A comfort-food classic, Chicken Stuffing Casserole is simple to make without any canned soup, filling and delicious, and it’s ready to eat in under 40 minutes!
If you’re looking for a super simple chicken casserole recipe that your family will gobble up without any complaints, you’ve found it! This easy chicken stuffing casserole is a tasty, satisfying meal that everyone loves – picky kids and adults included.
Complete the meal with a simple green salad or a side of dinner rolls. Your whole family will be full and happy tonight!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
An uncomplicated homemade sauce made without any canned soup is rich and savory, filled with shredded chicken and frozen vegetables.
And while I am not using the canned soup shortcut for this recipe, I am using Stove Top stuffing for the topping! Cover your casserole with boxed stuffing mix and throw it in the oven until it’s golden brown.
To make things even easier, bagged frozen veggies and precooked chicken are the main ingredients in the casserole. Use a rotisserie chicken, leftovers from last night, or boil your own chicken and shred it up.
Chicken casserole with stuffing is ready to eat in under 45 minutes, and it’s a full meal all in one casserole dish.
If you love this casserole, you should also try my Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Tater Tot Casserole or cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole. All of these are also made with a homemade cream sauce rather than condensed soups!
It only takes a few extra minutes to make a cream sauce from scratch, and the rich homemade flavor is well worth it.
key ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this classic, tasty casserole with a homemade creamy gravy:
- Stuffing: Mix a box of stuffing mix with unsalted butter and chicken stock. The directions usually say to mix with water, but the stock will give you much more flavor. Stove Top Stuffing is a popular (and always delicious) brand, but you can also use other brands of instant stuffing.
- Sauce: Instead of canned cream of chicken soup, I’m showing you how to make a simple creamy sauce from scratch! You’ll need butter, flour, chicken stock, whole milk, and chicken bouillon.
- Spices: To give the sauce a savory, slow-cooked flavor, we’ll add garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt.
- Frozen Vegetables: I like to use mixed frozen veggies in this recipe, but you could also use a bag of peas and carrots, or pick and choose your favorites.
- Chicken: Any already cooked chicken will work in this recipe. Pick up a rotisserie chicken at the store, or use up any leftovers you have in the fridge or freezer.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make The Best Chicken Stuffing Casserole
- Make the Sauce: In a 12-inch skillet (use an oven-proof skillet if you have one), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock, then add the milk, chicken bouillon cube, garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens.
- Add the Chicken and Vegetables: Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the frozen vegetables and cooked chicken. If your skillet isn’t oven-proof, transfer the mixture to a 9×13-inch baking pan. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Make The Stuffing: To make the topping, bring chicken stock and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the stuffing mix, then cover. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Bake: Layer the stuffing over the creamy chicken mixture, then bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until it’s hot and bubbly and the top is crispy. Let the casserole cool for a few minutes before serving, garnished with fresh chopped parsley.
Tip!
To save time, make the stuffing first. Preheat the oven as well. Then make the sauce while the stuffing is resting, and put everything together!
Recipe Tips
- For extra crispy stuffing, put the casserole under the broiler for a few minutes after it’s heated through.
- Make this with a whole chicken! Here’s what I did: I boiled a whole chicken in water with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves, black peppercorns, parsley, and a cinnamon stick for about 30 minutes, or until it was done. I pulled the meat from the chicken. then strained the broth to use for the sauce and the stuffing.
- This is also a great recipe to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey! Instead of the boxed stuffing, top the casserole with leftover holiday stuffing instead.
- Other stuffing flavors will work. Chicken stuffing is the most logical choice, but try this recipe with cornbread stuffing, turkey stuffing, savory herbs stove top, or traditional sage.
- The homemade sauce in this recipe is basically a replacement for cream of chicken soup. If you like, you can use 2 cans of condensed soup instead. Mix and match flavors to make things interesting too!
- Try adding a half cup of grated cheese to the sauce to make this a cheesy chicken and stuffing casserole.
- Other frozen veggies, such as broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, green beans, or asparagus would be tasty in this chicken casserole too.
Storing Tips
If you have any leftovers (honestly, I don’t think you will!) store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
When you reheat this casserole, the stuffing will likely be softened, but it’s still quite good this way.
I don’t suggest making this recipe ahead of time or freezing it. The homemade sauce may separate, and you’ll lose that creamy, delicious texture.
What To Serve With Chicken and Stuffing Casserole
The best part about casseroles for dinner is that you can skip the side dishes if you like! You already have chicken, vegetables, and stuffing, all in one pan.
But, if you want to take this comfort food dinner to the next level, have something sweet ready for dessert. I suggest Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars or Coca Cola Cake. Both are so simple to make!
Recipe FAQs
Is there sour cream in chicken stuffing casserole?
Similar recipes do call for sour cream mixed with condensed soup to make the sauce. With my homemade sauce, I don’t think sour cream is needed, as the sauce is thick and creamy on its own.
Can I make this with homemade stuffing?
Yes! Instead of the boxed stuffing, use 4 cups of homemade stuffing. Leftover stuffing works well too.
Do I need to thaw the veggies?
No, there’s no need. The heat from the sauce and the trip in the oven will thaw and cook the mixed veggies perfectly.
More Tasty Chicken Casserole Recipes
Chicken Tater Tot Casserole
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
Creamy Chicken Spaghetti
Broccoli Chicken Casserole
This is the best Chicken Stuffing Casserole, and what makes it even better is that it’s ready in under 45 minutes! Save this recipe for your super busy weeknights – I know that it will come in handy very soon.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Chicken Stuffing Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Stuffing:
- 1 ½ cups (335 ml) chicken stock
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter
- 6 ounce (170 g) box stuffing mix or 4 cups homemade stuffing
For the Casserole:
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (335 ml) chicken stock
- 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
- 1 chicken bouillon cube or better than boullion
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- 2 ½ cups (375 g) cooked shredded chicken
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) mixed frozen vegetables
- Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
Prepare the Stuffing:
- In a saucepan, bring chicken stock and unsalted butter to a boil. Add the stuffing mix, stir well, and cover. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before using.
Prepare the Casserole:
- In a 12 inch skillet (preferably oven proof), melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in chicken stock and then add the milk, chicken bouillon cube, garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir until the sauce thickens and the bouillon cube is dissolved (1-2 minutes). Remove from heat.
- Add the cooked chicken, and frozen vegetables, mix together with the sauce.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). If your skillet isn’t oven proof, transfer the mixture to a 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) baking pan.
- Layer with the fluffed stuffing to cover the creamy chicken mixture.
Bake and Serve:
- Bake the casserole uncovered in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until it’s hot and bubbly and the top is crispy. You can place it under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the top if needed.
- Let the casserole cool for a few minutes, then garnish with fresh chopped parsley before serving.
Notes:
- For extra crispy stuffing, put the casserole under the broiler for a few minutes after it’s heated through.
- Make this with a whole chicken! Here’s what I did: I boiled a whole chicken in water with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves, black peppercorns, parsley, and a cinnamon stick for about 30 minutes, or until it was done. I pulled the meat from the chicken. then strained the broth to use for the sauce and the stuffing.
- This is also a great recipe to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey! Instead of the boxed stuffing, top the casserole with leftover holiday stuffing instead.
- Other stuffing flavors will work. Chicken stuffing is the most logical choice, but try this recipe with cornbread stuffing, turkey stuffing, savory herbs stove top, or traditional sage.
- The homemade sauce in this recipe is basically a replacement for cream of chicken soup. If you like, you can use 2 cans of condensed soup instead. Mix and match flavors to make things interesting too!
- Try adding a half cup of grated cheese to the sauce.
- Other frozen veggies, such as broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, or asparagus would be tasty in this chicken casserole too.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Dianne says
I use to have a recipe years ago that you made something like this in a crockpot but it had a can of creamed corn in it. I added a can of creamed corn to this recipe. I also used the already made Roasted chicken you buy in the store instead of making my own and it was amazing not to mention it only took me a couple of minutes to put together. This was one of the fastest dinners that tasted GREAT that I have ever made.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Hi Dianne! I’m so glad that this recipe worked like the one you used to have. I’ll have to try it with the creamed corn sometime, it sounds delish!