Category: Chicken Dishes

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole

I was looking for something easy to make tonight – and I knew I wanted to use chicken. So, I decided to make an easy chicken and rice casserole – that I could just throw together, put in the oven and forget about it (for the most part). Is it just me or should a casserole be comfort food? Maybe it is because I love casseroles, but I tend to associate them with comfort food. After a night of not sleeping well, and feeling poorly as a result of that, comfort food sounded just like what I needed.

Comfort food, at least in my house, tends to be creamy! And, what could make a casserole more creamy than Campbell’s ‘cream of whatever’ soup? For this recipe, I decided to use a cream of chicken and a cream of celery. To that, I added some celery, carrots and onion – to go with the rice and chicken.

As far as seasonings, I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and umami seasoning.

For the chicken, I used my instant pot to cook it (in 1 cup of stock, which I also added to the casserole). I cooked 2 very large chicken breasts, from frozen in 20 minutes – and used my hand mixer to shred it. I’ve blogged about this before – and, I still stand by the fact that I’ll never do shredded chicken any other way!

I chose to make the casserole in my large dutch oven. Once all the vegetables were chopped and the chicken was shredded, I just dumped everything into the dutch oven.

And stirred… Yes, it is really that simple! Dump the ingredients and stir!

I then put the lid on, and put the dutch oven in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, I removed it from the oven, uncovered, topped with bread crumbs. You don’t want to add the bread crumbs until some of the liquid from the casserole have been absorbed – otherwise, it will just get mushy, instead of adding a little crispiness to the top of the casserole.

And back into the oven it went, uncovered – for another 20 minutes.

There are vegetables in the casserole, but if you want – you can serve alongside another vegetable or side. I had some field peas with mine.

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole

2 – 3 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (along with stock from cooking the chicken breasts)
2 1/2 cups rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery (or mushroom) soup
2 1/2 ‘cans’ (using soup can to measure) chicken stock
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp paprika
2 tsp Umami seasoning
2/3 cup panko bread crumbs

  • In a large dutch oven, mix all ingredients (yes, it is really that easy – dump it all in!)
  • Cover dutch oven and cook for 45 minutes, at 400 degrees
  • Uncover – top with Panko bread crumbs – and bake for another 20 minutes, uncovered
by Michelle

Chicken Taco Soup

We are in the south, so the reality is that it doesn’t really get cold – especially not in October – but, today was definitely a dreary, rainy day with milder temperatures than we’ve been experiencing – the perfect day for chicken taco soup!

The ingredients couldn’t be more simple. In addition to chicken and garnishing touches, this recipe consists of some tomatoes, onion, beans, corn and spices.

I started by cooking the chicken. I had approximately 2 pounds of chicken tenders that I cooked in the instant pot. As I have said before, I discovered that the easiest way to do shredded chicken (and I’ve even done pork this way) is to cook it in some stock in the instant pot and shred it with a hand held mixer. You can find more about that, on this post.

While the chicken was cooking, I rough chopped one onion.

In a dutch oven, I added oil and brought up the heat. I then added the onion and sauteed until soft. I added in all the seasonings (except salt) to the onions and stirred it around in the pan to let the seasonings kind of ‘toast’.

Next, I added the chicken into the dutch oven and mixed the onions (and seasonings) in with the chicken. As I used my instant pot to cook the chicken, there was stock still in the pot – I added it all into the dutch oven. The stock helped to pull up any stuck on bits on the bottom of the pan – be sure to stir everything well, to pick up that extra flavor.

After the chicken has been added – it’s time to add in the other items. Dump all the cans into the pot (no need to drain). Add in your salt and bring the pot up to a boil.

Once a boil is achieved, lower the heat to simmer, cover and let simmer for at least 30 minutes (longer is fine too!).

Serve with garnishments of your choice! A perfect meal for a cold(ish) and dreary day!

Chicken Taco Soup

2 lbs chicken breast, shredded
1 onion, rough chopped
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 cans tomatoes and chilis
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
2/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Garnish:
Sliced avocado
Sour cream
Grated cheese
Chopped cilantro
Pickled Jalapenos
Tortilla chips

  • Cook chicken and shred
  • In large pot or dutch oven, add olive oil and onions – saute onions until tender
  • Add in cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning and stir well (allowing seasonings to ‘toast’)
  • Add in shredded chicken (I cooked my chicken in the instant pot, with approx 1 cup of chicken stock – I added it all into the dutch oven, including the stock) and stir
  • Add in the cans of vegetables and mix through
  • Add in salt
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and cook for at least 30 minutes (longer is fine)
  • Top with garnishments of choice

by Michelle

Easy Chicken and Dumplins (that’s right, there is no ‘g’ where I’m from)

One of the South’s most popular comfort foods has got to be chicken and dumplins. At least it has always been one of my favorites. I have been known to, truly, have had a bad day and craved chicken and dumplins as a ‘pick me up’.

While I’ve seen recipes that have vegetables in them (and I do love vegetables), I would – personally – never call that chicken and dumplins. For me, chicken and dumplins is just that – chicken and dumplins, no veggies needed.

Certainly, you could make homemade dumplins, but I’ve always made mine with canned biscuits – couldn’t be easier! I use 2 cans, generally, and just cut each biscuit in 6-9 pieces. I find that if you use butter flavored biscuits, like these, it adds a lot of depth to the chicken and dumplins.

For the chicken – while I love chicken breasts – chicken thighs are the only way to go for chicken and dumplins. I cooked 5 chicken thighs in my instant pot and shredded them. I’ve blogged about how I do shredded chicken before – you can check it out on this post.

Once I have the chicken shredded, I added it to a large dutch oven, along with 4 1/2 cups of chicken stock, 2 cups of milk, 3/4 tsp of salt and 3/4 tsp pepper – and bring it up to a boil. I then add in the ‘dumplins’, stir through, reduce the heat, cover and let it cook for about 30 minutes (that is about the time needed if you cut the biscuits into 6-8 pieces each).

While this does reheat well, if you’re feeding a family, good luck with leftovers!

Chicken and Dumplins

5 chicken thighs, shredded
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
2 cans butter flavored flaky biscuits
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper

  • Cook and shred chicken thighs
  • Cut biscuits into 6-9 pieces, per biscuit
  • Add shredded chicken, chicken stock, milk, salt and pepper into dutch oven – bring to boil
  • Reduce heat and add in ‘dumplins’
  • Let simmer for about 30 minutes, until dumplins are done (I actually kept the heat on for 15 minutes, then turned it off and let the dumplins sit, covered, for another 15 minutes)
by Michelle

Weekday Chicken Pot Pie

As I didn’t make a homemade crust, I guess this is a cheater chicken pot pie – or, I like Weekday Chicken Pot Pie better, since using a prepared pie crust makes it super easy!

While I didn’t make a homemade pie crust, I did use fresh veggies – carrots, celery, onion and potatoes to be exact. All chopped similar size. I also cooked 2 large chicken breasts, in my instant pot, and shredded them. To make this recipe even easier – you could use frozen veggies and rotisserie chicken!

In a pan, with some butter, I softened the onions – then added the remaining vegetables and seasonings, to cook a bit on the stove.

After cooking for 5-10 minutes, I added in some flour (which will help to thicken the filling as it cooks). I stirred the mixture well, allowing the flour to get well distributed in the pan. Finally, I added in chicken (along with the stock from when I cooked it and shredded it in the instant pot – you can see how I do this, on this post. I will never do shredded chicken any way but this way, ever again! It is so easy and I can start with frozen chicken!!) – and mixed through.

I added in the additional stock and the milk, and mixed well. I allowed the filling to cook until it was the thickness I like for my chicken pot pie.

While the filling was thickening, I prepared my casserole by adding one of the pie crusts to the bottom. I, ultimately, needed to cut a bit off of the other pie crust to ensure that the full casserole was covered.

Once the filling was the appropriate thickness, I removed it from the stove and spooned it into the casserole dish.

Finally, I topped the mixture with the remaining pie crust. I cut a few vents and crimped the edges to create a good seal.

The pot pie is baked for a little more than hour in a 400 degree oven. After 40 minutes, I did end up putting a little bit of melted butter on top – cooking for 10 more minutes, uncovered. Then, for the remaining time, I covered it with tin foil (to avoid too much browning of the crust).

After removing from the oven, I allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes and it was ready to go! Fairly quick, super easy, very delicious Weekday Chicken Pot Pie!

Weekday Chicken Pot Pie

1 box refrigerated pie crusts (for top and bottom) – or make your own pie crust
2 chicken breasts, shredded (reserve stock from cooking)
2 1/2 carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
1/4 flour
1/2 cup milk (I used 1/4 cup skim and 1/4 cup heavy cream)
1/2 cup chicken stock (in addition to the stock from when you cooked chicken)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp Umami seasoning

  • Cook and shred chicken breasts, set aside
  • Chop vegetables to similar size
  • In large skillet, melt butter and add onions and cook 2-3 minutes
  • Add in remaining vegetables, along with seasonings and cook until they start to soften (probably 5-10 minutes)
  • Add in flour and mix well
  • Add chicken (with stock from cooking chicken) into pan
  • Add in additonal stock and stir well
  • Add in milk and allow filling to thicken, slightly
  • Once filling is desired thickness, add into a casserole dish, which has been lined with one of the pie crusts
  • Top with remaining pie crust
  • Vent top of crust and cook for 1 hour (you may want to top with foil after 40 minutes or so, so your crust doesn’t get too brown) @ 400 degrees.

by Michelle

Brunswick Stew

One of my favorite things growing up in South Georgia was Brunswick Stew. Despite that – until this week, I’d never made it. As I normally do when I develop a recipe that is inspired by something I’ve had before, I thought about all the things that I like about the dishes I’ve had. For Brunswick stew – I like corn, potatoes and lima beans. I like both shredded chicken and pork. And, I like a little bit of a ‘bite’ or acidity. These are some of the items I included (in addition to the meat, potatoes and onion).

This recipe started with cooking the meats. I did the chicken thighs in the instant pot. I used the same method as I mentioned, when I made Chicken Noodle Soup/Stew the other day. Both in cooking and in shredding the chicken. Again – I will never do it another way again, ever!

The pork was a whole other thing. I started by trying to cook the boston butt roast in the crock pot, but despite the fact that I cooked it on low for 8 hours – and then turned it up to high for another 2 hours, I simply could not get it up to 190 degrees, internally, which is needed to get it to shred. Ultimately, I moved it to the instant pot and finished it off there. For the most part, I shredded it the same as the chicken – using a hand held mixer.

I kind of made this dish in stages: I did the pork the day before, I did the chicken in the AM, I prepped the onions and potatoes in the afternoon (Then I went to see Downton Abbey!) and, finally, made the Brunswick stew in the evening. I mention that to say that you have the option to do all the prep work ahead of time – and then ‘throw it together’ for a pretty amazing (and relatively quick) dinner!

Once I was home from seeing Downton Abbey (If you haven’t seen it, and you’re a fan of the show, you should!!), I started putting it all together. Starting with browning the onion and garlic in my dutch oven. The rest was pretty much dumping things in and letting it all come together in the pot – so not a lot of pictures.

Despite this being the first time that I’ve made Brunswick stew – it will definitely not be my last. I’m not even sure what has kept me from making it! The flavors that I pulled together in this one are EXACTLY all the things that I love about Brunswick stew!

** Note: you can add more chicken stock if it is too thick, but remember that Brunswick Stew should be thick.

Brunswick Stew

Total cook time: 20 min prep, 90 min cook

1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp garlic
5 cups chicken stock
1 large (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2-3 chicken thighs, shredded
3 cups pulled pork
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Regular BBQ sauce
3/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Mustard BBQ sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
12 oz package of frozen lima beans
12 oz package of frozen whole kernel corn
6 potatoes, diced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
Avocado oil spray

  • In large dutch oven, brown onions and garlic in avocado oil
  • Add worchestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, tomatoes and chicken stock to dutch oven and bring to a boil
  • Add in the vegetables, BBQ sauces, chicken, pork, salt and pepper – reduce heat to simmer.
  • Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, for best blending of flavors – you can actually eat it anytime after your vegetables are done – it just gets more depth of flavor the longer it simmers.

*** If needed to thicken, create a slurry with a small amount of cold water and cornstarch and add to pot, allowing it to thicken.

by Michelle