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.
This was crazy good. Super easy to make and my kids loved it!
This is a staple recipe in our house! Tried it with turkey left overs after Thanksgiving! It came out perfect! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Can’t say enough about how delicious this casserole was! My picky grandchildren enjoyed it as well.
made this using broccoli, it was wonderful .
I’m really fond of this recipe. It is so comforting. This time I made it with Cream of Chicken and mushroom soup, panko and frozen green peas and sliced almonds.. Next time I am going to try crumbled potato chips and carrots and peas. I might even try using a different pasta just for fun. Love it!
I’m trying out cavatappi noodles tonight. Still can’t decide on chips or Ritz crumbs. haha
Very good,… it’s definitely comfort food.
I did make a couple changes based on what I had available without chasing to the store. I didn’t do the peas and carrots,… what I replaced it with was frozen steam fresh broccoli florets cut down to bite size (got rid of the long stems) and 8oz of sauteed sliced mushrooms. Plus I added a tbsp of each granulated garlic and ground pepper and a tsp sprinkle of dried italian seasoning.
Phenomenal simple dish. And it tastes great. Thanks.
I made this as a last minute dish for my parents with a few variations of what I had on hand. I didn’t expect the reception it got. Both of my parents said it is now in their top 10 meals. It was delicious. The perfect recipe to throw together for a sure hit. Thanks for the recipe.
Super easy and very good. Sadly no left overs. I did add some garlic powder and cracked pepper.
My whole family loved this, and actually wanted seconds! I used chicken tenderloins and shredded them up instead of canned chicken and I used frozen corn instead of peas, so good!!
Do you think it would freeze ok?
I haven’t tried but I think it should 🙂
It definitely freezes well! I freeze it in individual microwave safe containers. Zap it in the microwave for 6 minutes and it is ready to go.
Sooo yummy! Leftovers taste even better the next day!
Oh, this is some GOOD comfort food. It was simple and a big hit for my young children and myself. I cooked chicken in the crockpot and shredded for the recipe which turned out great. Will certainly make again!
So easy to make. I have a 65yo, 4yo, and 9m old in my family and EVERYONE loved it. Thank you!