This Italian Chicken Casserole recipe is a super favorite in the family. Our entire household devours this meal whenever I make it. It is hearty, delicious, full of flavor, and satisfying to boot. Plus, you can easily amend it for whatever food preference you have, whether Trim Healthy Mama, Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, etc! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do, though I am sure you will =0)
Foodsy Tuesday: Italian Chicken Casserole
*** If following Trim Healthy Mama, keep it a secure “S” with Dreamfield’s pasta (or spaghetti squash, cooked, strung, and drained), and regular dairy. You could also swap it to an “E” by using whole grain noodles, lean ground turkey, and low-fat/fat-free dairy products. I’ve made it both ways with great success and tongue-pleasing results. Those who need a gluten-free meal simply need a gluten-free noodle (I’ve made it with brown rice noodles and corn, so find whatever suites your needs and it will work great!) ***
Italian Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- Oil spray
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups cubed, cooked chicken breast
- 24 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup half and half (fat-free or regular, depending on needs/preferences…”S” can use either, “E” needs Fat-Free)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 package 1/3 less fat cream cheese
- 2 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (fat-free for “E” meal)
- 16 ounces pasta of preference as discussed above*
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F, and lightly spray the 9×13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large skillet, heat the pan and spray lightly with cooking spray. Sauté onion until translucent, adding garlic at the end for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Stir in cooked chicken, tomatoes, cream, and water.
- Add seasonings and stir thoroughly.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- During this time, begin cooking your noodles. Once finished, drain and set aside.
- To the chicken sauce, add cream cheese, and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Heat through, stirring frequently until cheeses are melted through.
- Since I do not have a skillet large enough to add the noodles directly to the sauce, I tend to pour my cooked noodles into the sprayed 9×13 baking dish and then pour the chicken sauce over top. Whatever works best for you, go ahead and combine the sauce and the noodles together, and then pour everything into the prepared baking dish, if you did not already mix everything together in the dish.
- Top with remaining cheese, sprinkling evenly all over.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.
I made this tonight for my large family – it was a huge hit! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I’m so glad there are creative cooks out there because I am NOT 🙂
Blessings
Jacki
Thanks for responding, Jacki! I’m thrilled it was a hit for you too =0)
This looks delicious and love your blog! I don’t like the advert that floats down through the page and is very annoying…can this be changed?
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Is this something on a mobile version, like on the ipad or phone? I think there is an X in the corner, but I will check out the settings and get rid of it if I can locate it =0) Thanks again!
I’m assuming you could substitute quinoa for the noodles. Is this alright?
Yes, if making it an E. That overall texture would change a bit but I bet it would be quite yummy still!
Is it ok to cook Dreamfields and then bake??
That should be fine. =0)
Silly question, but I thought once we cooked dream fields pasta we weren’t supposed to reheat it?!!
I have heard things like that, and I have to say I am becoming less and less friendly to Dreamfields for these reasons. If you are averted to using them, though, you can try a low fat version for dairy products and a whole grain noodle, like brown rice noodles.
Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I featured this recipe on my blog! You can find it here: http://craftygirlmerchandise.blogspot.com/
Fantastic! Thanks for the Feature! =0)
Can you swap the pasta for cauliflower?
Ooooo, that’s a great idea! I have considered spaghetti squash, but I bet cauliflower would be amazing! I would even consider something like cauliflower and broccoli, but I would do a light steam on them before mixing the dish. If you give it a try before I do, make sure to post how it goes =0)
I’m new to trim healthy mama and I was looking for some recipes to try since I’m not done reading the book yet, this was the first one I tried and it was absolutely amazing I’ve made it at least five times thank you so much for sharing it goes perfect with spaghetti squash
Fantastic!!! I’m so thrilled to hear it! I hope you give some of the others a try too and they bless you just as much =0). Enjoy!
Hi Julie, I have zero experience using spaghetti squash.. can you tell me exactly what to do with it? That keeps it an S…? Thank you for any help.
Sure thing! For this meal, you would want to pre-bake the spaghetti squash to soften it and get the strings out and then mix it into the dish, so there are a few steps here. To bake a spaghetti squash, you cut the stems off, cut it lengthwise, and scoop out all the seeds. You then preheat the oven to 400F, place the squash into 8×11 (or whatever size fits) baking pan, cut side face down (laying flat), and fill pan with about half an inch of water. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the peel is softened. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cooled, flip squash over and, using fork, scrape out the spaghetti-like inside. It comes out in strings. Place the strings into a bowl, getting as much as can out of the peel, and then throw away the peel. This is what you will use in place of the pasta for the casserole. Follow instructions for everything else as stated, but add the spaghetti squash in in place of the pasta. Enjoy!
Hi Julie,
How do you think Zucchini either as noodles or diced would be in place on Pasta? and maybe lightly saute them first??
I don’t know, but it’s definitely worth the try! Sounds like a great idea!
Could I make this with canned chicken to stretch it cost wise for a potluck?
I would definitely think so, but just use enough cans to cover the quantity! Enjoy =0)
How many servings do you estimate this recipe makes?
I’m new to THM so maybe I don’t have it all down yet . . . but I’m curious about this being an “S” meal with the pasta–I thought pasta was an “E”-meal-only kind of thing? Thanks! (p.s.- I’m making it for dinner as we speak and it smells delicious!)
The S meal version would be with the low-carb Dreamfields pasta, zucchini (or other vegetable) noodles, or Konjac noodles. These are discussed in the book. Basically, if you want to make this an S-style meal, do something to swap out the carbalicious noodles with a carb-free option. Even some diced eggplant pan-fried ahead might work for this. Mmmmmmm. Enjoy!
Do you have the nutritional information?
This may be a silly question, but do we drain the diced tomatoes before adding? Also, should they be diced tomatoes in tomato juice or in puree?
That is up to you. Not draining means more liquid in the meal, which could make is soggier. Usually diced tomatoes are in juice, which is what I would have meant in my recipe. I hope that helps! Enjoy. =0)
I thought that if you cooked Dreamfields pasta twice…as in boiling and then baking…it is no longer low carb?
That might be true. I have gotten some questionable feedback about the pasta over the past few years, so it might be best to avoid it altogether. Options to make this an S meal include spiraled veggies, sliced eggplant, or change it to E with a brown rice/quinoa pasta alternative. =0) Enjoy!
I’m in process of making this, it sounds yummy. However, it seems like it makes a lot. How does the sauce and chicken do freezing? Then, thinking of cooking Dream fields as needed.
We are a family of 3 adults following THM.
I’m really not sure, but if you give it a try totally let me know how it goes!
Can the chicken sauce be frozen? It makes way to much for my family at one time.
THM doesn’t use whole grain noodles. Dreamfields Pasta can be used in an S or an E setting as long as it is kept to 1 cup.
Hey Julie, made this tonight and it was so delicious my boys absolutely loved it Thank you for sharing. Do you have any nutritional info on it like calories per serving?