Chicken Casserole

A HISTORY STORY: Chicken Casserole

 In 1866, Elmire Jolicoeur, a French Canadian immigrant, invented the precursor of the modern casserole in Berlin, New Hampshire

This French word was derived from the old Provencial word, “cassa” and the Medieval Latin word, “cattia”, both of these words meaning ladle. These words imply that this was describing a common pot from which everyone shared.

Ingredients

CHICKEN – Cooked chicken breasts or rotisserie chicken will both work for this recipe.

ADDITIONS – Cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup come together to make this dish ultra-creamy and thick. Make sure your cream cheese is well-softened at room temperature. You can use homemade cream of chicken soup if desired.

• 4 cups chicken cooked and shredded – roughly 1 1/2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts

• 4 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature

• 1 cup cottage cheese

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 10.75 oz cream of chicken soup

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 32 Ritz crackers 1 sleeve

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Shred the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces.

3. In a large bowl combine the cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and seasoning. Mix well.

4. To the same bowl add the chicken and stir to coat well. Pour into a 9×9 casserole dish.

5. In a separate medium bowl add a sleeve of Ritz crackers and crush into small bits. Pour in the melted butter and toss to coat the crackers.

6. Top the casserole with the Ritz crackers.

7. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Garnish with parsley if desired.