By End of August. The apartment is six weeks in. The kitchen has the rhythm. The freezer has eighteen single-meal portions across four different dishes. The pantry has the bones a household needs. The basil clipping on the windowsill has rooted into a small plant. The Lodge skillet from Mama lives on the bottom shelf next to the stove and gets pulled out almost daily.
Sunday I made chicken hashbrown casserole because Dustin had requested it Saturday morning at breakfast as the kind of Sunday dinner that he had grown up eating at his mother’s in Owasso and that I had not made for him yet. The dish is a creamy chicken-and-frozen-hash-brown casserole topped with a butter-cracker crust — the kind of midwestern-comfort casserole that scales for a week of leftovers and that holds at room temperature on a buffet for two hours during a family-gathering kind of dinner.
The procedure: shredded poached chicken from a small whole bird I had bought at the IGA on the markdown rack for $4.20, a bag of frozen hash browns thawed and squeezed, a cup of sour cream, a can of cream of chicken, a generous handful of grated sharp cheddar, salt, pepper, and onion powder all combined in a large mixing bowl. Transferred to a buttered nine-by-thirteen baking dish. Topped with two cups of crushed buttery crackers tossed with three tablespoons of melted butter. Baked at three-fifty for forty-five minutes until the top is golden-crispy and the inside is hot and bubbly. Dustin had three plates. I had two. The leftovers stretched four days.
Chicken Hashbrown Casserole
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 bag (30 oz) frozen shredded hashbrowns, thawed
- 3 cups cooked chicken thighs, shredded (about 1.5 lbs bone-in, cooked and pulled)
- 1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can (10.5 oz) cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray and set aside.
- Cook the chicken. If starting from raw, season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and pan-fry over medium-high heat in a little oil for 6–7 minutes per side until cooked through. Let rest, then shred with two forks. (Rotisserie chicken works perfectly here — no shame.)
- Soften the aromatics. In a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter and sauté the diced onion for 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
- Mix the base. In a large mixing bowl, combine both cans of soup, sour cream, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Stir until smooth. Add the sautéed onion and garlic and mix to incorporate.
- Add the main ingredients. Fold the thawed hashbrowns and shredded chicken into the soup mixture. Add 1 cup of the shredded cheddar and stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Assemble and top. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar across the top in an even layer.
- Bake. Place uncovered in the preheated oven and bake for 50–55 minutes, until the edges are bubbling, the top is golden, and the center is set. If the cheese starts to over-brown before the 50-minute mark, loosely tent with foil.
- Rest and serve. Let the casserole rest for 5–10 minutes before scooping. Serve as-is or alongside a simple green salad or steamed broccoli. Leftovers reheat beautifully for night two.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 415 | Protein: 27g | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 810mg