Forgive me, it’s taken a global pandemic for me to find you again… and yet, two years and two kids later, my little piece of the internet remains.  It has survived neglect, domain and hosting renewals, lost and recovered passwords, and somehow through the miracle of auto-pay, we find ourselves here, together again.

The current state of our world scares the crap out of me, and in these truly unprecedented times, I (like many of you) am trying to find the humor, eat my feelings, and always, always, consume more mayonnaise, creamed soup and casserole.  What better way to cope than comfort food on your table, via a recipe that comes straight from my childhood and my grandmother’s cookbook.  So buckle up, don’t touch your face, count the calories, or stress too much about the exact measurements, no global pandemic can mess up this American classic.

Grandma’s Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:

1 large rotisserie chicken or 6 cooked chicken breasts (or roughly that equivalent of cooked, chopped chicken)
3-4 heads of broccoli
2 cans cream of chicken or mushroom soup (or 1 of each)
1 T. lemon juice
3/4 C. mayonnaise
2-3 C. shredded cheddar cheese

(generally, served with rice alongside)

Instructions:

Start by preparing your chicken.  My mom used to make this recipe with 5-6 large, boiled chicken breasts, but I’m partial to rotisserie chicken.  You could also use chicken thighs or shredded chicken, its entirely up to you – just make sure that the pieces are bite sized and fully cooked before assembling your casserole.

Next up is your broccoli – if you have it in surplus, just use the florets, the picture above was less broccoli than I would have liked (note: husband grocery shoppers need precise instructions) so I also cut up the stems to be used in the casserole.

Simply steam your broccoli in advance.

Now we’re on to the very best part.  Don’t stick your nose up to me – there’s no such thing as a casserole without the creamy unhealthy component so just get off your high horse.  Look!  There’s lemon.  It’s a fruit, therefore there are redeeming health qualities to this dish.

You didn’t really need a picture of the mayo, creamed soup and lemon juice coming together, but we’re keeping it fresh and honest here, so take it ALL in, folks.

Ok, now a note on assembly… if you’ve used a rotisserie chicken, a 13×9 Pyrex or even a smaller oven proof casserole dish (like you see here) is more than sufficient.  If you’ve done 6 large chicken breasts, you’ll need a 13×9 that’s a bit deeper than the standard Pyrex dish.  It’s going to come out delicious no matter what.  Start with the chicken on the bottom (no need to grease the dish).

Then the broccoli…

Then the creamed soup (I’m going to save you from that imagery) followed by the grated cheese.  If yours is heaping like mine is, definitely put that baby on a cookie sheet or you’re going to spend the next week scraping burned cheese off the bottom of your oven.  You’re welcome.

This lovely little heart attack… I mean casserole… is going to bake at 350 for about 35 minutes if your casserole is going into the oven at room temperature, or for closer to 45-50 minutes if you’re pulling it out of the refrigerator.  Start it off with an aluminum foil tent and then remove the aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes so your cheese gets bubbly and a little brown.

Cue the salivation.

Mangia!