BBQ chicken casserole has everything a solid comfort food needs. This makes it not only a delicious casserole, but almost something like a hug on a plate. Because what’s not to love about pulled chicken, casserole, and cheese with a mouthwatering twist?
How to Make Our BBQ Chicken Casserole
It’s no secret that pulled chicken is a down-home favorite here in the U.S. You can’t help but run into it — at the barbecue joint, a food truck, or the neighborhood block party. So why not add this casserole to the rotation?
Our BBQ chicken casserole is something that has it all: Weight, flavor, and just a little bit of heat. Did we mention that it’s also incredibly easy to make? Some things really do have it all. When it comes to the barbecue chicken in the casserole, we will leave the taste-making up to you, and defer to your sauce of choice. But we do have a few pointers on how to make this recipe shine.
It’s best if you have cooked chicken or even pulled chicken left over from the day before. If not, simply cook a few pieces of chicken breast in a flavorful broth with bay leaves, juniper berries, and salt. Don’t throw away the chicken broth afterwards, but rather, use it for the BBQ chicken casserole’s sauce!
Pull apart the cooked chicken and mix it with, as noted, your barbecue sauce of choice. Here you are free to use a store-bought or homemade, hot or mild sauce, whatever your heart (and stomach!) longs for. Though, we can not lie, we tend to opt for a BBQ sauce that leans more spicy and sticky, to really cut through the creamier notes of the casserole.
Once you’ve found the sauce of your dreams, mix the poultry with al dente cooked pasta. For this recipe, short varieties such as rigatoni, farfalle or penne are particularly good, because they absorb a lot of sauce. Next, whip up a sauce by mixing the sour cream, chicken broth and spices. Pour it grandly over the casserole. Now all that is left is toping the whole deal with cheese, and not too little of it. Cheddar is a particularly good teamplayer here because it is nice, tangy, and melts perfectly.
After 25 minutes in the oven, your BBQ chicken casserole should be ready to go—piping hot and smelling absolutely delicious. Time to grab a fork and dig in! The recipe is one intnended for the whole family and we doubt there would be any leftovers. In case there are, the BBQ chicken casserole is a sturdy dish will still taste good the next day – reheated in the oven or microwave.
Hungry for more casserole that feed the soul? Then try your hand at our beef stroganoff casserole, stuffed pasta shell casserole, or ham and cheese stuffed crêpe casserole.
BBQ CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Cooking time: 25 minutes
- Total time: 55 minutes
- Servings: 4
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups short pasta of your choice
- 2 chicken breast fillets approx. 10-14 oz
- 2 bay leaves
- Dried juniper berries, optional. Typically can be found at the organic grocery store.
- Salt
- 2/3 cup BBQ sauce is available online for example
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- Pepper to taste
- Oil for greasing
- 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente, drain and set aside. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 °F. Grease you casserole dish.
- Cook the chicken breast in water with bay leaf, dried juniper berries and a good pinch of salt for about 15-20 minutes. Once ready, remove the chicken and make sure to save at least 1 cup of broth. Use two forks to shred the poultry into fine strip. Toss the shredded chicken with the BBQ sauce.
- To make the sauce, combine one cup of your chicken broth with sour cream, paprika powder, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Mix the chicken, noodles and sauce and pour into the casserole pan. Finally, top it with shredded cheese. Bake the casserole for about 25 minutes, until the cheese has thoroughly melted.