Elise Slaughter's Chicken and Dressing Casserole

Elsie Slaughter of Vine Grove got this yummy recipe for Chicken and Dressing Casserole from her sister, Bonnie Trabue. It’s a favorite with the membership at the First Christian Church in Glasgow and Elsie says it has been well received everywhere she has taken it. In fact, whenever Elsie is taking this dish to an event, she prints out copies of the recipe to take along with her because she knows she will have requests for the recipe from folks to sample it.

Jill Pickett

Chicken and Dressing Casserole

When I made the casserole for the food picture, I had several requests for the recipe too from the folks in the newsroom who sampled it. When I was making it, I was thinking that 8 ounces of stuffing mix didn’t appear to be quite enough stuffing, and I was also thinking that I would probably prefer cornbread stuffing mix. But once I tasted the dish, I decided that it’s perfect the way it is. It is really delicious!

When recipes call for chicken breasts, I never know if they mean whole chicken breasts, or chicken breast halves, but when making this I used four whole boneless chicken breasts which came to just over 3 pounds, and that seemed just about right.

Bonnie Trabue found the original recipe in a 1981 Southern Living magazine. She has modified it some to better suit her taste.

Mary Alice Holt can be reached at 505-1751, or at maholt@thenewsenterprise.com.

Chicken and Dressing Casserole

4 to 6 chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 8-ounce package herb-seasoned stuffing

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

1 to 2 cups chopped celery

1 onion, chopped

Cook the chicken in boiling salted water with two celery stalks with leaves and the end pieces of the onion for approximately 30 minutes. Remove chicken from the broth, reserving two to three cups of the broth. Cut the chicken into small pieces and set it aside.

Combine chicken soup with half the broth; mix well and set aside. Combine mushroom soup with remaining broth; mix well and set aside.

Sauté chopped celery and onion in the butter until tender, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Season the stuffing mix with poultry seasoning, sage and salt to taste (optional, see Mary Alice’s note below), then combine it with the sautéed celery and onion. Mix well. Reserve ¼ cup for garnish.

Lightly spray a 9 x 13-inch dish with Pam. Spoon half of the stuffing mixture in the bottom of dish, then top with half of the chicken. Cover with the chicken soup mixture. Repeat layers. Pour mushroom soup over layers, sprinkle with reserved stuffing mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight or let stand 20 minutes before baking.

Remove casserole from refrigerator 15 minutes before baking. Uncover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Notes from Mary Alice: When I made this, I used the 3 pounds chicken that I had boiled and cut up previously and then had frozen (using a hint that I had gotten from Jerianne Strange concerning cooking meat and freezing it for when you need it). So I didn’t actually use broth from when I had boiled the chicken. I just used canned chicken broth. Also, I didn’t use any additional seasonings (the poultry seasoning, sage and salt to taste that is suggested in the recipe). I thought the seasoning in the stuffing mix and soups, along with the celery and onion, would be adequate and it tasted just perfect to me.