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Our creamy Crack Chicken Casserole is a delicious pasta dish that’s perfect for your next meal. It’s full of ooey-gooey cheese, tender chicken, and topped off with crunchy bacon. This casserole is always a huge hit and it’s the perfect quick and easy menu item for a busy night.
Irresistible Crack Chicken Casserole
Crack chicken has the name it does for a reason. It’s because it is so incredibly addicting. It’s one of my favorite casserole dishes to make because it always gets raving reviews from those enjoying it. Beyond it’s tastiness, it’s also hearty and filling.
Not only is this a go-to of mine because of its delicious flavors, but also because it is insanely easy to put together. I tend to keep most of the ingredients on hand, so when I need to make this last minute, it’s never a problem. It’s the perfect recipe for family dinners, but it also makes for a great dish to pass at a gathering or potluck-style meal.
If you haven’t tried crack chicken yet, you and your taste buds are going to be in for one heck of a treat. This cheesy, flavorful, pasta and chicken dish is so good. Time to get cooking.
Ingredients for Crack Chicken Casserole
- Dry elbow macaroni
- Cooked skinless – boneless chicken breast
- Bacon
- Butter
- Yellow onion
- Cream of chicken soup
- Sour cream
- Cream cheese
- Milk
- Ranch dressing seasoning packet
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Onion powder
- Shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- Green onion
Additions & Substitutions
Pasta: You could use any type of small noodle in this casserole. Some other great options would be shells, bowtie, penne, or rotini noodles. I usually use whatever I have in the cupboards at home!
Chicken: I love to use rotisserie chicken for this recipe. It makes it super easy to grab one at the grocery store!
Bacon: If you don’t want to cook your own bacon and dice it into bits, you can simply purchase store-bought bacon bits. They are usually in the salad aisle!
Shredded cheese: Shredded cheddar is a delicious way to top this casserole off, but there are plenty of other cheese options that would taste just as good. I have used colby, provolone, mozzarella, and monterey jack. All of them were great. You could also use a combination of more than one type of cheese.
Half-and-half: While the half-and-half will make the casserole rich and creamy, you could also replace this with milk. If switching to milk it works best to use whole or 2%, but low fat would work as well.
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How to Make Crack Chicken Casserole
Preheat the oven to 375 and spray a 9×13 baking dish.
Cook macaroni in boiling water until al dente. Drain macaroni and set aside.
PRO-TIP: It’s important to make sure that your noodles are done al dente. The reason being, that you are going to bake them in the casserole after cooking them on the stovetop. If they are overcooked the first time, they will get soggy when cooked in the oven.
Cook butter and onions until translucent. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer, combine cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, half-and-half, and ranch dressing powder. Continue mixing while adding kosher salt, black pepper and the onion powder.
Transfer the sour cream mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add in the cooked macaroni, the cubed chicken breast, cooked yellow onion, 1 ½ cups of cheddar cheese and ¾ of a cup of the cooked bacon.
Stir until all the ingredients are completely combined.
Pour the chicken mixture into the baking dish.
Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheddar cheese, bacon and the thinly sliced green onion on top.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
How to Store Leftovers
Leftover casserole should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. This is one recipe that is just as great for leftovers as it is the first time. To reheat, simply pop it in the microwave.
More Great Casserole Recipes
Chili Cornbread Casserole|Chicken Fajita Casserole |Pizza Casserole | Lasagna Casserole | Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole |Dorito Casserole | Chicken Pot Pie Casserole | Hamburger Casserole | Chicken Foil Packets | Chili Cheese Dog Casserole | Sweet Potato Casserole
Crack Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 1½ cups dry elbow macaroni
- 3 cups cooked skinless – boneless chicken breast cubed
- 16 slices bacon cooked and diced (this measures 1 ½ cups once cooked)
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup undiluted
- 2 cups sour cream
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- ¼ milk or half-and-half
- 1 ounce packet ranch dressing seasoning
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 1 green onion sliced thin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish.
- Fill a medium sized saucepan ¾ of the way with water. Bring to a low rolling boil and add elbow macaroni. Cook the macaroni until it is al dente. Drain the macaroni and set aside.
- In a medium size skillet add the butter and diced onions. Cook over a medium high heat, stirring the onions with a wooden spoon to ensure even cooking for about 5 – 7 minutes. They should be translucent and starting to turn golden/light golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese,cream of chicken soup, sour cream, milk or half-and-half and the 1 oz pkg of ranch dressing powder.
- Using a handheld mixer, combine the sour cream mixture on medium speed until creamy.
- Continue mixing on low and add the kosher salt, black pepper and the onion powder. Mix until well combined.
- Transfer the sour cream mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add in the cooked macaroni, the cubed chicken breast, cooked yellow onion, 1 ½ cups of cheddar cheese and ¾ of a cup of the cooked bacon. Using a large wooden spoon, stir until all the ingredients are completely combined.
- Pour the chicken mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheddar cheese, bacon and the thinly sliced green onion.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top layer of cheese is melted and gooey.
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Nutrition Info
Crack chicken casserole is the perfect easy and delicious casserole. Cheesy noodles, tender chicken, and crunchy bacon make this dish irresistible. It’s the perfect meal for a busy night that the entire family will absolutely love.
Nice recipe but…I am so tired of recipes using “crack” in the recipe. Can’t you people think of another name for a delicious recipe? Makes me think of butt crack or the seductive substance. Get a new name!
This was very good. The word crack just means it’s addicting. The fact that your thinking “sexual substance and body parts, speaks volumes.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your recipe.
I think they were thinking drugs as far as crack goes. ANYWAY, I am making this for the super bowl today! Thanks for the recipe! 💖😃
Ordinarily, I would pass this by because of the calories but there are several places to cut calories. Love the ingredients and I’m sure this will be a great special event casserole.
Love your meal ideas. Great for family of 6.