Poppy seed chicken casserole
The Southern potluck favorite: creamy chicken under a buttery cracker crust dotted with poppy seeds, spooned over fluffy rice.
- 50 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $2.22 a serving
- 640 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- 1 rotisserie chicken, about 4 cups meat
- 1 can cream of chicken soup, 10.5 oz
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1½ cups butter crackers, crushed, about 1 sleeve
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 12 oz frozen green beans
From your pantry
- 2¼ cups water
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch salt
Each serving has about 640 calories, 28 g protein, 59 g carbs and 33 g fat, and costs about $2.22 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 350°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
the rice and bring it in a with the water.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Stir once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
the meat off the chicken into bite-size pieces, leaving the skin and bones behind.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Dolly’s tip: It comes off easiest while the chicken is still a little warm.Stir the chicken, soup, sour cream, poppy seeds and pepper together in an 8x8 or 11x7-inch baking dish and smooth the top.
Stir the crushed crackers with the melted butter and scatter them evenly over the chicken.
Dolly’s tip: Crush the crackers right in the sleeve with your hands before you open it. No mess.25 to 30 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and on top.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 27 min 30 sec
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Meanwhile, put the green beans in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of water, cover, and microwave 5 to 6 minutes, until hot. and add the salt.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 5 min 30 sec
Spoon the casserole over the rice with the green beans on the side.
Dolly’s tip: To freeze, make it without the cracker topping, wrap tightly and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, add the topping and bake 35 to 40 minutes.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
