This delicious homemade stuffing chicken bake is sure to become a staple in your house. Made with chicken, butter, crusty bread, broth, veggies, and cheese it is a simple meal to throw together. I hope that your family loves it as much as my family does.
Inspiration behind Stuffing Chicken Bake
I am so excited to share this homemade stuffing chicken bake recipe with you! With ingredients that you probably have in the house it is a simple dish to throw together and pop in the oven.
A little back story on the inspiration for this meal. Way back when, when Matt and I first got married, I had to really learn how to cook. Sure I knew how to make some simple dinners, but I had never really meal planned (which I now love-ish to do). I’ll admit, some of my meals didn’t quite hit the mark. One dinner that was pretty good was stove top stuffing chicken bake (the recipe can be found on the box of stuffing). Well, as the years went on, and I improved my cooking game, that dinner just didn’t quite cut it anymore. So I stopped making it.
Fast forward to now.
I’m milling my own flour, baking sandwich bread and tasty sourdough. When you bake enough bread you start ending up with extra that is getting stale. Instead of tossing it I cube it up and throw it in a bag in the freezer. I realized I could probably make my own homemade stuffing chicken bake using that bread, so this recipe was born.
Ingredients:
- cooked chicken: I opted for chicken breasts to keep the dish a little healthier. It would also taste great with boneless thighs, or a combination of breast and thigh meat. You could also use a rotisserie chicken cut up.
- crusty bread: sourdough, Italian, French.. any sort of crusty bread works great in this recipe. I used old sourdough bread that I had been saving in the freezer.
- butter: to sauté the vegetables and give the dish flavor
- celery and onions: aromatics that add flavor
- frozen mixed veggies: to help bulk up the casserole even more
- broth: chicken, turkey, or vegetable. If you have the time, try making your own broth, it really adds depth
- cheese: life is just better with cheese
How to make homemade chicken stuffing bake
Night before
Dry out bread cubes
Put your bread cubes on a cookie sheet to dry out overnight.
Day of
Cut or shred your chicken
I used chicken breasts, but you could use any combination of meat. A rotisserie chicken cut up would also be amazing. You want about 3 cups of chicken.
Sauté your veggies
Melt the butter in a stock pot. While the butter is melting dice up your celery and onions. You are going to want once cup of each, which is about a medium onion and three celery stalks. Sauté the onion and celery in the butter until it is crisp tender.
Add the bread cubes and broth
Add the cubed bread to the same pot and mix. Then add the broth. If you can try this recipe with homemade broth as it really ups the ante. We had left over turkey stock in the freezer that I used and it turned out so delicious.
Stir in chicken and frozen vegetables
After the broth has been added stir in the chicken, then add the frozen veggies.
Mix in the cheese and bake
Finally, mix in the cheese then spread between two 9 X13 pans. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F.
Ingredients
Method
- Put your diced bread on a cookie sheet to dry overnight. If you forget, you can put it in the oven the day of at 300℉ for about 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Dice or shred chicken and put the the side.
- Melt the butter in a large stock pot. Then add the celery and onions and cook until softened.
- Add the cubbed bread and mix.
- Add the cooked chicken and stir.
- Mix in the chicken broth and stir so that everything is coated.
- Stir in the cheddar cheese.
- Pour into two 9 X13 pans.
- Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Questions about Homemade Stuffing Chicken Bake
How do I store leftovers?
Left overs can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. This is not a great candidate for freezing.
Can I use meat other than chicken?
For sure you can. Although I have never tried it, I am sure that left over Thanksgiving turkey would taste amazing.
I forgot to cook my chicken, can I use raw chicken?
Unfortunately no, for this recipe the chicken needs to be cooked. If you have an instant pot, you can quickly cook chicken breasts in about 25 minutes. You can check out Tastes Better From Scratch for great directions.
Can I use store bought stuffing?
Yes you can! I made mine with homemade bread cubes because I had a lot in the freezer. If a loaf of fresh milled sourdough or honey whole wheat sandwich bread is nearing the end of it’s life I simply cube it up and throw it in a bag in the freezer. Then I can use it in recipes like this.
Can I use different mixed veggies?
Yep, use the type you like best.
Other recipes you may like:
