Poppy Seed Chicken
Poppy Seed Chicken – A creamy and easy dinner that your whole family will love.
This Poppy Seed Chicken casserole is great for taking into a friend who had a baby and freezes well for those busy nights.
POPPY SEED CHICKEN
The type of food most searched for on this blog is “Casseroles”.
Which tells me that you are just like me in the fact that sometimes you just need an easy casserole to feed the troops and call it good.
Now I know that casseroles aren’t fancy but sometimes you just have to get ‘er done.
I’ll be honest…somedays I’m lucky if I get a shower and others I’m more together and want to put a little more effort into dinner.
So I’ve included the basic poppy seed chicken recipe which by itself is awesome…and then additional ingredients I like to add to make it a little bit more fantastic when I have the time.
Oh yeah, and kids love this which makes for a tantrum free dinner table.
HOW TO MAKE POPPY SEED CHICKEN
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Boil raw chicken breasts with salt and pepper until done. I like to boil it with half an onion cut into large chunks to give it more flavor. Let chicken cool slightly and cut into one inch cubes. Place cubed chicken in a 9X13 casserole dish. *Note: Some people layer some cooked rice on the very bottom underneath the chicken so that it’s a meal in one.
- Stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. If you wish to add the additional flavorings stir in the Worcestershire, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper to the soup and sour cream mixture. Pour over the chicken.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce. Sprinkle the poppy seeds on top.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve plain or over rice. We like to eat it with steamed broccoli and we mix it all together.
If you like this Poppy Seed Chicken, you’ll like these recipes:
Poppy Seed Chicken
This Poppy Seed Chicken casserole is great for taking into a friend who had a baby and freezes well for those busy nights.
Ingredients
- 5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (or shredded)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 14.5 ounce cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers)
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- optional 3 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cubed chicken in a 9X13 casserole dish. *Note: Some people layer some cooked rice on the very bottom underneath the chicken so that it's a meal in one.
- Stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. If you wish to add the additional flavorings stir in the Worcestershire, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper to the soup and sour cream mixture. Pour over the chicken.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce. Sprinkle the poppy seeds on top.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve plain or over rice. We like to eat it with steamed broccoli and we mix it all together.
Recipe Notes
Source: base of recipe adapted from Allrecipes
About 6 years ago I came across this recipe. I followed it to the T with the extra optional ingredients and fell in LOVE. I’ve used your exact recipe ever since and refuse to try it any other way. My now husband is always happy with the way it turns out and claims it to be my best meal LOL. Next one to try is homemade chicken noodle soup and I can’t wait to see how my homemade noodles turn out, my husband will be so impressed as I very rarely make things from scratch haha. So thanks so much for upping my wife game!
I found your Poppyseed Chicken Casserole recipe on Pinterest and I’m so glad I did! My family LOVED it!…picky eaters and all! I took a chance and added the additional ingredients to make it “fancy” and they devoured it! Thank you for sharing! I’ll definitely cook this again!
I’m so glad you made it fancy! And liked it!
Cooked this one time and it became my husbands favorite dish! If you’re in a bit of a rush and need the chicken cooked ASAP, you can also go to Walmart and get an already cooked poultry chicken. Just debone it and you’re ready to mix your ingredients! It’s super quick and easy and still tastes great! By far best poppyseed chicken I’ve ever made!!!
My family’s all time FAVORITE!😍
So glad you love it!
I think this is healthy.
I’m trying it tonight. Family is coming over. I can’t wait to see them enjoy it. I’m serving it with brown rice and asparagus.
Ooh yum! I hope you love it!
Question do you have too put sour cream in it? Like my daughter is can’t eat sour cream.
Need help lol. !!!!
You don’t but it’s great.
I seen on all the cooking shows where u can substitute sour cream with plain greek yogurt
Yes, I’ve tried it and am not a fan.
My girlfriend made us this when I broke my arm a few years ago and I begged her for the recipe. I’ve been making it ever since. I’m always playing with recipes so from her more basic recipes… to this one here, I am now making it with roasted garlic and caramelized onions. Nom to the nom!
Ooh yum!
This was delicious! So easy! Honestly, the longest part was shredding the chicken after I boiled it, but you can also just cube it. I just like using shredded chicken for dishes like these. I didn’t put in the celery salt and I just used garlic powder instead of minced garlic, and it was still really excellent! I thought the leftovers might be a little soggy (because of the crackers on top), but they were really great. My husband loved this and I think he will be asking me to make this all the time! I served with rice on the side (instead of in the dish) and green beans.
I am happy to find the recipe of Poppy Seed Chicken, you have posted a delicious recipe which i will cook soon. Keep posting more recipes i will visit this website to read more recipes.
handyman in london from hertscleaningandmaintenance.co.uk
I love this! We put it over mashed potatoes!
Ooh that’s an interesting combo.
Great recipe. I too have been making this for years and generally grab whatever cream of something I have in the pantry. I typically reach for the FF sour cream if possible. For leftovers, I make hand pies. I usually add peas and shredded cheese before baking the hand pies. Once out of the oven, I sprinkle with celery salt. Delish…Lil chicken pot pies. My boyfriend takes the to work the next day. Thanks for sharing!!
You’re welcome!
I also have been making this for years pretty much the same but I don’t add the poppy seeds. I add one can of water chestnuts drained chopped up very small for a great crunch. Two sleeves of Ritz crackers crushed and a stick of melted butter on top !! Wonderful!!!
Ooh! I bet the chestnuts do add a great crunch.
This is one dish, maybe the only dish I make that my kids will completely devour, but my version uses soy sauce and garlic powder instead of Worcestershire and the other seasonings. For over the top goodness and flavor I make homemade cream of chicken soup instead of using the cans. (Our Best Bites has a great recipe for this.) Delicious!!
Sounds divine!
Silly question…to freeze it do you prepare and cook as normal, let it cool and then freeze? Thanks!
I freeze it before I bake it. Hope that helps.
I added smoked Gouda under the cracker crumbs. OMG!
Gouda is my favorite!!
My sister-in-law introduced Poppyseed Chicken Casserole to me a few days and I came across your recipe on Pinterest. I prepped everything last night (boiled the chicken in chicken broth and seasonings) and then added the ritz/butter and poppyseed this morning before baking. Everyone at the potluck seemed to enjoy it (I know I did!). I really liked the additional ingredients! I’ve only made the simple version before now and I have to say I think they really give it an extra boost of flavor!
Glad you said that. I almost took the additional ingredients off because everyone sticks with the simple one.
My adult son is a fussy eater. He loved this recipe. Thanks! I made it with the cooked rice and steamed broccoli under the chicken, and used light sour cream.
Victory!!
I had it tonight and oohs my God it was the best
Glad you liked it!
I’ve been wanting to try Poppy Seed Chicken for a while now and this was a great and very simple recipe. The only comment I wanted to add on here is that I did add the additional flavor ingredients and I thought the Worcestershire (and maybe the garlic too – and I usually really love garlic) was a bit of an odd taste for the dish. I’ll definitely make it again but will probably just try the basic version next time. Great recipe!
I made this tonight for my family and they loved it! I made a half serving and served it over noodles with green beans. I will definitely be making this again.
Hello!
This looks so delicious. Could you tell me how many it serves?
Thank you
Hmmm. I would say about 6 servings!
Yum – thank you. Have a great day and week!
Do you use the milk that you would use with the soup?
Nope. Just the soup.
How many does this serve? I need to make it for 20 people. Thanks in advance for your answer 🙂
It serves about 6!
I made this recipe for my husband about a month ago, and he LOVED it! I’ll admit I was a little skeptical when I made it. There was nothing about the recipe that stood out when I read it, but since it was on your ‘top 15’ recipes I decided to give it a try. The final casserole blew me away–It was sooo good and creamy! I changed the recipe just a tad, and added a bag of frozen peas to the mix. The buttery cracker crust on top was delicious. This was super quick and easy to make, and tasted great!- I’ll know we’ll be using this as one of our go-to recipes for many years to come. Thanks for posting!
You’re welcome!
I have a similar recipe that also had swiss cheese slices (or other slice/shredded cheese) on top of chicken mixture, before the crackers and butter. I may try this version because it would be lighter on the fat and calories
Humor me, what exactly do the poppy seeds add to the flavor? I only ask because my husband can’t have poppy seeds. I only saw one person that didn’t use them and used Mushrooms. Thank you.
I don’t think they add any flavor. They’re more for looks. Feel free to leave it out.
I was wondering if I could use Cream Cheese instead of Sour Cream not sure what to use.
Cream cheese will definitely be thicker but it would work!