I love the season of thankfulness, and being able to share the day with loved ones (definitely a bonus when it’s around a large spread of food). If I had to pick my favorite Thanksgiving consumable, outside of dessert, it would be the stuffing. The sage aroma brings some many fond memories to mind. I love when food and aromas do that. This Thanksgiving casserole will do the same for you any time of year. This is also a great recipe for the holidays if you have leftover turkey or stuffing. The full printable recipe is below. Check out the photo below to see what you’ll need.
This, like a lot of casseroles, is filled with delicious layers of flavor that complement each other. The first, or bottom, layer in this casserole is the stuffing. It’s full of yummy bread that soaks up all the moist drippings from the other layers. To make this I like to take the onions and celery and sauté them until they begin to soften, then add the fresh sage. After they are combined, mix it into the dried bread pieces.
Next, spread the cubed chicken or turkey over the stuffing. If I don’t have leftover turkey to use in this, I love to make it with chicken breast. I cook the chicken breast in the crockpot the morning of and let it cool a bit before cutting it up. It tastes fabulous in this casserole and chicken is less expensive than a whole turkey or other meats. After spreading the meat layer, you could season with salt and pepper. I like to season in layers.
Now for the beans. I love using home canned green beans in this. It adds a little veggie quality and nutrition without all the extra preservatives.
Now for the gravy on top, literally. The gravy is so simple–cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, and a dash milk (I forgot to include this in my ingredients photo). Stir them together and pour on top.
Try to pour the gravy evenly across the top. Now this casserole is ready for the last layer.
What better way to top this Thanksgiving casserole then with some croissant dough. Just pop the croissant tube and roll the dough out right on top. It’s ready for the oven.
Here’s how it looks right out of the oven. As the gravy, chicken and beans heat the juices fall to the bottom and are absorbed by the dried bread cubes. It’s sooo delicious.
We love to have this all year ’round. It’s a great way to use leftover turkey, rotisserie chicken or chicken breast. It’s savory, filling and a definite memory trigger for all those fun Thanksgiving gatherings.
Easy Thanksgiving Casserole
Yield:
8 servings
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
35 minutes
Total Time:
50 minutes
This delicious Easy Thanksgiving Casserole is full of all the classic flavors of the season--sage stuffing, gravy, white meat. It's great to make any time of year, not just Thanksgiving!
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken or turkey, cooked,, 1”x1” cubes
- 7-8 slices bread, 10-12 oz cubed and dried
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 4 tablespoons fresh sage, (1 Tablespoon dried)
- 1 pint jar green beans, (1 or 2 cans)
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tube croissant dough
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9”x13” pan by lightly greasing.
- In a bowl, place dried bread. In a frying pan, sauté onions and celery until they begin to soften, then add fresh sage. Add sage mixture to bread and mix. See note if using dried sage.
- Pour bread mixture into prepared 9”x13” pan.
- Sprinkle cubed chicken or turkey evenly over bread layer. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Sprinkle green beans evenly over meat layer.
- In a bowl, mix condensed soup, chicken broth and milk to form the gravy. Evenly pour gravy over the green bean layer.
- Open croissant dough and unroll. Stretch to cover entire top of casserole.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until croissant dough is golden brown.
Notes
If using dried sage, sprinkle and mix with bread before adding sautéed onions and celery. This will help evening out the herb flavor and distribution.
This casserole sounds and looks delicious. I think that I may be really hungry right now! It also looks like it is pretty simple to make.