Last Sunday night I was home... hungry & tired... I want to eat ASAP but nothing in the fridge looks like a good idea. I remember a recipe I saw earlier this week for chicken salsa casserole and then realized I didn't have enough salsa.. :( but I had mozerella! :) And I had ricotta cheese... and sour cream... so with a lil imaginiation and hope of what some ingredients I had on hand would do here's what I managed to put together...
 |
| Ingredients Needed - less the bacon grease & pan ;) |
Chicken & Broccoli Cheesy Casserole
Ingredients:
3 cups cubed chicken16 oz (1lb) bag of frozen broccoli
1 med onion diced (about 1 cup)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cube chicken bouillon (or 1 tsp bouillon powder)
1/2 cup water (optional, I added this to help disperse the chicken flavoring but the water from the veggies as they cook also would suffice if the dish seems too watery to you)
1 Tbspn olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1/4 c sour cream
1 cup ricotta
Bacon Grease
Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole pan - I used left over bacon grease for added flavor, pan spray would be okay too (just maybe not as tasty ;))
Add broccoli, onion, chicken bouillon, water, olive oil and pepper to a medium frying pan. Cook covered for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
In a medium bowl mix the chicken chunks, garlic powder, sour cream and ricotta cheese together. Mix till blended.
 |
| mmm - steamy broccoli! |
Add 1/4 c of the shredded mozzarella cheese to the mix. Stir.
Transfer your mix to the greased pan and spread evenly.
Add the remaining mozzarella cheese to the top and pop that baby in the oven!
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 - 60 minutes. Once the top layer of cheese is browned a bit it should be done. If you like your broccoli on the softer side bake until the florets are to your liking.
Serve warm and enjoy!
8/13/13 UPDATE:
Many have come to this recipe from pinterest - I'm elated so many are pinning for later! ;)
Please feel free to leave a comment with different variations of the recipe for others to try!
One pinner said she added more veggies and her family loved it!
Thanks for stopping by! :) ♥ Dawn
*****
Looking for more Low Carb casserole recipes?
Since posting this recipe I've started a foodie blog!
Find more low carb CASSEROLE RECIPES HERE.
*****
Looks wonderful! Can't wait to try it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Vaughan Visions! :) I hope your family likes it :) I'm looking forward to fall again to have more casseroles! :) We do more baking over the summer months :) Take care! ~Dawn
DeleteDespite the heat of the summer, I'm thinking of making this. Or, if it's too hot, I'll wait until the cooler months. Looks and sounds delicious! Always looking for easy, low carb dinners that my 8 year old daughter will love.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a mild summer here in Virginia so last night I made a new low carb casserole :) If your family likes ground chicken and green beans it might be a hit! I hope you enjoy the casserole! Thanks so much for leaving a comment Amy! :) Best, Dawn
DeleteOh! And the Low Carb Green Bean Casserole can be found here if you wanted to have a look see: http://lostsentiments.blogspot.com/2013/08/low-carb-greenbean-casserole.html
Excited to add this to my low carb list. Just diagnosed with gestational diabetes and looking for some recipes my husband will enjoy too. This looks like one of them! Can't wait to try it out!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer!
DeleteI'm so glad you found me! :) Making a dish the whole family will enjoy can be trying! I hope you and your family like the casserole as much as we did! :) Best, Dawn
Do you think you could use canned chicken?
ReplyDeleteI think so. Make sure to drain the chicken before adding it to the dish. Since canned meats usually have salt in them, feel free to not added any additional salt (or add salt to taste). Enjoy!
DeleteHave you tried replacing the sour cream with greek yogurt? The recipe looks delish and I wanted to go for a more "healthy" option :)
ReplyDeleteHi Ami! I have not tried different variations of this recipe, if you go the greek yogurt route feel free to let us know how it came out for you!! :)
DeleteI just made this. I'm thinking of trying more garlic in it. I love garlic lol. I'm not a huge fan of the ricotta cheese texture. But the broccoli tastes awesome. I love broccoli, cooked or raw. Curious, how did you cook your chicken? I just baked mine plain, maybe I'll try spicing that up a bit. And finally, I'd probably use some cheddar cheese also along with the mozzarella.
ReplyDeleteHi there! Sorry I missed your comment until now! I didn't marinate the chicken before hand, just cut up some plain ol' chicken breasts :). I hope you liked your variation! :) Thanks for stopping by! ♥ Daw
DeleteI just made this. I'm thinking of trying more garlic in it. I love garlic lol. I'm not a huge fan of the ricotta cheese texture. But the broccoli tastes awesome. I love broccoli, cooked or raw. Curious, how did you cook your chicken? I just baked mine plain, maybe I'll try spicing that up a bit. And finally, I'd probably use some cheddar cheese also along with the mozzarella.
ReplyDeleteHi there Sola! More garlic is NEVER wrong! ;) lol :D I didn't cook the chicken before putting it in the casserole, I simply cut the breasts into cubes and added them to the mix. I bet marinating the chicken would really add some flavor :) great idea! What I love about recipes is you can really play with them! Adding an ingredient or taking one away can make a huge difference. I love your idea of cheddar cheese!!!! Nom nom, nom! :D
DeleteThis is definately going onto my list of to bake. It looks divine. Will let you know my thoughts!
ReplyDeleteWas looking for something different for tonight. So since I have all the right ingredients on hand already I will definitely be trying this tonight.
ReplyDeleteDo you put the chicken in the casserole raw or do you cook it first?
ReplyDeleteHi there! Put the chicken in raw and as the casserole bakes the chicken will as well. Enjoy!
DeleteSpinach sounds wonderful in this.
ReplyDeleteUt-oh! :D You might be onto something there miss! :D ;)
Deletedo you have any options for ricotta? i don't like it
ReplyDeleteHi Danae, I think you could use cottage cheese as a sub.
DeleteMade this twice now, hubby and I love it. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear it Rene! :D Thanks for commenting :D
DeleteIf I want to freeze this...cook it all then freeze? Bag it all raw then freeze? Bag raw meat and raw veg separately then freeze? Would be GREAT if it could be a freezer then crockpot meal...
ReplyDeleteHi CD - that's a great question! I would mix everything less the cheese topping and freeze. You could then take that and add your cheese to bake it. When it comes to the crockpot though, I am not sure how well this would work, it might get soupy unless you leave the top of the crockpot off to let the steam out. If you try it feel free to let us know how it goes!!
DeleteI'm needing a crockpot meal for today, and since this is on the menu for this week I'm going to give it a try. Will update tomorrow on the outcome.
DeleteHere's what I did: I put everything into the crockpot and cooked on low for 4 hours. I thought it was a little over done, the chicken seemed dry and the broccoli was on the very soft side. I did not precook anything. The chicken was raw and the broccoli was frozen. The guys I fed it to thought it was delicious.
DeleteThank you for letting us know Nicki! Luckily no matter the texture, the taste is always there on this one! :D I'm glad your guys enjoyed it and I hope you did too!
DeleteOh, yes I did. I'll for sure be making it again.
DeleteHi, how many carbs is this recipe?
ReplyDeleteMaking this tonight. I'm adding fresh garlic and subbing cream cheese for the ricotta cheese. Should be tasty!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds delicious!!!!
DeleteCan I use something else (?) in place of ricatto cheese
ReplyDeleteHi there! You might try cottage cheese in place of the ricotta, just a thought :). Some have used cream cheese instead of ricotta as well!
DeleteMine had a lot of liquid in it after baking which seemed to pull the ricotta away from the food. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteHi Laura, Thanks for asking! Bummer about the separation :/ - my guess is either the chicken was super moist and/or the broccoli needed to be drained more after it was initially cooked. Good luck if you try it again!
DeleteI made this and it was very, very good. I didn't realize until it was too late that my ricotta was no good. So I just used 1 cup of sour cream instead. I added extra garlic and didn't add the water to the vegetables. Once it finished baking, there was more liquid than I wanted, so I just drained it. I will definitely be making this again. Very simple and very good. I may or may not use the ricotta next time because it came out so good without it and the extra sour cream give it another level of flavor. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe!!!!
ReplyDeleteCan I get the nutrition break down on this please? Or at least the net carbs and protein per serving.
ReplyDelete