Our entire family loves the pre-packaged Chicken Cordon Bleu entrees from the frozen section of the grocery store. It’s one of our kid’s favorite meals (I serve it with rice and they also love rice) so we have it at least once a month.
However, one of the “healthier habits” I’m hoping to follow through with in 2016 is to eat less processed meats — and those frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu entrees are about as processed as you can get (but boy are they yummy!)
Instead, I’ve been making a Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole that my kids seem to like almost as much as the frozen entrees. In fact, the last time I made this casserole, Nora looked me right in the eyes and said, “Thanks for making this yummy food for us, Mom”.
I was shocked! Usually she’s the one who is the quickest to complain about almost anything I make (even if she does like it) so it was a big deal for her to voluntarily compliment my cooking 🙂
Not only does this casserole taste yummy, it’s also ridiculously simple to make!
Since I almost always have ham and chicken pre-cooked and chopped up in bags in the freezer, I can usually make the casserole in less time than it takes my oven to preheat!
Of course, you can also easily make this casserole in the morning, or the night before (or even pop it in the freezer for later). It’s pretty hard to mess this one up!
Recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
Makes a 9″ x 13″ pan — approximately 8-10 servings
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 c. chicken; cooked and diced
- 3 c. ham; diced
- 2 c. swiss cheese; shredded
- 2 cans (10.5 oz) cream of chicken soup (or make your own)
- 1 c. milk
- 1 package (6 oz.) stuffing mix (or make your own)
- 1/4 c. butter called for in stuffing mix
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350º
- In a medium bowl, mix chicken, ham, cheese, soup, and milk together
- Dump mixture into a greased 9″ x 13″ dish
- Prepare stuffing according to package directions
- Spoon stuffing mixture on top of meat and cheese mixture
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until fully heated through
- Eat and enjoy!
Since we have a smaller family, I usually only make a half batch of this casserole at a time… either that, or I’ll make a full batch in 2 separate containers and put one in the freezer. However, since I usually always have cooked and chopped ham and chicken in the freezer, this meal takes almost no time at all to put together so I usually don’t “waste” freezer space storing the prepared meal.
Of course, you can easily make your own homemade cream of chicken soup and your own homemade stuffing if you’d rather not use the pre-packaged option. And I’ve also seen similar recipes that call for crushed croutons to be sprinkled on top — or even just toasted bread crumbs.
I think this is just one of those recipes that you can mix and match similar ingredients based on what you have on hand and it will almost always taste good!
Oh, and if you are lucky enough to end up with leftovers, they taste FABULOUS!
What are your favorite kid-friendly casseroles?
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Meghan says
I made this recipe and froze it back in August – baked it yesterday, January 23, and it was sooo good! I’ve made a lot of casseroles with Stove Top on them, and this was my favorite!
Andrea says
yay — so glad to hear you enjoyed this casserole!! Thanks for sharing, Meghan!
Michelle says
Made this tonight and it was delicious. Thank you!
Andrea says
yay! I’m thinking of putting it on this week’s menu plan too!
red2red says
Made this dish last night and it was delicious!
I made the whole recipe – we ate half and froze the other.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Andrea says
yay! Thanks for sharing! Glad you got TWO meals out of this 🙂
Marie-Helene says
Wow, this looks SO yummy!!! I cannot wait to try this. I never bothered making my own cordon bleu from scratch. This is such a great alternative.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Jenny C. says
Andrea, this looks delish! Since I don’t keep ham on hand do you think deli ham ( like honey ham or something plain) or one big package of a thick slice of ham would be best? Just curious before I try this. Thanks 🙂
Andrea says
Hi Jenny,
I’d say one of the big thick slices of ham would be best — then you can cut it into cubes to match the size of the chicken 🙂
Allison says
Hi!
This looks yummy! I saw the picture the other day and couldn’t wait until you posted the recipe. I’m going to try this minus the swiss cheese, which I just despise.
My question is, and yes I know it’s a stupid question, make the Stove Top like we’re about to serve it but instead put in on top the other ingredients? Or just mix the Stove Top stuff together (to be honest I haven’t made Stove Top in a gazillion years – I eat it often – just don’t make it)?
Thanks.
Andrea says
what? You don’t like Swiss cheese?!
Well, I’m sure almost any other type of cheese would work just fine 🙂
As for the Stove Top stuffing, just boil the water, add the stuffing mix, stir, and you’re done (I believe the directions are right on the box). Once it’s mixed with the water, put it on top of the casserole and bake.
Trisha says
I add brocilli to my hot dish
Andrea says
Yes, I’ve done that before too — because we would also buy the store-bought kind with broccoli inside as well!
Kathy says
Looks delicious! Have you ever made it using Cream of Mushroom soup in place of the Cream of Chicken soup? I have that on hand and could make it now. Your thoughts?
Andrea says
in my opinion, all “cream of____ soups” are interchangeable in cooking recipes. you’ll be fine! 🙂
Jules says
Looks amazing! Just wanted to clarify … you mention “I usually only make a half batch of this casserole at a time… either that, or I’ll make a full batch in 2 separate containers and put one in the freezer.”
In that case, would you assemble a second casserole of frozen ingredients and put it right back in the freezer? (To eliminate freezing, thawing, and refreezing of the meat?)
Andrea says
Jules, I don’t think it would be possible to make this with frozen meat — you wouldn’t be able to stir it up!
In general, I’m honestly not too much of a stickler for thawing and refreezing meat (just being honest). I’ve done it my entire married life and never had an issue. That said, I often have non-frozen chicken and ham as well, so sometimes I make it with that. Either way, I would definitely make the casserole with non-frozen ingredients and then put it in the freezer.
Jane says
This looks great! I love chicken cordon bleu, but I’ve never made it at home becuase of all the prep work. (Cutting and breading and frying and cooking with little ones under foot doesn’t work, as I’m sure you know!) I’ll have to put this on the menu to try. 🙂
Andrea says
I promise that this one is easy to do with the kids around (nora even helped me!)
Christine @ The (mostly) Simple Life says
Sounds good! And I have almost all of the ingredients on hand all the time. I might substitute the stuffing with bread crumbs with butter since I’m not a big stuffing fan. This looks simpler than some of the Pinterest recipes I’ve seen.
Andrea says
yes, I almost even said that bread crumbs (or even cubed bread mixed with oil, croutons, etc) could all work!