Why You’ll Love This this Decadently Creamy Chicken Casserole
This casserole turns everyday chicken nuggets into something that feels fancy enough for company, but easy enough for a Tuesday night when you’re questioning all your life choices.
The combination of creamy soups creates this luscious, restaurant-quality sauce that coats every bite, while those crushed potato chips add the kind of satisfying crunch that makes you wonder why more recipes don’t involve demolishing a bag of chips.
Between the melted cheddar on top and the tender chicken underneath, it’s basically comfort food’s greatest hits album, all baked together in one gloriously messy, soul-warming dish.
Ingredients List
This creamy chicken casserole relies on pantry staples and freezer favorites, making it perfect for those moments when you need dinner but forgot to plan ahead.
- 2 lbs breaded chicken nuggets
- 1 (10 ounce) can cream of celery soup
- 1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
- 4 cups plain potato chips, crushed
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper
- Nutritional reality check: This isn’t exactly what your fitness tracker would call a “balanced meal,” but sometimes comfort food trumps kale salad, and that’s perfectly fine.
- Ingredient swaps for the health-conscious: You could use baked chicken tenders instead of nuggets, low-sodium soups, reduced-fat cheese, and baked potato chips if you want to lighten things up without sacrificing too much of that snug factor.
- Sodium heads-up: Between the nuggets, canned soups, chips, and cheese, this dish is fairly high in sodium, so maybe skip the extra salt or balance it out with a simple green salad on the side.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and get out a 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Arrange the chicken nuggets in a single layer across the bottom of the baking dish, covering the entire surface (you may have some nuggets left over).
- Mix the soup base by combining both cans of cream soup with the milk in a separate bowl, stirring until smooth.
- Pour the soup mixture evenly over the chicken nuggets, making sure to cover them completely.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, keeping in mind that this dish already has plenty of sodium from the other ingredients.
- Add the crunch layer by sprinkling the crushed potato chips evenly over the soup mixture.
- Top with cheese, distributing the shredded cheddar evenly across the entire casserole.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbly around the edges.
- Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving to allow the layers to set up properly.
- Green vegetables – Steamed broccoli, green beans, or a bagged salad kit because to be frank, we need something to balance out all that comfort food magic. The frozen veggie steamers work perfectly here, no judgment.
- Dinner rolls – Store-bought or homemade, these little pillows of carbs soak up any extra sauce that might escape from your casserole. Plus, who doesn’t love bread with their chicken?
- Simple fruit salad – Something fresh and light, like grapes, apple chunks, or whatever’s on sale at the grocery store. It cuts through the richness without requiring any actual cooking skills.
- Coleslaw – The crisp, tangy crunch pairs beautifully with all that creamy soup base. You can grab a bag of pre-shredded cabbage and toss it with your favorite dressing, or just buy it pre-made if you’re feeling fancy.
- Corn on the cob – When it’s in season, nothing beats buttered corn alongside this casserole. Frozen corn works too, heated up with a little butter and salt.
- Calories: Approximately 485 per serving – mostly from the breaded nuggets and cheese
- Protein: 28 grams per serving thanks to the chicken and cheese combo
- Carbohydrates: 32 grams per serving from the breading, chips, and soup base
- Fat: 26 grams per serving – the cheese and fried nuggets are the main contributors
- Sodium: Around 1,240mg per serving (that’s about half your daily limit, so go easy on extra salt)
- Calcium: 285mg per serving from all that melted cheddar goodness
- Fiber: Only 2 grams per serving – this isn’t exactly a veggie-forward dish
- Cholesterol: 75mg per serving from the chicken and dairy ingredients
- Vitamin A: 12% of daily value, mostly from the cheese and cream soups
- Iron: 8% of daily value from the fortified breading on the nuggets
Step by Step Directions
This casserole comes together in just a few simple steps, making it ideal for busy weeknight dinners.
For even better results, consider upgrading to professional stainless steel cookware which provides superior heat distribution and durability for all your baking needs.
Substitutions and Variations
• Make it spicy – A dash of hot sauce in the soup mixture or using pepper jack cheese.
Sometimes comfort food needs a little kick in the pants.
• Breadcrumb topping – Panko mixed with a little melted butter instead of chips for a more traditional casserole atmosphere, though honestly, the chips are half the fun here.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This hearty casserole practically begs for some simple sides that won’t compete with all that cheesy, crunchy goodness.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
Let me share some game-changing tips that’ll turn your chicken glop from good to absolutely irresistible.
• Don’t skip the milk mixing step – Whisking that milk into the soups creates a silky, restaurant-quality sauce instead of thick globs of canned soup sitting on top of your nuggets.
Nobody wants chunky soup patches, trust me on this one.
• Crush those chips by hand, not in a food processor – You want irregular, chunky pieces that create texture contrast, not fine crumbs that disappear into the cheese.
Toss them in a sealed bag and go to town with a rolling pin, or just use your hands if you’re feeling primal.
• Layer your cheese strategically – Sprinkle half the cheese under the chips, then the rest on top.
This creates gooey pockets throughout the dish instead of just a crusty top layer, and honestly, who doesn’t want more cheese distribution in their life.
• Test your nuggets first – Since you’re using pre-cooked nuggets, peek at one after 20 minutes to make sure they’re not turning into hockey pucks.
Some brands cook faster than others, and nobody wants to explain why dinner sounds like a construction site when you try to cut it.
• Let it rest for 5 minutes – This isn’t just fancy chef talk, the bubbling lava cheese needs time to settle down so you don’t burn your tongue on the first bite.
Use this time to grab napkins, because things are about to get messy.
Nutritional Facts
This comfort food classic packs a hearty nutritional punch, though it’s definitely more indulgence than health food.
Fun “Did You Know?”
Ever wonder why comfort food casseroles like this one became such kitchen staples? I’ll share some fascinating facts!
Casseroles gained popularity during the Great Depression when families needed to stretch ingredients and feed large groups affordably. The term “casserole” comes from the French word for “saucepan.”
Campbell’s soup company actually created many casserole recipes in the 1950s to boost soup sales, which explains why cream soups appear in countless comfort dishes.
Curiously, potato chips weren’t originally intended for cooking—they were invented in 1853 as a restaurant spite dish, but now they’re perfect casserole toppers!
