Need an easy dinner recipe? Try this easy dump and bake cheesy chicken casserole has saved my family in a pinch.
It’s Friday! Happy happy day. I love me some TGIF. Especially today. Not only am I sharing a fabulously easy recipe for a dump and bake cheesy chicken casserole, Tom will be home from a trip tonight! He’s been gone for a couple of days due to a work trip, and I am oh so happy to have him home tonight. I have several friends whose husbands travel for their jobs, and I have no clue how they do it. Two nights and I’m done.
Anyway, I’m finally getting back in the swing of creating recipes for Food Waste Friday (full waste recap at the end). It’s been a long time since I’ve done it. I’m excited to share a really yummy one with you today. While the cheesy chicken casserole doesn’t look the greatest, it definitely makes up for it in taste.
We had half a package of cream cheese in the fridge and I had no clue what to do with it. I was ignoring it on Sunday until our dinner plans to grill fell through due to rain. When I realized at 4 that we had no back up plan, I quickly threw together this easy meal from leftovers in our fridge. Please don’t judge my food photography skills on this one. It’s not a pretty dish. Even the best staging wouldn’t have made it look any better.
It’s okay that it doesn’t look pretty. It’s easy, and it’s delicious. These are my favorite types of meals. I miss cooking elaborate meals, but it’s not my reality right now with two young kids. Casseroles are about to be a staple in my home.
[bctt tweet=”Need an easy meal for busy nights? Try the 5 ingredient cheesy chicken casserole! “]Ingredients
- 1 C. of uncooked white rice
- 1 1/2 lbs of chicken breasts
- 4 ounces of cream cheese
- 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 can of corn
- 1/2 C. of water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Melt cream cheese in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute, mix with water in a bowl.
- In a 13 x 9 baking dish, layer rice, chicken, and corn.
- Pour cream cheese mixture on top and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a Food Waste Friday post. Christmas and New Year’s Day both fell on Friday so I’ve got a lot to report. This isn’t everything, but it’s most of our waste. I’m sure we wasted a bunch more over the last two weeks.
It’s a lot of waste. Most of it came from the after holiday fridge/ pantry clean up. I was able to organize both after all my guests left. It’s nice to have food organized again!
How did you do this week?
I often find that the least pretty dishes taste delicious! This one sounds great to me. I have a special weakness for cream cheese.
Now that the holidays are over, I really need to get back to cleaning out my fridge more often to save food waste. I’m afraid that ours went up quite a bit over Christmas break, too.
What a great way to use up those pesky ingredients in the fridge. Thanks for sharing!
Hannah,
This looks great! I bet you could add some broccoli for some veggies and it would also be delicious! You are so clever! :)
XOXO
I still miss you.
Genius idea! Thanks. I miss you too.