Creamy sauce, fork tender chicken, fresh broccoli, and buttery crackers come together in a classic casserole that you'll be proud to put on your table.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- No need to head out to Cracker Barrel to get your comfort food fix, when you can make this recipe at home.
- It is packed with flavor and has a crunchy topping that everyone will love.
- This dish can be made ahead of time and frozen for those busy weeknights.
I love this dish! Copycat Cracker Barrel Broccoli Cheddar Chicken is one of my all time favorites! I loved it the first time I had it at the restaurant so I knew I would recreate it at home.
While this is in the oven throw together these 30 minute dinner rolls!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
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- boneless skinless chicken breast
- seasoned salt
- milk
- cream of chicken soup
- cheddar cheese
- broccoli
- Ritz crackers
- butter
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Place chicken breasts and broccoli in the bottom of the baking dish.
- Mix together the soup and milk. Then, cover the chicken mixture with the sauce.
- Sprinkle the top of the dish with the shredded cheese.
- Melt butter and mix with crackers. Spread the ritz cracker mixture over the top of the casserole. Bake until the chicken is done.
We love creamy casseroles. Another family favorite is this easy chicken cordon bleu casserole!
🥄 Equipment
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
🎥 Video
Click on the image to watch me make this recipe from start to finish with extra tips! (Video opens in a new tab).
🥫 Storage
This dish will store well in the fridge for 3 days in an airtight container.
It can also be frozen for up to three months. Be sure to wrap tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
Reheat the casserole covered, in a 350 degree oven until warmed all the way through, it will take about 12 to 15 minutes to warm up the casserole.
📖 Variations
- Add some spice with a tablespoon of diced jalapeños or green chilies.
- Swap out the cheddar cheese for pepper jack, Colby jack or Swiss.
- Add a can of corn or a cup of frozen peas along with the broccoli.
- For a lighter casserole, use fat free milk and fat free cream of chicken soup.
- Swap out the Ritz crackers for crushed up Corn Flakes or potato chips.
- Instead of cream of chicken soup, you can use a can of cheddar cheese soup for an extra cheesy sauce.
- Sour cream would be an excellent addition to the cheese sauce for tangy flavor.
- Increase the flavor of this dish by adding a dash of garlic powder.
- Instead of milk you can use evaporated milk or heavy cream for an extra rich flavor to your casserole.
- You could also use chicken thighs.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Be sure to use a block of cheddar cheese and shred it yourself. The pre-shredded cheese has additives that prevent it from clumping together, which also prevents it from melting as smoothly.
- Typically for this recipe you would use whole chicken breasts, I cut the breast up so that it cooks quicker. You can use whole breasts but you will need to increase the bake time.
- If you are cutting your chicken breast like I did, then try to dice them to the same size so that they cook evenly.
- For easy clean up, spray your casserole dish with cooking spray before assembling the casserole. You could also butter your casserole pan to prevent sticking.
- If you are freezing this casserole, then I recommend that you freeze it without the Ritz crackers on top. Add them right before you bake it so they don't get soggy.
- This recipe can easily be doubled to feed a larger crowd. Though, you may need a larger baking dish.
- Be sure to drain the broccoli so that it doesn't make your casserole watery.
- When checking the temperature of the chicken, be sure to check the thickest part of the chicken.
👩🍳 FAQs
Frozen broccoli needs to be thawed but not cooked in this casserole. Raw broccoli should be steamed first.
Yes, you can use fresh broccoli, but you will need to steam the broccoli first.
No, do not cover this casserole when baking. Covering would prevent your crackers from crisping and browning.
Raw or cooked broccoli - 3 to 5 days in the fridge. Cooked broccoli with keep 3 months or more in the freezer.
📚 Related recipes
- This Hamburger Steak recipe is one of my favorite cracker barrel copycat recipes.
- Chicken Fried Steak is a family favorite recipe that is perfect for dinner any night of the week.
- Crockpot Salisbury Steak is an easy meal to make when you are craving southern comfort food but have a busy day.
🍽️ Serve with...
- Southern Style Green Beans are one of my favorite recipes when it comes to making southern side dish recipes.
- Maple Roasted Carrots are a perfect sweet and healthy side dish for a comfort food dinner.
- Double Chocolate Coca Cola Cake is a rich and moist cake that pairs perfectly with this delicious main dish.
- If you love eating at Cracker Barrel then you know that you can't have country-style food without Buttermilk Biscuits or Cornbread.
📞 The last word
This dish is one of our favorites - I like to serve it with rice. I mean, anything from Cracker Barrel is delicious!
Give this a try and let me know what you think.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Casserole Recipe
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 ½ teaspoons seasoned salt
- ¾ cup milk
- 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded from a block
- 8 ounces broccoli, defrosted if frozen - steamed if raw
- 64 Ritz crackers, crushed (2 sleeves)
- ¼ cup butter, melted
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces if you wish. It cooks quicker this way.
- Season chicken with seasoning salt.
- Place chicken in casserole dish.
- Make sure broccoli is drained well or your casserole will be watery.
- Add the cooked broccoli over the chicken.
- In a medium bowl, mix together milk and soup until smooth.
- Stir in 1-½ cups of the shredded cheese.
- Microwave stirring often, until smooth.
- Pour over the chicken mixture.
- Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Melt the butter.
- Stir melted butter into the cracker crumbs.
- Top the casserole with the buttery crumbs.
- Bake for 30 -40 minutes or until chicken registers 160F on an instant read thermometer.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Typically for this recipe you would use whole chicken breasts, I cut the breast up so that it cooks quicker. You can use whole breasts but you will need to increase the bake time.
- If you are cutting your chicken breast like I did, then try to dice them to the same size so that they cook evenly.
- If you are freezing this casserole, then I recommend that you freeze it without the Ritz crackers on top. Add them right before you bake it so they don't get soggy.
- Be sure to drain the broccoli well so that it doesn't make your casserole watery.
- When checking the temperature of the chicken, be sure to check the thickest part of the chicken.
Leslie
Making this tonight. So far, so good. Needed to adjust the cooking time for a smaller casserole dish. I believe mine is an 8x8 and 40 minutes wasn't long enough. The chicken was still half raw when I checked it. The cheese and breadcrumb on top meant that I couldn't just stir it around to cook it more evenly. Smells amazing though! It cooked for about an hour before it was fully done.
Marye
Yes when you adjust a recipe you'll want to pay attention to the times. 🙂