Chicken, Broccoli, & Cheese Casserole

This is a dish that both my mom and mother-in-law have made since my husband and I were little kids. It is definitely on the heavier side, but it is delicious and so satisfying! The traditional recipe uses Campbell’s cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups, but both of those contain gluten. I found an organic gluten-free brand at Sprouts and I’ve been so excited to make this recipe again!! It’s hands-down my husband’s favorite dish and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do !

Ingredients:

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups shredded chicken

1 carton/can cream of mushroom soup

1 carton/can cream of chicken soup

2 T lemon juice

1-1.5 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Spray or grease a 9x13 casserole dish. Then layer the broccoli and the chicken.

In a separate bowl, mix the two cream soups with the lemon juice until thoroughly mixed, then pour over the broccoli & chicken in the casserole dish.

These are the soups I found at Sprouts and they were delicious!

Then lastly, add the shredded cheese on top!

Cover with foil and bake for about 35-40 minutes. Then uncover and broil for a few more minutes until the cheese gets slightly brown and crispy. You can eat this on its own or serve with rice! Hope you all enjoy!

Broccoli Chicken & Cheese Casserole (lite!)

Well, it's Monday morning again, which means my Sunday was full of Super Bowl fun and some night time meal prep! I was pretty exhausted after coming home from my Super Bowl party, so I wanted to whip up a quick and easy dish that I could take to work with me for a few days. I made a very easy and low maintenance version of Creamy Broccoli Chicken and Cheese, without the cream! I never liked creamy dishes growing up, but I do love cheese so I decided to lighten up this usually heavy dish! Here is my recipe for Broccoli Chicken and Cheese Casserole! 

Makes 4 servings:

2 cups raw broccoli

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (can be omitted if you want, just add extra veggies and chicken!)

1 1/3 cup water

1 container Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast from Trader Joe's (or 12 oz chicken breast any way you like...I just was short on time so used my trusty and yummy TJ's chicken!)

1 cup lite shredded mozzarella cheese (or cheddar if that's your thing, I'm just not a fan!)

Start by steaming the broccoli. I usually just place it in the microwave with a few drops of water on top, but if you have a steamer you can use that as well!

Then, cook the brown rice. I used 1 1/3 cup water for my 1/2 cup of brown rice (remember that brown rice needs a bit more water than white rice!) Bring the water and brown rice to a  boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the cooked broccoli to the cooked brown rice, then turn the burner off.

Cook your chicken, then dice it up into little pieces! Add the chicken to the brown rice and broccoli and stir together.

This is where some creativity came into the mix, brought to you by my boyfriend. I added the shredded cheese to the pot, but wanted it to melt evenly throughout the pot. My boyfriend suggested making it into a casserole, which I thought was perfect! I sprayed an 8x8 glass dish and poured the rice, broccoli, chicken, and cheese mixture into it, making sure the cheese was evenly distributed. I baked the casserole on 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, just enough for the cheese to melt. You could also wait till the end to add the cheese and sprinkle it on top of the casserole before placing it in the oven to get the cheese to brown up on top! I just wanted it to melt, which ended up looking like this!

And there you go! This meal is perfect to cut up into squares and take to work or school!

I paired my meal with a nice salad filled with veggies and some olive oil dressing. This was SUCH a quick and easy recipe, filled with protein, fiber, and tons of vitamins, which will leave you feeling great. Hope you all enjoy!

Nutrition facts: 1/4 of recipe

235 calories, 6g fat, 20g carbs, 26g protein, 25% DV Vitamin A, 65% DV Vitamin C, 22% DV Calcium!