Easy Chicken Noodle Casserole (+Video)
This Easy Chicken Noodle Casserole is made with egg noodles, chicken breast, a creamy, tasty filling and topped with buttered bread crumbs! A family favorite dinner!
A FAMILY FAVORITE DINNER RECIPE
I love a good casserole. You just can’t beat a tasty and filling meal that is all in one baking dish. This one is made with easy to find ingredients. In fact, you probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry right now!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
I created this recipe to be a “pantry” recipe. Which means I wanted you to be able to pull almost all the ingredients from your pantry to create it. However, you could boil chicken and dice it. You could use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. You could use leftover roasted chicken. You have a lot of options depending on your personal preference.
Cream of mushroom or creamy of celery are also good substitutes for the cream of chicken. Or you can even try making your own cream of chicken soup!
Just use regular bread crumbs, crushed Ritz crackers or crushed saltine crackers.
I have not tried making this recipe in a crock pot to Instant Pot, but if you try it, please let me know!
Yes! Prepare the casserole as directed but don’t bake. Cover the casserole very well. I usually put on a layer of plastic wrap then another layer of aluminum foil before freezing. It will last up to 3 months. Let casserole partially defrost before baking. You will probably need an extra 10 minutes or so of baking time since baking it from cold.
This chicken noodle casserole is so good as leftovers! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- egg noodles – I generally use the no yolk noodles but you can use what you prefer. Whatever you use, it needs to be cooked first.
- chunk chicken breast – as I said above, I wanted this to be a pantry recipe with things you would have on hand and wouldn’t necessarily have to run to the store for. You can certainly substitute with your own cooked chicken.
- cream of chicken soup – any cream soup will pretty much work here as long as you like the taste.
- mayonnaise – not a fan of mayonnaise? Try sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
- milk – I prefer whole milk or 2 %.
- onion – Don’t have a fresh onion? No problem, don’t run to the store. Just use 1 Tablespoon of dried minced onion.
- shredded cheddar cheese – as you can see in my picture below, I actually ended up using a triple cheese mix when I got around to taking pictures. So please use what you like, it doesn’t have to be just straight cheddar.
- frozen peas and carrots – you could also use frozen mixed vegetables or pretty much whatever frozen vegetable you like.
- panko bread crumbs – any bread or cracker crumbs can be used.
- salted butter – it really should be real butter and not margarine. Margarine won’t brown and crisp up the topping the same as real butter will.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE:
If you haven’t done so already, cook egg noodles and drain well. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine chicken, cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, milk (or water), diced onion, shredded cheese and frozen peas and carrots. Stir until combined.
Gently stir in cooked egg noodles.
Pour in baking dish. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs.
Pour melted butter evenly over top of bread crumbs.
Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes until bubbly and top is golden brown.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: June 2012
Updated & Republished: January 2020
Chicken Noodle Casserole (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken breast, drained (or store-bought rotisserie chicken)
- 2 (10.5 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup milk
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cups frozen peas and carrots
- 12 ounce package egg noodles, cooked and drained
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup), melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken breast, drained, 2 (10.5 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup milk, 1/2 onion, finely diced, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese and 1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots.
- Stir until combined. Gently stir in 12 ounce package egg noodles, cooked and drained.
- Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top evenly with 1 cup panko bread crumbs.
- Pour 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup), melted evenly over top of bread crumbs.
- Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes until bubbly and top is golden brown.
- Dig in and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Feel free to use store-bought rotisserie chicken or any leftover chicken meat you may have (grilled chicken also tastes wonderful with this recipe.)
- Cream of mushroom or creamy of celery are also good substitutes for the cream of chicken.
- Regular bread crumbs or crushed Ritz crackers can be substituted for the panko bread crumbs.
- I have not tried making this recipe in a crock pot to Instant Pot but if you try it, please let me know!
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Absolutely delicious. I altered it a little. I used Bowtie pasta and instead of 2 cans of cream of chicken soup I used 1 can of cream of chicken and 1 can of cream of celery. I used Ritz cracker crumbs. I love it. Thank you
This recipe was absolutely delicious. The whole family loved it.
YUMMY! So easy! My family loved it! I used a rotisserie chicken and I used the cream of chicken with herbs. It was delicious!!
This came out so good. I didn’t have egg noodles so I had to use small bow tie pasta and French fried onions instead. It was too good!!!
I made this for the first time tonight. It is good and fairly easy to do.
Oh yeah! This is the one!! Delish.
I was running low on bread crumbs and added slivered almonds. Really yummy.
My husband and I call this dish “chicken crack” because it’s so addictive
I made this yesterday. Thank you so much.
so easy and SOOOO good. Will use this for my next potluck at church.
Thanks so much Carol!
Made this more times than I can count! I like to use rotisserie chicken instead of canned chicken. Its my households favorite!!!
That is so awesome Kaley!! Thanks so very much for coming back to comment – I really appreciate it!
I love this casserole! It’s not low calorie but it is delicious!
this was very good and hit….I had to change a few things tho….I didnt have 2 cans of cr of chicken so I used 1 can and 1 can of cr of mushroom. I didnt have any frozen veggies so I used a can of mixed veggies…also discovered I didnt have any bread crumbs or panko left so I used Frenches French fried onion rings on top….was so good but I may just put some of those ff onions into the mix as well and the rest on top and possible sprinkle cheese on top as well the next time make this.
So happy you enjoyed this one Maryann – thanks so much!
I only had 1 can of chicken so I added some sliced up celery and white shrooms. It’s so so good. Tastes like Stouffer’s escalloped chicken but better. Creamy noodley perfection
Thanks SO much Sarah!! I appreciate you taking the time to come back and comment!
This was delicious, will definitely make it again.
What brand of mayonnaise do you use?
Whatever is on sale LOL – Hellman’s, Dukes, store brand…
Have you ever substituted the mayo with sour cream?
No I haven’t 🙂
I use sour cream and it is excellent! I also add some dehydrated onion, garlic powder, and a tablespoon of ranch powder to add a little more flavor.
This was a hit- I used ritz crackers instead of panko- I will be making again!
That’s so wonderful to hear – thanks so much!
I made this for supper yesterday and it’s delicious! I’ll definitely make it again. I used cream of celery soup but that was the only change. I wasn’t sure about the mayonnaise but it just adds to the creaminess. Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks so very much Linda!! I am so thrilled you enjoyed this one!
I didn’t have all the same ingredients, so I used 1 1/2 lbs chicken cut into chunks, lightly sautéed in butter, 2 cans of cream of chicken with herbs, and frozen broccoli. I had a rather large onion, but the extra onion only added to the goodness here. Very homey and hearty!
Yummy!!
I was able to pull this together.
without going to the market. Thank you.
I didn’t know what to expect, however, this recipe was excellent!!! I followed it exactly and loved it. I will definitely be making this again!
My baby girl officially loves this recipe! Great pantry casserole. 🙂 For the record, I didn’t have panko crumbs, but I did have Ritz crackers, so I used those instead. Worked great!
Did you still pour melted butter over the top of the Ritz crackers?
This is a super great recipe! I make it often. In fact, it’s in the oven now! Almost done. I used carrots, and celery along with the onions. Rotisserie chicken. It’s so yummy, easy to put together, small kids love it! It’s great left over!
Thanks for this recipe! It’s been a go-to on busy weeknights for month now. We were feeling a little adventurous tonight and added a packet of ranch seasoning and bacon bits…*chefs kiss
I love that this recipe is delicious as-written and takes on any variations you throw at it. Kudos!