Ritz Cracker Chicken casserole

Once upon a time, a cajun mama found a recipe called poppyseed chicken aka Ritz cracker chicken in a magical place called Pinterest.  She made it for her cajun family and they all lived happily ever after.  Ok…so not quite but when I tell you that there is a reason Ritz cracker chicken is a classic Southern recipe that is delicious, easy to make, and makes up in a snap, I tell you no lies.  This stuff is amazing and I had been missing out.  Like, how did I live without this dish for all the years before?  It is seriously fantastic.  

 

So let’s get down to the brass tacks here.  The nuts and bolts of it all.  The nitty gritty.  I know ya’ll didn’t come here to read my witty repartee.  Some call this Poppy seed chicken casserole and some call this Ritz cracker chicken.  Just make it and I am pretty dang sure ya’ll will just call it GOOD.  

Ritz Cracker Chicken/Poppy seed Chicken casserole  (adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything)

Ingredients

5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1 cup sour cream

2 (14.5 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers)

*I crush mine by putting them in a gallon ziploc bag, closing it tightly, and then rolling a rolling pin over the bag until they are crushed…or you can use your food processor.  I am not that industrious.)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 Tablespoon poppy seeds (in the seasoning aisle of the grocery store usually)

1 tsp. Worcesterchire sauce 

1 tsp. celery salt

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 T. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. pepper 

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Boil uncooked chicken breasts with salt and pepper until done.  Remove from the water and let them cool a bit and then cube it up.  

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the soup, sour cream, Worcesterchire, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper.  Pour over the chicken.  

In a separate bowl, stir together crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter.  Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.

Pop that baby into your preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the top is a nice toasty brown and the sauce is all bubbly.  (my mouth is watering)  You can serve over rice or noodles.  Or just eat it straight out of a bowl.  This stuff is seriously DIVINE.