Easy Thanksgiving Casserole

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I thought with the national foodie holiday coming tomorrow it would be nice to share this helpful casserole recipe that would be great for leftovers. 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, but if you happen to end up with leftover turkey or stuffing, this recipe is the way to go!

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.

Ingredient Needed:

• Cooked chicken
• Cubed bread
• Onion
• Celery
• Sage
• Green beans
• Broth
• Cream of chicken
• Crescent dough
• Salt and pepper

Making Thanksgiving Casserole

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.

It will be golden brown 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 so 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.

Rachel

Easy Thanksgiving Casserole

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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!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 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

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9”x13” pan by lightly greasing.
2. 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.
3. Pour bread mixture into prepared 9”x13” pan.
4. Sprinkle cubed chicken or turkey evenly over bread layer. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
5. Sprinkle green beans evenly over meat layer.
6. In a bowl, mix condensed soup, chicken broth and milk to form the gravy. Evenly pour gravy over the green bean layer.
7. Open croissant dough and unroll. Stretch to cover entire top of casserole.
8. 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.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!

What do you like to make with your leftover turkey?