Ultimate Chicken Casserole Recipe
This Ultimate Chicken Casserole recipe is creamy, hearty, warm, comforting, and loaded with flavor, aroma, and texture. It was inspired by the amazing filling in Brazilian Coxinha, which are traditional chicken croquettes. The result is a casserole that has tender shredded chicken, green peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro, paprika, and cream cheese holding it all together. On top, you get a layer of ooey gooey cheese and then crunchy potato sticks! It's truly incredible!
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Chicken Breasts boneless skinless
- 4.5 cups Water
- 1 teaspoon Olive oil
- ½ cup Green Bell Pepper, diced
- ½ cup Onion small diced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- ¼ cup Fresh Cilantro chopped
- 8 ounces Cream cheese softened
- ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 Lime juiced
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- Potato Sticks or Potato Chips
- 10 slices Mozzarella Cheese (or shredded)
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add 4 cups of water and then bring to a boil. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 5-8 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink in the center or reaches an internal temperature of 165 F degrees. Turn off the heat, transfer the chicken to a plate to cool.
- While the chicken is cooking, dice the green pepper and dice the onion. Mince the garlic. Chop the cilantro.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.
- When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the chicken, then add it to a large mixing bowl with the softened cream cheese, cilantro, paprika, salt, pepper, and lime juice from the lime.
- Preheat a medium frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, green pepper, onion, and garlic. Stir to combine and coat in oil and cook for 3 minutes. Then add to the bowl with the chicken and cream cheese and mix everything with a fork or spoon to fully combine.
- Spread the chicken mixture into a casserole dish. Place the slices of cheese over top. Then add the potato sticks or crushed potato chips. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until hot in the center.