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Crack chicken casserole is the one I make when I need an easy chicken dinner that everybody will actually eat. It’s elbow macaroni and big chunks of chicken in a creamy ranch sauce, with melted cheddar-jack and crispy bacon all over the top. It’s cheesy, it’s salty, it’s rich, and the sauce stays creamy right down to the last scoop.
And it earns the name, crack chicken. Ranch, bacon, and cheese are the three things nobody can walk away from, and I’ve watched this pan go from full to scraped clean at my own table more times than I’d like to admit. I use rotisserie chicken, so the hardest part of the whole thing is frying the bacon.
The sauce is what makes or breaks this casserole, and mine stays creamy through the bake instead of tightening up and drying out. That’s the part most versions get wrong. The bacon and ranch and cheese are going to taste good no matter what you do, but they can’t save you once the pasta has soaked up every last bit of the sauce.
If you love these flavors, my Crack Chicken Penne Pasta is the stovetop version, and I’ve got plenty more easy casserole recipes where this one came from.
TESTED & PERFECTED
Why I Rebuilt the Sauce on This Casserole From Scratch
The flavor on my original was right. The texture was not. It baked up stiff and dry, and the sauce turned slightly grainy on me instead of staying smooth. So I went back and rebalanced the dairy. I brought the sour cream down, kept the cream cheese, and added half and half. What comes out now is a loose, velvety sauce that clings to the pasta instead of disappearing into it.
What You’ll Need
- Cream cheese: This is the backbone of the sauce. It is what keeps everything smooth under heat instead of breaking and turning grainy. Use block-style, full fat, and let it come to room temperature first. Cold cream cheese never fully incorporates and you will be picking lumps out of the sauce.
- Sour cream and half and half: These two together are the whole fix. The sour cream brings the tang, the half and half loosens the sauce so it stays creamy through the bake. Whole milk works in place of the half and half.
- Cream of chicken soup: Undiluted, straight from the can. It does the thickening and the savory backbone so you are not making a roux on a weeknight.
- The sautéed onion: Cook the diced onion in butter until it is tender and lightly golden before it goes anywhere near the sauce. It is one extra pan and it is worth it. Raw onion in a creamy casserole stays sharp. Cooked, it turns sweet and rounds out all the salt from the ranch and the bacon.
- Cheddar-jack cheese: Shred it yourself off a block. Pre-shredded cheese is coated to keep it from clumping and it does not melt as well. Colby-jack is a good swap. If you go with plain cheddar, choose mild or medium, not sharp.
- Bacon: Twelve ounces cooks down to about a cup. Most of it goes into the casserole and a little gets held back for the top so it stays crisp. If you would rather not stand at the stove, my oven baked bacon method handles the whole package at once.
See the recipe card below for full ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Crack Chicken Casserole
Step 1: Preheat and prep the dish.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray and set it aside.
Step 2: Boil the Pasta to Al Dente
Cook the elbow macaroni to al dente, about 9 to 11 minutes. Drain and rinse under cool water so it stops cooking. It should still be firm when you bite it.
Step 3: Crisp the Bacon
Cook the bacon pieces in a skillet over medium heat for 12 to 14 minutes, until crispy. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate so the grease drains off. You should end up with about a cup.
Step 4: Cook the Onion
Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat and cook the diced onion for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender and lightly golden. Set it aside to cool. Do not skip this.
Step 5: Cream the Base
In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the ranch seasoning, onion powder, salt, and pepper until it is completely smooth. Get the lumps out now, because they will not smooth out later.
Step 6: Build the Sauce
Add the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and half and half. Mix on low until combined. The sauce will look thick. Leave it that way.
Step 7: Stir in the Onions
Stir in the cooled onions until evenly distributed throughout the sauce.
Step 8: Fold It All Together
Add the macaroni, three quarters of a cup of the bacon, the chicken, and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar-jack. Fold until every noodle is coated and you do not see dry patches.
Step 9: Top It and Bake
Spread the mixture into the prepared 9×13 dish, then scatter the rest of the cheese and the reserved bacon over the top. Bake at 375°F for 25 to 30 minutes. You are looking for melted cheese and bubbling around the edges.
Step 10: Rest and Serve
Let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes. Scatter the green onions over the top and serve. The sauce should still be soft enough to spoon, not set firm enough to cut into squares.
“This casserole is so flavorful! I actually made 2 and gave one to my uncle who helped me with a home project and the other one I took to a luncheon the next day. Everyone loved it! This comes together and can be baked the next day! I will be making this again!”
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
They will be thicker than they were the first night, for the same reason a make-ahead casserole bakes thicker. The pasta keeps pulling in moisture overnight.
The fix takes a second. Add a small splash of milk or half and half before you reheat, stir it in, and add a little more only if it still looks tight. Go slowly. Too much at once and you have gone from thick to soupy.
I do not freeze this one. The sauce is built to stay loose and creamy, and that is exactly the kind of sauce that separates on you after a thaw. I make it fresh.
More Crack Chicken Recipes
Crack Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni noodles
- 12 ounces package hickory smoked bacon cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup diced sweet yellow onion
- 4 ounces block-style cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1 ounce packet ranch dressing seasoning (Hidden Valley brand used)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 10.5 ounces can cream of chicken soup (Campbell’s brand used)
- 1½ cups sour cream
- ½ cup half & half
- 3 cups cooked chicken cut into about 1-inch pieces (from a large 3 to 4-pound rotisserie chicken)
- 8 ounces block cheddar-jack cheese shredded (Sargento brand used)
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions (garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Cook the elbow macaroni noodles according to package instructions to al dente (about 9-11 minutes). Drain and rinse under cool water then set aside.8 ounces elbow macaroni noodles
- While your pasta is cooking, cook your bacon pieces in a medium skillet, over medium heat for 12-14 minutes or until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, using a large slotted spoon, to allow the excess grease to drain. This will yield about 1 cup cooked bacon pieces. Set aside.12 ounces package hickory smoked bacon
- While the pasta and bacon are cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes until tender and lightly golden. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while preparing the rest of the sauce.1 tablespoon unsalted butter, ½ cup diced sweet yellow onion
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened cream cheese, ranch dressing seasoning, onion powder, salt, and black pepper until creamy and smooth.4 ounces block-style cream cheese, 1 ounce packet ranch dressing seasoning , 1 teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Add the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and half & half to the cream cheese mixture. Mix on low speed until well combined. The sauce mixture will be thick.10.5 ounces can cream of chicken soup , 1½ cups sour cream, ½ cup half & half
- Stir in the cooled onions until well distributed.
- Add the elbow macaroni noodles, ¾ cup cooked bacon pieces (reserving the remaining ¼ cup to the top of the casserole before baking), cubed chicken, and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar-jack cheese. Fold all the ingredients together until well combined and evenly coated with the sauce.3 cups cooked chicken, 8 ounces block cheddar-jack cheese
- Transfer the chicken mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread to an even layer. Top the casserole with the remaining shredded cheddar-jack cheese, and reserved ¼ cup bacon pieces.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.
- Allow the casserole to rest at room temperature for 3-5 minutes, garnish with the green onions and serve immediately.2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
Jenn’s Notes
- The sauce will look thick when you fold everything together and that is exactly right. The pasta keeps absorbing sauce while it bakes, so that extra richness is what is left over as sauce at the end.
- Cook the macaroni to al dente and no further. Overcooked pasta drinks up the sauce in the oven and dries the whole casserole out.
- Cook the onion in butter before it goes into the sauce. Raw onion stays sharp against all that cream.
- Two large boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1½ pounds, yield about 3 cups cooked and cubed. I use rotisserie chicken for the shortcut.
- Colby-jack works in place of the cheddar-jack. If you use plain cheddar, go with mild or medium for the best melt. Any short pasta can stand in for the elbow macaroni, and whole milk can replace the half and half.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They will be thicker the next day because the pasta keeps absorbing moisture. Stir in a splash of milk or half and half before reheating.
I made this, thinking I had canned chicken. By the time I realized I did not, I didn’t want to take more time cooking chicken. But I had tuna. I used 3 cans, and my kids loved it! My 2 youngest (5 & 7) don’t even like tuna. It was delicious!
Yum
love ā¤ļø all of your recipes
BTW: I’m also from Michigan. Bloomfield Hills is a lovely community.
My husband just gave this recipe a ‘fantastic’ and ‘love it’!
I think I need to think about ways I may be able to cut down my prep time as if the way I did it my first time is how I did it every time…it would not be a busy work night dinner. LOL! But…even so it would be worth it! Thanks for this and all your other yummy recipes!!!
I forgot the cream, but it still worked out beautifully! I used peameal bacon because I prefer itās taste. I also didnāt have time for the fried onions. It was still great. It did take longer to prep but it was my first try, so Iām sure I can speed it up next time. Ooh! I also threw bread crumbs on the top to get that crispy topping. This is a new family fave! Thanks Jenn š
I am gonna have to try the bread crumb toppings! I love a good crunch!!
Love your meal ideas. Great for family of 6.
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.
Would love to hear about how you cut the calories! I know my other readers will be interested too!!
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! šš
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!
Iām pretty sure this is already a popular title and therefore would not make sense to call it something else or nobody would find Jennās version of this recipe. The old adage of āIf you donāt have anything nice to say, donāt say anything at allā could be applied here. People who work to provide free content, like Jenn, can use appreciate for their effort. Thanks for the recipe Jenn. I wouldnāt have found it if you had called it something else.
Sending you allllllllll of the love Cara! Thank you for your kind words ā¤ļø
Hey Toni – Cara nailed it! It is all about helping people find the recipe – this is how people know it and if I call it something else, google won’t show it to you. I hear you and understand your comment – but unfortunately this is the name of the recipe!
I’m glad it is called that because that is what caught my eye and because my roommate makes cracked up mac and cheese and that is addicting. Just change the name of it when you make your own