Chicken & Squash Casserole

While it’s true that I have no squash in my garden (read the obituary here), I do have squash! Family and friends and even workshop attendees have been offering up their squash to fill the vacancy. Because anyone who does have squash has way, way, way too much of it. It’s feast or famine when it comes to squash. I’ve made this squash casserole about four times now, and it’s delicious. And uses up a lot of squash. If you’re looking for another squash recipe, here’s a good one.

You start with about two pounds of squash, which is roughly two or three medium-size squash, then you can add in whatever other veggies you want. (You could use zucchini instead of squash, too.) I like to put in some onions and jalapenos. You can use milk or sour cream, which is mixed in with the cream of chicken soup. The herb stuffing (box mix or homemade) can be combined with butter, or some of the chicken broth from cooking the chicken. I like to leave the chicken pieces whole, and pre-cook them, then I take them out of the pan, use the broth to mix with the stuffing, then save the rest of the broth for another use, and use the same pan to cook the casserole. If you prefer, you can cut up the chicken, but that seems like an unnecessary extra step to me. You can add cheese into the mixture–or not, up to you. This is one of those recipes that can be varied endlessly to suit yourself.

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How to make Chicken & Squash Casserole:

6-8 pieces of chicken, whole pieces or cut up
1/2 cup melted butter or chicken broth
1 8-ounce box stuffing mix or homemade herbed breadcrumbs
2 pounds squash, sliced thin
1 cup chopped onions and/or peppers
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheese

Bake chicken at 350-degrees for one hour in a 9 x 11 casserole pan. Remove from pan. Reserve 1/2 cup broth from pan to mix with the stuffing/breadcrumbs, if using instead of butter. Transfer the remaining broth to a container for another use. In a small bowl, combine the stuffing/breadcrumbs with the 1/2 cup broth or melted butter, stirring to moisten. In another larger bowl, combine the sliced and chopped vegetables with the cream of chicken soup and the milk, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Spread half of the stuffing/breadcrumb mixture in the bottom of the casserole pan. Arrange chicken pieces on top of the stuffing/breadcrumb mixture. (I got a big package of chicken thighs on sale and actually used 10 pieces of chicken in the casserole this time.)

Spoon the vegetable mixture over the chicken.

Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Spread the remaining stuffing/breadcrumb mixture over the top.

You could parboil or steam the vegetables in advance, but it’s easier to just throw them in there and cook it longer. If you don’t cook the vegetables in advance, cover the top with foil, tightly, and bake at 350-degrees for one hour. (If you pre-cooked the veggies, you could bake for 30 minutes instead.)

Easy!