Hearty Chicken Casserole

Winter is coming soon, and hearty, tummy-warming recipes are our friends. This chicken casserole in particular is a great dish to share with the family, especially when it’s cold outside. Gather round the fireplace or the dinner table, and throw in some stories as a side dish!

Chicken Casserole

This chicken casserole, with celery and bacon rashers, is ready in under 2 hours – a perfect recipe when expecting company or if you’re just staying in with your family!

SERVINGS:

4

PREP TIME:

20 Minutes

COOK TIME:

80 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken thighs, filleted
• 4 bacon rashers, diced
• 410 g cream of celery soup*
• 2 carrots, diced
• 3 celery sticks, diced
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 50 g cheese, grated
• 60 g butter
• 75 g flour
• 190 ml water
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a plastic bag, mix flour, salt and pepper thoroughly.
3. Add thigh fillets to the bag, tossing to coat with the flour.
4. Place chicken in a large ovenproof casserole. Make sure there is only one layer.
5. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a frying pan over medium-high until melted.
6. Fry the bacon and onion until soft.
7. Add bacon and onion to the chicken.
8. Take the plastic bag from earlier and transfer the remaining flour to the frying pan. Cook and stir for a minute.
9. Mix the cream of celery soup* with water. Then, add mixture to the frying pan. Let boil.
10. Pour the contents of the frying pan over the chicken in the casserole.
11. Add celery and carrots, stirring to mix well.
12. Cover the casserole and bake for 1 hour.
13. Remove the cover and garnish with grated cheese.
14. Bake – without the cover – for another 10 minutes to melt the cheese on top.
15. Serve hot.

Cream of Celery Soup*

1. Heat oil in a saucepan.
2. Cook 1 sliced head of celery, 1 chopped onion, and 1 chopped garlic clove.
3. Over low heat, let the vegetables become soft (but not brown). Cooking will take around 15 minutes.
4. Chop a bunch of parsley roughly and add this to the pan.
5. Add 1 L of vegetable stock.
6. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes.
7. Pour the soup into the food processor. Add 100 ml of cream. Work at high speed.
8. Once smooth and creamy, the soup is ready.

Notes:

• Use a round or rectangular casserole dish that has enough room for an even layer of the fillets
• You can use a canned cream of celery soup available in most stores if you can’t make your own

Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few of our winter recipes that you might love, too:

• Rustic Italian Seafood Stew
• Classic Beef Bourguignon
• Satisfying Cottage Pie