Italian Chicken Casserole

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Last month I was invited to participate in the Country Crock Casserole Club where I get to make delicious casseroles and offer great giveaways from Country Crock. I happily accepted this opportunity, since anyone that knows me knows Country Crock is a staple in my house, and Mike and I joke about having the “full set” of Country Crock “tupperware” bowls.

This month’s recipe was Easy Mac & Cheese Veggie Chicken Casserole, but we were encouraged to change it up if we wanted to and make it our own. This led to me pretty much randomly throwing things in to a bowl – channeling my Inner MasterChef – and I have to tell you… what I came up with was absolutely amazing. It isnt often that I hit a grand slam in the kitchen, but this time I certainly did. In fact I even had leftovers and all four of us enjoyed it again for lunch today. Talk about a huge win.

My #CountryCrockCasserole Kit came with a coupon for a free tub of Country Crock, a box of rotini noodles, and a canister of Italian flavored bread crumbs, and following recipe:

Easy Mac and Cheese Veggie Chicken Casserole

country crock casserole chicken mac and cheese

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. Country Crock Spread, melted, Divided

1 cup 2% milk

8 ounces dry rotini pasta, Cooked and drained

2 cups diced cooked chicken

4 cups assorted frozen vegetables, thawed

2-1/4 cups finely shredded low fat cheddar cheese

1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs

1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine 3 tablespoons Country Crock Spread, milk, rotini, chicken, vegetables and cheddar cheese in 8-inch baking dish.

2. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and remaining Spread in small bowl; sprinkle over top of casserole.

3. Bake until heated through and crumbs are toasted, about 30 minutes.

I am going to admit now that this is the first time I have ever put bread crumbs on top of a casserole – but I may never cook one without them again. Talk about the perfect topper. However since they were “Italian” flavored, I wanted to do something a little different and change up the recipe just a bit… here is what I did:

Lynsey’s Italian Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. Country Crock Spread, melted

1 tsp Garlic salt

1 tsp Season All Salt

1 pkg Italian Dressing Seasoning Packet

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

4 large chicken breasts, cubed

2 bags frozen veggies, thawed – I used broccoli & cauliflower

1/4 cup Italian dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

8 ounces dry rotini pasta, Cooked and drained

Directions:

1. Cook cubed chicken in a skillet with 2 tbsp of melted Country Crock, garlic salt, and Season All until outside of chicken is dark brown. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, mix together both cans of soup, veggies, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, and Italian Dressing Packet. Mix well and then slowly add in cooked chicken, with drippings, and mix well. Dump entire bowl into casserole dish and spread out evenly.

3. In a separate bowl, mix remaining 2 tbsp of Country Crock (melted), 1/4 parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs. Mixture should be crumbly. With your hands, crumble on top of casserole.

4. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until heated through and bread crumbs are toasted. Enjoy!

italian chicken casserole country crock casserole

This dish was amazing. Hot, gooey, and FULL of flavor. And an added bonus – the girls couldn’t even tell there was cauliflower in it, so they gobbled it up and not once did I hear “I don’t like cauliflower.” Made me wonder what other veggies I could sneak in there without them knowing…

*Disclosure: I received product, a product coupon and stipend for extra ingredients from Country Crock for free. All opinions are my own.

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