This Chicken Broccoli Casserole is a quick and easy comfort food meal you can have on the table in less than 30 minutes. This fantastic recipe is basically the delicious melding of classic mac and cheese and broccoli chicken alfredo.
Our Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole and Ham Macaroni and Cheese are two of our favorite pasta meals.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Chicken Broccoli Casserole
- 🕒 Ready In: 30 minutes (10 min prep, 20 min cook)
- 👪 Serves: 6
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Shredded chicken, broccoli florets, shell pasta, mozzarella cheese, bacon, butter
- 📖 Dietary Info: High protein, freezer-friendly, no canned soups
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: A from-scratch skillet casserole that combines the best of mac and cheese with broccoli chicken alfredo, all in under 30 minutes.
Summarize and Save the Recipe
Why This Recipe Works
It's simple, easy, and delicious. The beauty of a recipe like this is you can make everything from scratch or use up a bunch of extras or leftovers.
The best part of this casserole recipe is the simple, common, and often on-hand ingredients become a hearty and satisfying meal the entire family will love.
We used a grocery store rotisserie chicken because of how convenient they are. You'll want to make this with cooked pasta. If you've ever made too much pasta for a meal, this chicken broccoli casserole is the tastiest way to use it up.
And quite possibly the best reason is there's no condensed cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom soup.
Chicken Broccoli Casserole Ingredients
- Cheese — We used mozzarella cheese for is mild, smooth, and creamy flavor. Pre-shredded cheeses aren't recommended for this recipe.
- Protein — For easy cooking, we used chopped rotisserie chicken along with cooked and crumbled bacon.
- Pantry staples — Flour, onion, black pepper, granulated garlic, and milk.
- Pasta — Small pasta, like shell or elbow is recommend for this dish.
- Broccoli — Frozen broccoli florets with stems made the dish even quicker to make.
How to Make Broccoli Chicken Casserole
Step 1 — Preheat the oven broiler and adjust the racks to be at least 5 inches from the element. Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium high heat. Begin to sauté the onion and whisk in the granulated garlic and black pepper.
Step 2 — Once the onions have soften whisk in the flour until it makes a paste.
Step 3 — Slowly pour in the milk and whisk to incorporate the roux.
Step 4 — Whisk in the cheese by the handful, making sure it doesn't clump and becomes smooth. Reserve about a half a cup for the topping.
Step 5 — Stir in the crumbled bacon, reserving a tablespoon for the topping.
Step 6 — Add the broccoli and stir it in well. Allow the broccoli to heat through.
Step 7 — Stir in the cooked pasta.
Step 8 — Add the chicken. Make sure everything is well combined.
Step 9 — Sprinkle the reserved cheese and bacon over the top. Place in the oven and broil for 5-9 minutes, or until the top is bubbly golden brown.
Adaptation and variations
Cheese — Use your favorite. Cheddar cheese, pepper Jack, and such. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top for a slight tangy bite.
Pasta — You really can use any pasta size or shape, but the amount might vary.
Protein — Swap the chicken for ham, beef chunks, or even ground beef. If you're not going to use rotisserie chicken, season raw chicken breast and saute in a bit of olive oil in the dutch oven before beginning the recipe.
Vegetables — Toss in peas, carrots, corn, greens, whatever you and your family love best. If you prefer fresh broccoli over frozen broccoli, we'd recommend blanching it for a few minutes before tossing it in the cheese sauce.
Recipe FAQs
Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Place any leftovers in a skillet or baking dish, add a bit of milk or even sour cream to help moisten the pasta and reheat in a 350°F oven for 20 minutes.
This recipe is a perfect make ahead and freeze for later meal.
Other Related One Pot Recipes
If you tried these Chicken Broccoli Casserole or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Get the Recipe
Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Equipment
- 12-inch cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup onion finely diced
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup flour all-purpose
- 3 cups milk
- 2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese divided
- 5 slices cooked bacon chopped; about ⅓ cup
- 12 oz frozen broccoli florets
- 3 cups pasta shells small; cooked according to packing directions
- 3 cups chicken cooked; shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven broiler and adjust the racks to be at least 5 inches from the element.
- Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium high heat. Begin to sauté the onion and whisk in the granulated garlic and black pepper.
- Once the onions have soften whisk in the flour until it makes a paste.
- Slowly pour in the milk and whisk to incorporate the roux.
- Whisk in the cheese by the handful, making sure it doesn’t clump and becomes smooth. Reserve about a half a cup for the topping.
- Stir in the crumbled bacon, reserving a tablespoon for the topping.
- Add the broccoli and stir it in well. Allow the broccoli to heat through.
- Stir in the cooked pasta.
- Add the chicken. Make sure everything is well combined.
- Sprinkle the reserved cheese and bacon over the top. Place in the oven and broil for 5-9 minutes, or until the top is bubbly golden brown.
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
veenaazmanov says
This casserole is surely perfect for my family Dinner. MIni meal by itself. Combo of Chicken, Bacon, pasta and all the spice flavors yum. Cheesy platters are my favorite too.
Anjali says
This casserole was so comforting, cheesy and delicious!! Love that it was a one-pot easy family dinner too!
Lauren says
I love a good one pan meal and this one was simply delicious and so family friendly. It's rare that my kids both love something as much as they did this dish!
Alison Corey says
The combination of tender chicken, wholesome broccoli, creamy cheese sauce, and perfectly cooked pasta promises a comforting and flavorful experience. I love the versatility of this casserole – it's a complete meal in one dish, offering protein, vegetables, and carbs, all enveloped in a rich and cheesy sauce.
Kristine says
This casserole is delicious! Creamy, cheesy, and very flavorful. I subbed Brussels instead of broccoli and with the bacon it was perfection! Great recipe, Ned!
Kerri says
This was so good and so easy to make!! Definitely making it again!
Kathryn says
We LOVED this casserole. It was easy to make for dinner and it was totally satisfying. My daughter even ate the broccoli!
justine says
Added some asparagus tips and worked great with those too!
Kushigalu says
Flavorful and delicious casserole recipe. Thanks alot for sharing.
Dina and Bruce says
We love chicken bacon everything. This was so easy, because of the steps you showed. Your site is awesome and we love all the recipes! Thank you!
Sara Welch says
Enjoyed this for dinner last night and it was a savory success! Easy, hearty and delicious; my whole family loved it!
Karlie says
Just YES. This is my kind of recipe. The broccoli makes it feel wholesome, and I swap in whole wheat or chickpea shells for even more protein.
Traci says
There isn't a more perfect, easy, skillet dinner for family than this! It's a great way to make everyone eat ALL the broccoli. Thanks for sharing!
Sue Meadows says
Made this for my family and for my pregnant daughter’s family. I want to freeze for her to use as she needs.
I had to add salt and pepper. The butter is unsalted, I didn’t add salt to the pasta. I tasted it and felt it needed flavor. I didn’t have bacon, so I was missing that. We are a salty family, so even with the 3 slices of bacon, I believe we’d still think it needed salt.
Otherwise it’s a great recipe, very quick after the chopping of broccoli and chicken is done. It only needs a little browning on top by broiling, because all the ingredients are pre cooked. Good job Ned! Thanks.
Danny says
Got to try this