Chicken Casserole
This hearty family-sized chicken casserole recipe is perfect for making in the winter months. It’s a real winter warmer packed with veggies like mushrooms, onion, celery and carrot. This chicken casserole only takes 40 mins to cook and will serve up to 6 people. If you have any leftovers make sure you store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Use within 2 days and thoroughly reheat in the microwave or oven before serving again. This casserole would be perfect served with boiled or jacket potatoes. You can use all different cuts of chicken in this recipe – try chicken breast meat, thighs or drumsticks.
Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 large 2kg 4½ lb chicken, jointed into 8 pieces
- 100 g 4oz streaky bacon, chopped
- 25 g 1oz soft butter, plus extra for the sauce
- 200 g 8oz small onions or shallots, whole and peeled
- 150 g 5oz button mushrooms
- 2 carrots cut into chunks
- 1 stick celery cut into chunks
- Bouquet garni bay leaf, thyme, parsley stalks, black peppercorns
- 500 ml 18fl oz chicken stock
- 300 ml ½ pt white wine
- 25 g 1oz plain flour
- 2 tbsp double cream
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a large cast-iron casserole or frying pan, heat a little oil and brown the chicken pieces all over, then transfer to a plate (you may need to do this in batches). Brown the bacon and put on the plate with the chicken. Add a knob of butter to the oil in the casserole and gently brown the onions and mushrooms, before adding the chicken and bacon back into the casserole.
- Add the carrot, celery, bouquet garni, chicken stock and wine to the chicken and season well. Cover and transfer to a preheated oven at 170ºC (325ºF, gas mark 3) for 30-40 mins.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken and vegetables to a large dish and keep warm. Mix the flour and butter together to form a paste (called a beurre manie).
- Bring the sauce in the casserole to the boil and add a small amount of the beurre manie to it, whisking continuously until dissolved. The mixture should begin to thicken. Add the rest of the beurre manie a little at a time until you have reached the desired thickness (you may not need all of it).
- Stir in the double cream, then pour over the chicken and sprinkle with some chopped parsley.
Notes
If you're cooking your chicken casserole with wine, try to use the same wine as the one you're drinking.
