6 very hungry runners would be descending upon my house Friday night…while I’d been out all day running with them as part of the Ragnar Relay. My default was simply to order pizza, but realizing it was also one of the only chances we’d have for actual food I wanted something available. Something easy…voila healthy chicken casserole.
You can make this as easy or as complex as you want. Based on my own limited time frame, I opted for a lot of pre-cut veggies and even my favorite pre-cooked and cut Trader Joe’s chicken!
Not only did they enjoy this, but my husband to tends to be adverse to anything labeled healthy and he scarffed it right up….scarffed is a weird word, is that a Mid-West thing? We refer to people eating like animals?
Either way, let’s stop wasting time and get to what you want a healthy chicken casserole recipe.
Harvest Chicken Casserole
One of the things I like best about this particular option is that you can make it in a variety of ways. You can do all the work yourself chopping and dicing or well you can go the “I’m freaking busy and stressed” route like I did, utilizing lots of pre-cut things!
Additionally, you can use quinoa for extra protein or go for wild rice for a more traditional flavor. This is a FABULOUS post run meal because you’re getting in those high quality carbohydrates, protein for muscle repair and all the veggie nutrients to help you recover.
Healthy Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp EVOO
- 2 lb chicken breast make your own shredded chicken in the crock pot or cut chicken after baking
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 large sweet potato I used the pre-cut sweet potato strips from Trader Joes
- 4 cups brussel sprouts I used shredded sprouts from Trader Joes
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 4 cups quinoa Also works great with rice
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp thyme
Instructions
- Bake chicken and cut in to 1 inch pieces
- Boil 2 cups of water and add 1 cup of dry quinoa, cook till water is fully absorbed (10-12 minutes)
- While baking, heat oil over medium high in large pan
- Add onion, sweet potato, Brussels sprouts and all spices. Cook 7-8 minutes.
- Add 1/4 cup broth and cook additional 5-7 minutes, till everything is softened.
- Layer quinoa, then veggies, then chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish
- Place in oven at 350 for 15 minutes to fully warm through evenly
- Top with cranberries and pumpkin seeds
Anyone else grow up eating casseroles? I’ve gone back to many of them and realized whewwww they were on the far side of healthy due to lots of cans that included the word “cream of” or huge blocks of cheese.
It’s great to find that I can still create a one dish dinner that’s healthy and reheats so well throughout the week.
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Does this freeze well?
I didn’t have any left to try, but my concern would be out the sweet potatoes come back out. I don’t know if they would feel soggy or not.