Cupboard Casserole

A super quick and easy casserole recipe using canned chicken, egg noodles and cream soup – all items from your cupboard or pantry! – topped with buttered bread cubes then baked until toasty. 

Ever since I created the Crispy Chicken Fritters recipe with canned chicken a few years ago, I find myself buying canned chicken way more often than I used to.

I used it when it first came out all those years ago, didn’t think it was very good, and never bought it again. When we all went into quarantine in 2020 and that whole “the sky is falling” vibe was floating around, I stocked up on canned tuna and salmon and grabbed some canned chicken as well.

Which is how the chicken fritters recipe came into existence (silver lining there!). The last time I made them, I popped some of the chicken in my mouth and was actually pretty amazed at how good it was. Seriously, y’all, if you haven’t tried it in a while, you will be surprised.

The day I tried the chicken on its own I thought to myself, you could legit make an entire meal from the pantry if you needed to by using this chicken. The idea immediately made me think of Mama’s tuna casserole (which I love) so I figured I’d make something almost identical but use canned chicken instead of canned tuna fish.

I made the casserole, thought it tasted pretty fantastic, took these photos for y’all then left the dish sitting on the stove. As the family starting arriving home, everyone had a taste. They’re used to coming home to random dishes I’ve cooked for the blog and know if it’s on the stove with some missing, it’s fair game. 

They all made ooohs and ahhhs and liked it a lot but the kicker was, NONE OF THEM had any idea I’d made the casserole with canned chicken. So when I told them that’s what it was, they were REALLY impressed. 

The kids were like, soooo we can make this whenever we want?? and we just have to boil the noodles?? My girls are over fast food so knowing they can quickly and easily make a big ole dish of comfort food if they’re on their own for supper made them happy!

VARIATIONS FOR CUPBOARD CASSEROLE

You can switch this recipe up all sorts of ways. You can use whichever creamed soups you like best, use canned tuna or salmon instead of chicken, and season the mixture with what goes best.

If using canned salmon or tuna, DO DRAIN FIRST, then add about 1/2 cup milk or cream when mixing up the soups. I would remove the skin and bones from the salmon as well but that’s per your preference.

Here are a few suggestions for switching things up a bit:

If you love those toasty, buttery bread cubes as a casserole topping, be sure to check out these casseroles too!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

S.O.S. Casserole

French Onion Chicken Casserole

NOTES ABOUT MAKING CUPBOARD CASSEROLE

• For the bread cubes: use leftover hotdog or burger buns, sliced sandwich bread, leftover dinner rolls or really any white or wheat bread you can easily cut into cubes with a serrated knife.
• Use whichever creamed soup you have on-hand or prefer. I had Cream of Chicken with Herbs when I made this batch but regular Cream of Chicken would have been great too!
• As with all my recipes, this is made with real, salted butter. If using unsalted butter, sprinkle a little salt or garlic salt onto the bread before tossing with butter.

canned chicken, cupboard, cabinet, pantry, casserole, canned, cream of, chicken, mushroom, soup, easy, quick, recipe, bread cubes, croutons, butter, buttered, best, 30 minute

dinner, casserole

Yield: 6-8 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

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Cupboard Casserole

A super quick and easy casserole recipe using canned chicken, egg noodles and creamed soup – all items from your cupboard or pantry! – topped with buttered bread cubes then baked until toasty.

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 30 Min

Ingredients

• 1 12-oz bag egg noodles
• 2 12-oz cans cooked chicken
• 1 10-oz can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 10-oz can cream of chicken with herbs soup
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 cups bread cubes
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook egg noodles in liberally salted water until just tender (about 2 minutes less than cook time on instructions). Drain well.
3. While noodles are cooking, add creamed soups (do not prepare first), dried minced onion, pepper, garlic and thyme to a large mixing bowl then stir until well combined.
4. Add canned chicken (do not drain) to soup mixture then stir until chicken is somewhat broken up and uniform in size. Use a fork to break up any large pieces.
5. Fold in egg noodles, gently stir until combined then pour into prepared baking dish.
6. In a separate bowl, toss bread cubes with melted butter then spread evenly over noodle mixture.
7. Bake, uncovered, for 25-35 minutes or until bread cubes are golden brown. Serve immediately.

Notes

• For the bread cubes: use leftover hotdog or burger buns, sliced sandwich bread, leftover dinner rolls or really any white or wheat bread you can easily cut into cubes with a serrated knife.
• Use whichever creamed soup you have on-hand or prefer. I had Cream of Chicken with Herbs when I made this batch but regular Cream of Chicken would have been great too!
• As with all my recipes, this is made with real, salted butter. If using unsalted butter, sprinkle a little salt or garlic salt onto the bread before tossing with butter.

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