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Homemade Chicken Noodle Casserole. Swapping the canned goods once used in this recipe, and making my family’s favorite chicken noodle casserole just a little healthier, plus so much tastier! Think of this casserole as a creamy baked version of chicken noodle soup, with shredded chicken, vegetables, noodles and topped with salty, crunchy Kettle Brand Potato Chips. Comfort food at its best, this recipe is sure to become a family favorite.
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There are a few foods I ate a lot of while growing up, chicken and rice, pasta with butter, pot roast, tacos, and chicken noodle casserole. Typical kid friendly foods, typical midwest foods, Gerard classics. You’ve probably noticed, but I don’t really share that kind of food here on HBH. Yes, plenty of chicken and rice, ok, pasta and tacos too, but the casseroles are not something I dive into all that much. That said, I still make these foods every so often, especially when a brother comes into town…because they are family favorites.
With the official start of fall coming next week, and my older brother’s recent visit, I thought it was the perfect time to take one of his favorite recipes and make it 100% from scratch. If you’ve ever made chicken noodle casserole, then you know it’s typically filled with a lot of canned soup and processed ingredients. I’m really not a fan of using canned soup (and definitely don’t like using processed ingredients). So I ditched the cans and made a completely homemade version of our longtime family favorite, chicken noodle casserole. This recipe is simple to make, healthier, and so comforting.
My goal when I set out to make this casserole was to make it as close to the original as possible, but without using any weird ingredients, and also to bump up the vegetable content.
Here’s all the nitty-gritty details.
Basically we’re making chicken noodle soup, so the recipe starts with the usual onion, garlic, and carrot combo. You’ll season everything with fresh herbs and sprinkle in a little bit of flour to help thicken the soup base. To make things creamy, but not too rich, I stirred in whole milk instead of heavy cream.
The key to making this dish delicious is the noodles, chicken, and bread ratios. You’ll want lots of egg noodles, some chicken, and good bread to make the flavors and textures spot on, and just like the classic casserole I grew up eating. Also, if you wanted to add in more veggies, I would recommend stirring in frozen peas or chopped broccoli florets.
So that’s the base of the dish, chicken noodle soup, thickened up and made creamy. Delicious.
But, no casserole is complete without a crunchy topping. Enter in the Kettle Brand potato chips. Oh my gosh. If you’ve never used potato chips as a crunchy topping for baked casseroles like mac and cheese, potatoes, and of course chicken noodle casserole, you are totally missing out.
Side Note: you can really see my midwest roots shining through in today’s recipe. I kind of love it.
I’ve been crunching up potato chips and using them in place of breadcrumbs for years. They just make baked casseroles that much better and give them a whole new, deliciously salty finish. SO GOOD. I use Kettle Brand chips because they’re perfectly salted (this is very important). They’re also sturdy enough to hold up to oven baking.
I’ve made this several times since first testing the recipe. It is now safe to say that all of my family (and friends) love this homemade chicken noodle casserole soo much. Therefore, I’ve decided that going back to my mom and dad’s outdated “retro” recipe is just not an option.
As I always like to say, homemade is best.
Excited to have this recipe in my back pocket for cozy fall and winter dinners to come. Best part? I can make it ahead of time and then just bake before dinner, AND, this recipe works perfectly to freeze and bake later as well!
You see, perfection.
Watch the How To Video:
If you make these homemade chicken noodle casserole, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Homemade Chicken Noodle Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped
- kosher salt and pepper
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 cups cubed whole grain bread
- 2 cups uncooked egg noodles
- 1 1/2 cups cooked shredded or cubed chicken
- 1 cup crushed Kettle Brand potato chips
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9×13 inch baking dish or large round baker.2. Add the olive oil to a large skillet set over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion and cook until softened and slightly caramelized, about 5 minutes, season with salt + pepper. Add the butter, carrots and garlic and continue to cook another 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cayenne. 3. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and cook, stirring to incorporate, for another minute. Slowly pour in the chicken broth and milk, season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a low boil and then reduce the heat to medium, simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley. Let cool until no longer hot to touch, then stir in the eggs.4. Add the cubed bread, noodles, and chicken, tossing to combine. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top evenly with Kettle Chips. Transfer to the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the the top is golden. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
{This post is sponsored by Kettle Brand. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Half Baked Harvest cooking!!}
With the egg noodles, do you mean like a pasta type noodle or more of an asian style noodle? Thanks!
I like to use pasta type (so the Italian variety), but please use what you think you will love most! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Hi!
We love this recipe. I did double the sauce second time making and added peas.
Thank you
Thank you! I am so glad you liked this!
I made this tonight to high praise. My dear husband, who rarely raves about new dishes, thought this was great! I did add more chicken than called for (I had it so why not) and threw in some peas. This will definitely be in my rotation from now on.
I love that and am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you!
Can this be made without eggs? Or what do the eggs do for the dish? Looks great
Hey Emmy, I do not recommend making this without the eggs. The eggs act as a binder and thickener as well as a creamy texture. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
This was fantastic! My husband loved it, and he’s extremely finicky about casseroles. I make a roast chicken every week for sandwiches etc, and am always looking for other great recipes to add the leftovers to… this is Definitely a keeper! Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes ?
I am so glad you loved this! Thank you so much!
What would you recommend to make this dairy free? Unfortunately, I can’t have milk but I wanna try this recipe so bad because I looooove putting Salt and Vinegar chips in dishes.
HI! I would recommend using 1 cup of canned coconut milk. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
I made this tonight, it’s great. I see a lot of questions about the 3 cups of bread. I had the same reaction but it works! The type of bread I used was a fresh crusty multigrain loaf. The only issue I had was that some of my egg noodles didn’t get fully submerged in the liquid so they remained crispy. Still great!
I am glad you still enjoyed this Sarah! Thank you!
In our family we would have to add one more ingredient…GREEN CHILE! We put it in everything! I will try this for sure in the coming weeks.
Thank you!
Looks so good!! I’m making this tonight but I’m so confused whether or not to cook or par cook the noodles first before adding it to the chicken mixture. I have a denser egg noodle. Should I cook the noodles? Thanks in advance for your answer!
Hi Amy! No need to cook the noodles before baking. They should soak up the excess broth while baking. If you are worried, you can par cook, but I don’t think it’s needed.
Its in the oven!!!! Sauce tastes wonderful. Thankyou
Thank you!
I love this article! I been looking for different smoothie recipes and this is just awesome! Thank you for this I will surely do this at home for my family. delicious and healthy I couldn’t ask for more. I also want to recommend this site which may probably help you in making you delicious and healthy smoothies.
I am thrilled to find this recipe. My granddaughter is almost 4 and a picky eater. We are in the midwest. . this looks like something she and our family would eat . i need more recipes for a young picky eater. It looks delicious.
Thank you so much! I hope your family loves this!
I am totally making this for my family. YUM! My husband loves cream of chicken soup, my sister will eat anything I make (bless her), and my mother and I after extensive taste-testing have decided Kettle brand are our favorite potato chips. Thanks for posting this!
I hope your family loved this! Thank you Christine!
I have to ask. What’s the bread for? All it’s going to do is soak up all the lovely gravy, and make it dry. Lose the bread honey, and you’ll have a great recipe.
Hey Linda! The bread is used for texture, flavor, and thickening the dish. It’s the way my family has made this casserole forever. We love it. Of course, if you don’t like the bread I recommend looking for another recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you are having a great week. Thanks so much! xTieghan
This looks absolutely dreamy! The perfect fall comfort food. 🙂
Thank you so much Kristine!