One of the BEST broccoli casserole recipes! This Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Casserole is a simple, quick and delicious dinner filled with chicken, broccoli and cheese and topped with buttered bread crumbs! The whole family loves this easy chicken broccoli and cheese casserole.
Casseroles don’t get enough credit for being one of the easiest and most satisfying dinner items! This Chicken and Broccoli casserole is one of the most common casseroles we make, but we also love Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, and Chicken Noodle Casserole.
Chicken, broccoli, and cheese!
Are there any dinner recipes that you can think of that you hated as a child, but love now?? Today’s recipe happens to be one of those…
My mom has been making this Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Casserole for as long as I can remember. It was one of those dinner recipes I cringed about because it was full of BROCCOLI!! Yes, I’d eat the chicken and everything else, but would try to spread the remaining broccoli pieces all over my plate to make it look like I had eaten more than I had.
Now, I can’t get enough of this recipe!! Fortunately, I grew up and love broccoli. I’m still trying to convince my kids they love it too, but in the meantime they can do what I did and just eat around the big, green chunks. 😉 At least the hubby and I and a few of the kids love this recipe, which means I try to add it to the menu plan as much as possible. 😀
How to make Chicken Broccoli Casserole:
The beauty of casseroles is that you just throw everything together in a casserole dish and pop it in the oven. This cheesy broccoli casserole is no different! It’s SO simple. All you have to do is follow these steps:
Begin by cooking your broccoli, draining it and placing it in a 9×13 pan. Then layer the shredded chicken on top (for a post all about the best ways to shred chicken GO HERE).
In a bowl, mix together the soup, mayo, lemon juice and cheese and then spread over the chicken.
Put melted butter and bread crumbs in a Ziploc bag and shake to mix. Then pour over the soup mixture and bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until heated through.
Switch it up
There are a lot of ways to change up the favors in this dish. Try one of these ideas:
- Replace the cheddar cheese with something different such as a Mexican cheese blend.
- Shred a store bought rotisserie chicken or replace the chicken with shredded beef.
- Exchange broccoli for cauliflower or asparagus.
- Add some spice using tabasco or red chili flakes.
- Add a can of black beans.
- Replace a can of cream of chicken with a can of cream of mushroom.
- Replace the bread crumbs with french fried onions.
Storage & Freezer meal tips
Store. Just place in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat. To reheat quickly you can use the microwave. Place the leftover casserole in a microwave safe dish, and heat for 1 minute. Stir and heat in 30 second increments until you’ve reached your desired temperature.
You can also reheat in the oven. It takes longer, but the quality of the dish is better than the microwave. Place in an oven safe dish. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes or until it reaches the desired temperature.
Freezer Meal. Broccoli casserole makes a great freezer meal. Follow the directions as written. Except for adding the bread crumbs. Make sure it is in a freezer safe dish and wrap tightly. Freeze for 2-3 months. When you’re ready to use remove from the freezer, thaw, add bread crumbs and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.
We are all about simple, delicious casserole dishes at our house so we are glad to have this chicken broccoli casserole back in the rotation. It’s a Sunday dinner favorite!
For more chicken casserole recipes, check out:
- French Onion Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Chicken and Green Bean Casserole
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Parmesan Chicken and Noodles
- Chicken and Mushroom Casserole
Chicken Broccoli Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts cooked and diced, or shredded
- 1 package frozen broccoli
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
- 1/3 cup bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook and drain broccoli and put it in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
- Layer chicken pieces on top of the broccoli.
- In a medium bowl combine soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and cheese and mix well. Spread over the chicken.
- Add melted butter and bread crumbs to a Ziploc bag and mix well. Pour over the soup mixture.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until heated through.
Loved this! I made with cream of mushroom soup and added a little Tabasco and red pepper flakes (huge fan of a little spice). It came out perfect.
Sounds perfect!! Thanks for sharing that!
This is a family favorite. We also put some curry powder in the sauce. Enough to taste.
this has become my go-to! sometimes keeping it simple makes for the best meals. this does just that! it’s so good that i crave it every week – and so easy that i make it every week too!
I love to hear that!! This is one of my favorites! Thank you for letting me know!
I just made this and its best with curry. I prefer quite a bit….but its awesome!!
Curry sounds like a great addition! I’m so glad you liked the recipe! 🙂
It sounds great. I’m going to make it tonight$
Yay!! Hope you enjoy the casserole. It’s a favorite over here.
How much broccoli does this need? Your recipe says one package but does not specify the package size. Do you need a 12 oz . package, or a 10 oz. package or a large package? Thank you.
A 10 oz bag would be just fine. If the florets are really big, I’ll sometimes cut them in half to make them go farther. If your family LOVES broccoli, you can certainly use a larger bag, but 10-12 oz. works great. Whichever you have on hand.
I’m loving your recipes. They are simple, easy and healthy and not time consuming .
Thank you so much.
You’re welcome!! I’m so glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes! Thanks for trying them and supporting.
It says 4 chicken breast, would you say a out a pound of chicken or more?
It kind of depends on the size of your chicken breasts. If they are small/medium, then 3-4 should be about a pound. If they are large, sometimes even 2 can be about a pound.
Easy last minute meal I made with ingredients I had on hand!
This turned out great! I used fresh broccoli instead of frozen and boiled the broccoli first before putting it in the bottom of the casserole. I also used 1 very large chicken breast that I cooked at 400 degrees until done and then shredded. I technically cooked 2 large chicken breasts, but there was no way I could fit both in the casserole. I kept the filling the same as above, but I did add about 1/3 cup of cheese on top of the filling (my family REALLY loves cheese!) Lastly, I made a double batch of the breadcrumb topping. It was a huge hit! This will actually replace the recipe I usually go with that uses french fried onions instead. Definitely reccomend this with just some very minor adjustments
Yay!! Thanks so much for sharing what you did. I’m so happy to hear that this recipe is a keeper for your family!
I am not a cook, no way, no how but I think I can handle this! I am a big fan of stuffing. I thought I might crush up a little Stove Top Stuffing, mix with some melted butter and use that for the topping…..
You can TOTALLY make this… experienced cook or not. We love making easy and simple recipes for any and all levels. That topping sounds yummy. Hope you enjoy the casserole!
Really great flavor. I made two changes: I omitted the melted butter and substituted plain greek yogurt for the mayo. So good.
Thanks for sharing what you did. I’m glad you enjoyed the casserole!
Live this recipe! Another great way to change it up is to add 3/4 tsp curry powder and 3/4 tsp hot curry powder to the sauce. Wonderful!
Sounds a lot like chicken divan but either way it is a great dish. I use a mix of cauliflower and broccoli and add sour cream for a bit of a tang. I ashamed to admit it but I put extra cracker crumbs on top….
It is similar! We do have a recipe for Chicken Divan as well: https://lilluna.com/chicken-divan/ That sounds tasty… love those cracker crumbs on top! I don’t blame you for adding a few more. 😉
New Year’s Eve Dec. 31, 2022 Pittsburgh, Pa. suburbs attempting your chic-broc casserole. Surely I cannot mess this
up with your easy recipe plus subs. ingredients. New fan here. Semi-hip baby boomer. 6 p.m. EST
This recipe has been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl and my mom introduced me to what she called chicken divan. It’s the same exact recipe except the recipe. My mother used added a teaspoon of curry powder. Try it I think you’ll enjoy it.