Dump-and-Bake Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

You don’t even have to boil the pasta or pre-cook the chicken! For a healthy and easy dinner recipe with just 5 minutes of prep, you can’t beat a dump-and-bake chicken & broccoli casserole!

Dump-and-bake dinners certainly aren’t fancy, but they help us get a homemade meal on the table — even on our busiest nights. From dump-and-bake chicken parm casserole, to dump-and-bake meatball casserole, dump-and-bake chicken tzatziki with rice, or dump-and-bake ham, cheddar, and rice casserole, there’s a tasty option to please everyone at your table. This chicken broccoli casserole is just the latest in our lineup of weeknight winners!

Dump-and-Bake Chicken and Broccoli Casserole with Noodles

Instead of sauteing or boiling the chicken and vegetables, this version takes advantage of my favorite dump-and-bake method to eliminate tedious prep work. There’s no need to boil the pasta in advance or to pre-cook the chicken or veggies. Instead, all of the ingredients mingle, share seasonings, and simmer together in one big pan in the oven.

You get the familiar flavors of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup, herbs, chicken, broccoli, and noodles, along with onion powder, garlic powder, and sharp cheddar cheese on top. Pair it with a side salad and cornbread for a flavorful and hearty dinner that the whole family will love!

Serving Suggestions: What goes with chicken broccoli casserole?

This is basically an entire meal in one dish, thanks to the meat, noodles, and veggies. That said, if you’d like to round out the meal, the chicken broccoli casserole goes well with any of the following sides:

• Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits, 3-Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits, 4-Ingredient Butter Swim Biscuits, 7UP Biscuits, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Cheese Biscuits, Pumpkin Spice Biscuits, Cheddar Biscuits with Chives and Bacon, or Drop Biscuits
• Cast Iron Cornbread, Sour Cream Cornbread, Honey Butter Cornbread, Fluffy Bakery-Style Cornbread Muffins, Broccoli Cornbread, Southern Cornbread, Jiffy Cornbread with Creamed Corn, Sweet Cornbread, Pumpkin Cornbread, Cake Mix Cornbread, or Corn Sticks
• Cranberry Muffins or Apple Muffins
• Pumpkin Bread or Pumpkin Muffins
• No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread, Cranberry Walnut No-Knead Bread, Crusty French Baguette, Soft Dinner Rolls, or Homemade Crescent Rolls
• Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette, Southern Caesar Salad, Mixed Greens with Dijon Vinaigrette, Caesar Salad, or our favorite House Salad with Candied Pecans
• Fried Corn
• Southern Fried Apples, Baked Apple Slices, or Applesauce
• Roasted Asparagus or Sauteed Asparagus
• Amish Green Beans with Brown Butter or Southern-Style Green Beans
• Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower or Roasted Broccoli
• Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon or Roasted Root Vegetables
• Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
• Cranberry Sauce

Recipe Variations

• Don’t have penne pasta? Substitute with other similar short pasta shapes such as rotini, rigatoni, or elbows. Just pick a pasta that has a similar cooking time as the penne (about 11-12 minutes recommended on the package) — otherwise you’ll need to adjust the casserole’s baking time in the oven.
• Have leftover cooked chicken (or rotisserie chicken) on hand? You can use cooked chicken in lieu of raw chicken, if you prefer. Stir the cooked chicken into the casserole at the same time as the sour cream towards the end of the cooking time.
• Use any two cans of condensed soup that you like. For instance, substitute with organic condensed soups, homemade condensed soups, or with other flavors of condensed soup (such as a can of Cream of Celery soup and a can of cream of chicken soup). You can use two cans of cream of chicken soup in lieu of the can of cream of mushroom soup, too.
• Add buttered Ritz crackers, buttered seasoned bread crumbs, or buttered panko breadcrumbs if you like a crunchy topping.
• Swap out the chicken breast and use diced chicken thighs instead.
• Season the sauce with additional herbs and spices that you enjoy. Good options include rosemary, basil, parsley, oregano, and chives. You can also jazz up the casserole with Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, and/or sundried tomatoes.
• Use plain whole milk greek yogurt in lieu of the sour cream.
• Add a splash of dry sherry to the sauce for even more flavor.

Tips for the Best Chicken Broccoli Casserole Recipe

• Make sure that the sour cream is at room temperature (not too cold) when you stir it into the dish. This will ensure that the sour cream blends smoothly into the sauce and doesn’t “break” or separate when it hits the hot casserole.
• For a richer, creamier sauce, stir in an extra ¼ cup of sour cream.
• I like to use frozen baby broccoli florets in this dish because they’re perfectly bite-sized, which means there’s no chopping necessary (I can just dump them right into the pan)! Thaw them first and they’ll soften nicely in the oven. If you prefer, you can use frozen broccoli cuts, or substitute with about 2-3 cups of fresh broccoli florets. If using the fresh broccoli, you don’t need to pre-cook it. It should be plenty soft by the time the pasta is done.
• Dice the chicken into small, bite-size pieces before adding it to the dish. It will cook faster this way, and it will be easier to eat without cutting.
• I find that it’s easiest to cut the chicken with sharp kitchen shears.
• Total cooking time will vary depending on the type of pan that you use and on your individual oven. A glass or ceramic casserole dish will take longer than a metal pan, for instance. To know when your casserole is done, taste a bite of the pasta. The noodles should be tender and the sauce should be thicker.
• Be careful not to overbake the casserole or the pasta will become mushy.
• Garnish the finished dish with fresh herbs (such as parsley or fresh thyme) for an added layer of flavor.

More Chicken and Broccoli Casserole Recipes to Try

Chicken Divan with Curry

40 minutes mins

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole with Rice

55 minutes mins

Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole

45 minutes mins

Dump-and-Bake Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

5 from 3 votes

Prep: 5 minutes minutes

Cook: 50 minutes minutes

Total: 55 minutes minutes

Servings 8 people

Calories 424 kcal

You don’t even have to boil the pasta or pre-cook the chicken for this easy chicken & broccoli casserole with noodles!

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, (I used Campbell’s Healthy Request)
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, (I used Campbell’s Healthy Request)
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves if available)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (12.6 ounce) package frozen baby broccoli florets, thawed (about 4 cups)
• 1 lb. raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 (16 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
• ¼ cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• Optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley, thyme, or other herbs

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together condensed soups, milk, chicken broth or water, thyme, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. Stir in thawed broccoli, raw chicken, and uncooked pasta.
  
• Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
  
• Remove foil and give everything a stir in the dish. At this point, check to make sure that the pasta is al dente (tender, but with a firm bite). If it’s still too hard, cover again and return to the oven until the pasta is al dente.
• Once the pasta is al dente, stir in the sour cream and then sprinkle the cheese over top.
  
• Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 5-10 more minutes, or until pasta is tender, chicken is cooked through, and cheese is melted.
  

Notes

• Make sure that the sour cream is at room temperature (not too cold) when you stir it into the dish. This will ensure that the sour cream blends smoothly into the sauce and doesn’t “break” or separate when it hits the hot casserole.
• For a richer, creamier sauce, stir in an extra ¼ cup of sour cream.
• I like to use frozen baby broccoli florets in this dish because they’re perfectly bite-sized, which means there’s no chopping necessary (I can just dump them right into the pan)! Thaw them first and they’ll soften nicely in the oven. If you prefer, you can use frozen broccoli cuts, or substitute with about 2-3 cups of fresh broccoli florets. If using the fresh broccoli, you don’t need to pre-cook it. It should be plenty soft by the time the pasta is done.
• Dice the chicken into small, bite-size pieces before adding it to the dish. It will cook faster this way, and it will be easier to eat without cutting.
• I find that it’s easiest to cut the chicken with sharp kitchen shears.
• Total cooking time will vary depending on the type of pan that you use and on your individual oven. A glass or ceramic casserole dish will take longer than a metal pan, for instance. To know when your casserole is done, taste a bite of the pasta. The noodles should be tender and the sauce should be thicker.
• Be careful not to overbake the casserole or the pasta will become mushy.
• Garnish the finished dish with fresh herbs (such as parsley or fresh thyme) for an added layer of flavor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8 of the casseroleCalories: 424kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 26gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 734mgPotassium: 1004mgFiber: 4gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 667IUVitamin C: 41mgCalcium: 215mgIron: 1mg

Keyword: chicken and broccoli casserole, chicken broccoli casserole, chicken broccoli noodle casserole

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Author: Blair Lonergan

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