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spoon digging into a cheesy chicken and noodle casserole recipe
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4.87 from 46 votes

Chicken Noodle Casserole

This Chicken Noodle Casserole recipe is the best - the definition of comfort food! It comes together with all the flavors of homemade chicken noodle soup but in a delicious cheesy chicken noodle casserole.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: baked, baked casserole, casserole, chicken
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 480kcal
Author: Lisa Longley

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces egg noodles cooked in chicken broth (see notes)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 cups chicken broth reserved from cooking the noodles (see note 1)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 stalks celery diced
  • 3 medium carrots diced
  • 1/2 yellow onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk (I used skim)
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt (start with less if you are using table salt)
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 cups cooked shredded chicken about 1 pound when raw (see note 2)
  • 3 cups shredded mozzarella divided

Instructions

  •  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9 casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
  • Cook the pasta in chicken stock with two bay leaves thrown into the water according to package directions. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Drain and set aside. Note the instructions on the egg noodles for using in a casserole, you will likely need to cut the boiling time by half.
    16 ounces egg noodles, 2 bay leaves
  • Melt the butter over medium low heat in a large sauce pan. Add the celery, onion, carrots and garlic to the pan. Cook until the veggies are soft and tender.
    3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 stalks celery, 3 medium carrots, 1/2 yellow onion, 3 cloves garlic
  • Add the flour to the pan, mixing it in to make a paste. Very slowly add the reserved cooking stock. Approximately a tablespoon of stock at a time, waiting until the last bit of stock was completely combined before adding the next bit. Now slowly add the milk. While this should be done slowly, it will only take about a minute to complete.
    2 cups chicken broth, 3 tablespoons all purpose flour, 1 cup milk
  • Once all the milk is mixed in, add the parsley and basil. Then season to taste with salt and pepper. Taste the sauce and add more salt, pepper, or herbs as needed.
    2 teaspoons dried parsley, 2 teaspoons dried basil, 1/2 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • Stir in the chicken, cooked noodles, and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Pour the mixture into the greased casserole dish and top with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cheese.
    3 cups cooked shredded chicken, 3 cups shredded mozzarella, 16 ounces egg noodles
  • Bake for 10 minutes or until your desired level of cheese browning. (See my notes in the post for making this the night before.)

Video

Notes

  1. You will need roughly 16 cups of chicken stock. If cooking egg noodles in chicken broth seems extravagant or like an added cost you don't want, you can skip it, use half water and half chicken stock, or you can buy chicken stock base. It's a much more cost effective way to use chicken broth, and you just mix it into boiling water before adding the noodles. One small jar yields a lot of chicken broth.
  2. To save time, keep frozen cooked chicken on hand. This is my favorite cooking hack!

Nutrition

Serving: 1.6cups | Calories: 480kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 393mg | Potassium: 369mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 5750IU | Vitamin C: 3.3mg | Calcium: 860mg | Iron: 1.6mg