leaves an extra ½ cup of cheese. You can either save that for another day or just sprinkle the extra on top. Because there’s no such thing as too much cheese!
More Favorites from Ovenspiration
📖 Recipe
Would you like to save this recipe?
I'll email this post to you, so you can easily come back to it later!
Chicken and Hash Brown Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen hash browns thawed slightly (about 8 ounces)
- 2-3 cups chicken cooked and cut up
- ¼ cup bacon bits
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup condensed
- ½ cup milk
- 12 ounces frozen mixed vegetables thawed slightly
- ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
For topping
- 12-14 Ritz crackers about half a typical sleeve
- ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- In a large bowl, combine hash browns, chicken, bacon, 1 cup of cheese, mixed vegetables, condensed soup, milk, and thyme.3 cups frozen hash browns, 2-3 cups chicken, ¼ cup bacon bits, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup, ½ cup milk, 12 ounces frozen mixed vegetables, ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
- Lightly grease a 7x11” (or similar sized) baking dish and add the hash brown mixture. Spread evenly.
- Crush the Ritz crackers and place in a small bowl. Add the ½ cup cheddar cheese and stir to combine. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the hash brown mixture.12-14 Ritz crackers, ½ cup cheddar cheese
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes with the foil on.
- Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 minutes with the foil off.
- Remove casserole from oven and let it rest 10-15 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Shannon McDonough
This was GREAT!! Used shredded potatoes, broccoli, corn, crushed cheddar and garlic croutons and for the spices, pepper, salt, basil, parsley and paprika. We all loved it and can’t wait to have some more♥️♥️
Sula
Sounds fabulous - thank you for the kind review!
Tim Davis
could use some sauteed onion, and I would recommend thawing the vegetables more than 'slightly'
Sula
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!