Southern Chicken Casserole

Chicken casserole is a staple in most families, including my husband’s. Of course, most Greeks and Italians don’t make casseroles, let alone put crackers in any of their dishes, so it took me a while to try one.

I still remember when my sweet friend from Tennessee introduced me to her town’s recipe. It was so good I could have devoured the whole dish myself, but I refrained because she made it and deserved some too. Her recipe was made with shredded chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup and a ton of Ritz crackers. All ingredients to make it a comforting, savory dish.

About a month or two ago, I knew I wanted to feature it on the blog, so I texted my friend for the recipe. She didn’t have it written down, so she asked her mama, but she didn’t have it written down either. That’s when you know it’s a good recipe – made by heart and improvised almost every time.

Not going to lie, I was in a panic. Could I remember what Mary put in the casserole, or was this going to become a flop? Would I ever have chicken casserole again?!

Luckily, practice and testing makes perfect in the kitchen and I experimented my way through remembering what was in the casserole. It took two attempts, with the first turning out to be kind of soupy because I used too much chicken soup. My second attempt came with bites of nostalgia as I was taken back to the first time my sweet friend made it for me – second time’s a charm. Shortly after, my family and I devoured the whole thing (mainly my husband because he loves it so much).

I’m so glad our daughter ended up loving it as much as we do, and I hope this is a recipe she can keep and make for her friends in the future. Everyone needs a southern staple in their recipe box.

If you end up making this casserole, don’t forget to tag #marinamakeseats!

Southern Chicken Casserole

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 3 cups of cooked shredded chicken (I used rotisserie chicken)
• 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• Half of a 10.5 oz can of cream of chicken soup
• 32-35 Ritz crackers, crumbled

Directions

Grease a medium-large baking dish/casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix chicken, sour cream, salt, pepper, cream of chicken soup and 12 crumbled crackers until combined and creamy. Place mixture into the casserole dish evenly and top with remaining crumbled crackers (about 20).

Bake for 35-45 minutes until casserole bubbles on the sides. Set aside to cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.