Chicken Stuffing Casserole
Chicken stuffing casserole is your family’s next favorite dinner. Take help from the store or make it all from scratch (we won’t judge) and you’ll have comfort on a plate in under an hour. It’s great for using up holiday leftovers, too!
Hearty, warm, make-ahead and freezer friendly–this is one dinner you need up your sleeve. Chicken stuffing casserole is the perfect way to use leftover chicken or turkey and stuffing too.
It’s like the little black dress of easy dinners. It does it all and goes with just about anything.
How to boil chicken for chicken casserole
If you don’t have leftover chicken or turkey for this recipe, boil your own. It takes about 20 minutes for a medium chicken breast.
You can also use boneless thighs–just cube or shred your chicken and you can freeze it for making this recipe in the future too! Get the full steps to boil chicken to shred.
How to mix chicken casserole step by step
Combine milk, soups, and broth from chicken or water 
Pour butter over dry stuffing 
Stir to combine 
Spread half in 8×8 baking dish 
Add cooked chicken 
Pour over milk and soups 
Top with remaining stuffing and bake
A note about canned soups
They taste terrible and they are full of funk that rots your insides. That’s the note. But if you don’t have time to make soup from scratch (it takes about 10 minutes), do what must be done.
Some brands these days are a little better than the old school versions, but I’d rather you make condensed cream of chicken soup from scratch. Just freeze it for later and you’ll never need a can! Try this cream of mushroom soup recipe too.
Tips for customizing your chicken casserole
- Make it ahead if needed. Sure the stuffing will soften, but it’s good that way. Assemble up to 2 days ahead and it will still be delicious!
- Use canned or leftover chicken or turkey. Just add extra water or chicken stock to compensate for the missing poaching water.
- Use up leftover dressing/stuffing or use a bag of pre-made. This works best if the dressing is very dried out. If your dressing is very soft toast it in the oven before using.
- Add partially cooked vegetables (peas are great here) and maybe a bit of cheese for extra flavor.
What to serve with chicken stuffing casserole
It’s almost a meal on its own, but I like to serve my casserole with:
Green Beans
Cranberry Sauce
Chicken Stuffing Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast about 1 pound, canned or rotisserie works here as well
- 1/2 cup liquid from cooking your chicken or an extra 1/2 cup milk if you didn't cook your chicken
- 15 ounces cream of mushroom soup 1 can or homemade
- 15 ounces cream of chicken soup 1 can or homemade
- 1 cup 2% milk or milk of your choice
- 1/2 cup butter melted (1 stick)
- 3 cups leftover stuffing or one box Stove Top, dry
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.
- Add the chicken breast and boil until cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Set aside to cool slightly. Remove any cartilage or tough parts and chunk meat into bite size pieces.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the chicken's cooking liquid and pour out the rest.
- In the same pot, mix the milk, cooking liquid (or extra milk if using it), and the soups.
- Heat over medium until the sauce is heated through and warm, but not boiling.
- While that's heating, mix the butter with the package of dry stuffing mix. Toss to coat and set aside.
- When the soups are warm, grease an 8x8 baking pan.
- Sprinkle in half the stuffing.
- Cover evenly with chicken.
- Pour over soups. You may not want to use it all. It's up to you.
- Add the remaining stuffing mix to the top.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until it's bubbly and warm in the center.
Nutrition
I am wondering if I could make this up ahead of time and store it in the freezer, unbaked? If so, what would the cooking instructions be, from a frozen state?
I’ve never baked it from frozen, but I think it would work fine! Usually you’ll want to cover it while it bakes at least halfway then uncover for the remaining cook time but I’d only be guessing as to how long to cook it. –Rachel
Very good comfort food, but very rich too! We added pickled beets on the side, rice, & fresh tomato. Thank you for a quick & delicious casserole!
This is a great recipe for using up canned chicken. I used 2 (12) oz cans of chicken so that there would be a full serving on protein in each portion. I added the chicken to the milk and the soups and warmed it all together. I used 6oz of Peperidge Farm classic herb stuffing and of course topped it with fried onions. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe, I will definitely be making it again.
That was bagged stuffing by the way. For those who were wondering if bagged would work, it was perfect.
I love this basic recipe. I always add two cans of green beans and two cans of chopped water chestnuts for crunch. I have also added partially steamed broccoli. My husband is gluten free…so I do gluten free bread crumbs on his portion of this and it is great. My father-in-love is a “chicken skeptic”…but he loves this casserole. I serve with beets tossed in a balsamic glaze and coleslaw. Cranberry is a great addition too.
Although I was skeptical, this was actually pretty good. Reduced milk to 1/2 cup just because I was afraid it would be mushy (it was perfect consistency). Added French fried onions to top per another poster’s suggestion. Will make again and may add a layer of frozen mixed vegetables so it mimics chicken pot pie. We did find the dish a bit salty so recommend using any low sodium ingredients you can (but the French fried onions are a must lol).
Glad to have proven you wrong on at least some level Kathy. 😉 –Rachel
I added French’s French fried onion bits to the top!
How many ounce of canned chicken would you use?? Thank you in advance, this looks amazing!!
Hey Danielle, ballpark I’d do 8 to 10 ounces probably. You can’t hurt it really either way. 🙂 –Rachel
This was excellent! Husband loved it. Great recipe.
Turned out great, followed the recipe, just added some instant mashed potatoes on the bottom of the casserole and also added some mixed vegtables on top of the chicken. Flavors blended wonderfully.
I haven’t made this yet, but it sounds amazing and super easy! I’m making it for dinner tonight as a kind of pantry raid meal.