Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
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Creamy Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole topped with buttery ritz crackers. A comforting casserole with tons of flavor and made without any “cream of” soup!
You guys it’s getting cold here. I am totally unprepared for fluffy white frozen stuff all over my yard and I know it’s on its way because I woke up to a thin blanket of frost covering the lawn. Not. Okay. The only good thing about the cooler weather is that it is a really good excuse to whip up every kind of comfort food imaginable. You don’t have to twist my arm….
Poppy seeds aren’t just for breakfast muffins, they are the shining star in this casserole dish. Poppy seed chicken casserole is usually made with cream of chicken soup but this version is creamy-yet-soup-free and it has sooo much more flavor than the canned soup versions.
Casseroles, they can be good, bad, sort of mediocre… but this casserole is different. This is the kind of secretly easy, insanely yummy comfort food you will want to serve to guests. Scratch that. You will want to invite guests over just so you can impress them with your creamy poppy seed chicken casserole making skills. Seriously, this dish is that good. Good enough that making a double batch in an extra large casserole dish so that you can guarantee yourself some leftovers for lunch tomorrow is really probably a genius idea.
What people are saying about this Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
“I made this tonight and it was delicious! I’ve never had Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole before. Yum! I’ll definitely be making this again. Thank you!!” – Foodgal
“Made this tonight!!! So yummy! Loved it!! Used sour cream and forgot to add Parmesan cheese but still delicious! Will be making many times! A little more work then the traditional recipes that just call for” – Samantha
“Wow! I have never before been a lover of poppy seed chicken because I have disliked the gloopy tasteless mess most often made when using “cream of” soups. I wanted to make this for my husband…a favorite from his bachelor days…but wanted to find a recipe that didn’t use “cream of” soups. I LOVED IT, and importantly, he did too! He has requested this recipe, and not the original standby be added to our family repitiore!” – Holly
“I made this tonight…so good!! 
” – Tara
Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded, (about 3-4 cups of shredded chicken)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 8 ounces plain greek yogurt , OR sour cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 sleeve buttery round crackers, (like Ritz), crushed – about ⅔ cup
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- optional: chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Grease a casserole dish.
- Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute until fragrant. Add flour and stir until mixture clumps together.
- Gradually whisk milk into sauce pan. Add chicken broth, greek yogurt (or sour cream), cream cheese, salt, and pepper. Simmer 5-10 minutes until cream cheese is melted (stir to combine).
- Add shredded chicken and poppy seeds to sauce mixture and stir. Transfer to casserole dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Top with cracker crumbs. Drizzle melted butter over crumbs. Bake for 15 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley if desired and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you serve it with anything, like over rice?
I often times do serve it over rice, yes!
My family loves this recipe! We have made it several times. We wanted to make it again this week but we cant get the recipe to come up.
So sorry! That was an error with my site at the time that was not allowing recipes to load correctly. Thanks for your patience!
This was amazing!! I love the fact that it doesn’t use canned soup.
That’s the best part! 🙂
Planning to make this one! What is the preference … Greek yogurt or Sour Cream? I have both.
It’s totally a personal preference- but mine is greek yogurt!!
This was fantastic. I’ve tried several POPPY SEED chicken casseroles and ALWAYS found them disappointing probably because i hate canned soup. my family loved it and i was excited to have leftovers for lunch.
Family approved! 😉 Nice job!
This is an amazing recipe. I sauted some mushrooms in Butter then removed and added in right before the chIcken. It was delicious. I love this recipe so much.
Yummmm! I love adding mushrooms to dishes when I can!
This was so good. I made it exactly as noted on the website. Total comfort food. I made it with rice and side of veggies. I will definitely make this again. By the way – I love your recipes!
Thank you for the compliment! You’re so kind. I’m excited to hear you’ve found multiples recipes here that you enjoy!
This recipe looks so DELICIOUS! I was wanting to freezer prep this, when would you recommend to stick it in the freezer? After i top with crushed crackers, before DRIZZLING them with butter? or will it not matter if I drizzle butter over the crackers before freezing?how long do i let it set out before popping it in the oven? thanks so much!!
I would not drizzle with butter before freezing. Personally, I think I might even leave off the crackers before freezing but I think it could work either way. I haven’t frozen this dish so I don’t have an exact time to thaw at this time! I’d love to hear your experience later when you thaw and cook it!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was a big hit! I did add a little minced onion along with the garlic but other than that, no changes. This will definitely be in my book of favorite recipes. Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
I bet the addition of minced onion was delicious- thanks for the idea!
I’m not a big fan of chicken, but my husband loves it. I’m really looking forward to trying this. Thanks!
I hope that you both love this recipe!