This Healthier Broccoli Chicken Casserole is made from scratch using pasta, broccoli, mushrooms, chicken stock, sharp Cheddar cheese, milk, and chicken. It’s on the lighter side, but retains everything you love about broccoli chicken casserole recipes of childhood. Creamy, cheesy, and cozy, it’s a wonderful dish for family or company.
This cold-weather pasta recipe is ready in an hour. Start by cooking the pasta and broccoli. Meanwhile, sauté the onions with butter, then add the mushrooms and garlic. Once the mushrooms are cooked through, stir in the flour. Next, add in the stock, milk, and seasonings. Cook the sauce until it starts to simmer, then remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Place the cooked broccoli, pasta, chicken, and mushroom sauce in a large baking dish and mix together until combined. Bake the casserole for 15 minutes, then top with more cheese and continue baking until the cheese has melted. Garnish with extra cracked black pepper and fresh herbs. Serve with a big green salad. Enjoy!
To make the Healthier Broccoli Chicken Casserole, you will need the following ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 375 °F.
Cook 8 ounces pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente.
Towards the end of pasta cooking time, add the broccoli florets to the boiling pasta and stir. Cook for 1 minute.
Drain the pasta and broccoli and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large pan over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil and add 1 thinly sliced onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.
Add 8 ounces thinly sliced white or cremini mushrooms and 2 minced garlic cloves. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons flour evenly over the mushroom mixture and stir until evenly combined. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.
Add in 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock and stir everything together until most of the clumps are dissolved.
Add in 1 ½ cups milk, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper and stir until combined. Cook the sauce until it reaches a simmer.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese until combined. Taste and season with more salt and black pepper if needed.
In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, combine the cooked pasta, broccoli, mushroom sauce and 2 cups diced chicken and toss until combined. Smooth the top into an even layer.
Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
Remove the baking dish from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup Cheddar cheese evenly on top. Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Garnish with extra black pepper and fresh herbs if you wish. Serve warm.
This Healthier Broccoli Chicken Casserole is made from scratch and can be ready in an hour. It’s creamy, cheesy, and satisfying. Follow @cookmerecipes on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag it #cookmerecipes. We’d love to know what you are cooking!
Absolutely loved this casserole! It’s so creamy and delicious, brought back memories of my mum's cooking. I made it for our family dinner, and everyone enjoyed it, even the picky eaters. It's on the lighter side which is a bonus! Will definitely make again soon.
Family loves this!
Amazing! I made this casserole last week for a family dinner. Everyone loved how creamy it was, just like the ones my mom used to make. It was so simple to prepare, and it felt healthy too—a win-win!
Absolutely delicious dish. Reminds me of my mum's cooking. Used fresh ingredients from local market. Everyone loved it.
Loved it so much
I made this casserole for my family last night, and they loved it! The flavors remind me of my mom's cooking. So easy and so good!
Superb delicious recipe!
I absolutely loved this Healthier Broccoli Chicken Casserole! It's exactly like mum used to make, just healthier. My wife and I cooked it last night for our first dinner party, and it was a big hit. Will definitely make it again!
