Church Casserole

Church casserole is a dish from my Grammie found long ago! I call it church casserole because I always witness this being made for someone going through some sort of hard time. What do you do for people going through tough times? Make them a meal! It really shows how much you care and it's so easy for someone to just take a meal out of the fridge or freezer without having to think about it. It's just a nice gesture that is always appreciated. And the church part comes from the fact that I always remember her making it for someone at church. Not as harsh of a name as Jesus casserole but easier on the ears than hot mess casserole... because it definitely looks like a hot mess. But it's so delicious and comforting it doesn't matter what it looks like. What a nice hidden message of don't judge a book by it's cover, it's what's inside that counts, maybe it has a really nice personality! Messy dinners need love too!




It was a chilly night, I wanted comfort, and I wanted this casserole gosh darnit, so I was determined to make it. The only down side to this dish is that it's quite time consuming to make. But have no fear. I usually get my semi homemade Sandra Lee on, so there isn't any reason why you can't too! I'll let you know the short cuts later.




As you can clearly see, Biscuit is all too excited to help me cook. Look at those little chicken legs!

What you'll need:
-1 large chicken breast*
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
-3 Tbs mayonnaise
-4 hard boiled eggs*
-2 cups stuffing
-1 cup rice*
-1 onion
-1 stalk celery


*Short cut time! For the chicken, a lot of times I just grab one of those rotisserie chickens at the deli and chop some of that up. My grocery store sells already hard boiled eggs, so I pick those up every time because seriously, who likes boiling and peeling eggs? For the rice I always use minute rice. You don't have to cook it prior to, just make sure the mixture is wet enough to cook it in the oven and you're golden. Just a few tips to save a lot of time, other than that, feel free to cook your chicken, boil your eggs, and make some rice : )




(These directions are suited to my semi homemade way of cooking so if you are going to cook the chicken, eggs, and rice, please consult Google.)




1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Chop up the chicken into bite sized pieces. You want about a cup or so.
3. Chop your onion and celery.
4. In a skillet on medium high, sauté the onion and celery. Don't cook too much, you don't want them to be mush.
5. Chop up the eggs into bite sized pieces.
6. In a large bowl combine the cream of mushroom soup, mayo, chicken, rice, eggs, and onion and celery when done cooking.


Look how much time you saved the Sandra Lee way!


7. Get an oven safe dish and give it a good spray with oil. I used an... 8.5x11... I think? Is that even a normal pan size? Either way, I would say this makes four really good sized portions, much more than one person should eat. Believe me, I've done the research. Use your judgment on the pan size.
8. Now for the stuffing. You can cook the stuffing like my Grammie told me to and then top the casserole with it cooked. Or you can just put it on top dry and uncooked. This will make it crunchier- I prefer it this way. And you won't have to dirty another dish!
9. In a preheated oven, place the casserole in for about 20 minutes or until it's bubbling with joy.




Dig in! I'd wait until it cools for a few minutes so it sets up a bit and so that you don't burn your mouth off. But bomb.com, I'm telling you. Even with all those different ingredients it doesn't sound like it would be good and it doesn't look that appetizing, but it's super good I promise!