Chicken, Cheddar, and Bacon Casserole

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Bacon gives this chicken casserole some extra flavor, and the combination of American and Cheddar cheeses makes it extra-creamy.

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Ingredients

  • 8 ounces mini penne pasta or elbow macaroni
  • 6-8 slices bacon
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 pound chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut in 1-inch pieces
  • 4 green onions, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth or more milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
  • 8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 4 ounces American cheese, shreds or chopped
  • 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter

Preparation

Step 1

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water following package directions.

Grease a 2 1/2-to 3-quart baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.

In a large skillet or saucepan, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon to paper towels; crumble. Pour off grease in the skillet, leaving about 1 or 2 teaspoons. Add butter to the skillet and cook the chicken over medium-low heat until cooked through. Add green onions and cook for 1 minute longer. Add flour and stir until blended into the fat. Gradually stir in the milk, cooking and stirring until slightly thickened. Stir in salt, pepper, and thyme. Add the cheeses and thawed peas, along with crumbled bacon. Spoon into the prepared baking dish.

Combine bread crumbs with 1 tablespoon melted butter; sprinkle over the casserole. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until topping is browned and casserole is bubbly.
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REVIEWS:

GREAT! I am 14 and I made this for my family and it was FANTASTIC! BUT..it was EXTREMELY watery! We forgot to buy chicken broth and so I used the extra milk but it was really liquidy. Also the instructions never said to bake the noodles in the casserole so I just put them on top! Lastly took a lot longer than recommend time oven wasn't 25 minutes it was more like 20. But getting everything ready took way too long!

Great recipe. I used cream of mushroom soup instead of milk."

This was so good! My husband is kind of a pickey eater and he loved this. The bacon really gives it a really nice flavor. I will be making this again, next time I think I will try it with shrimp!

Wowser! Very popular at our house. We replaced the American cheese with some hickory smoked Cheddar, and added some hot pepper sauce. Fresh grated pepper is good, too.

This was a great dish though I did make some adjustments. I didn't use peas and I used like a extra tablespoon of flour. The bacon was a great addition and a must have. It was a great dish to reheat also...yeah!!!"

This recipe was good and my husband loved it but I made a few changes. Instead of Cheddar cheese and American, I used mild Cheddar shreds and 4 ounces of plain goat cheese. For the 2 cups of liquid, I used about 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (because that's what I had) and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream (to use it up) and the rest skim milk. And I used butter cracker crumbs instead of bread. The white sauce never did thicken up so I'd probably use more flour next time. Since I love the flavor of goat cheese, I'll probably go more heavy on the goat cheese next time too. The leftovers reheat beautifully in a 300 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes in a glass casserole.





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