Cashew Chicken Casserole

Ok, I’m well aware that casseroles aren’t the prettiest food but they have a lot of other things going for them!  Like they taste awesome, can be made ahead of time, and are an easy meal to take to someone.I grew up eating this casserole and I always enjoyed it but I did a little tweaking to make it more to my liking.  I think you’ll like it too!  It’s loaded with bell peppers (I doubled the amount and used red, yellow, and orange ones), has tons of chicken (my husband loved that I didn’t skimp on that), and it’s got a salty crunchy top (who doesn’t love crunchy toppings?).

If you don’t like everything being crammed into one dish you actually could forgo putting it all in a casserole dish and instead serve the rice and chicken filling separately.  Just place the filling on the rice as you dish up and sprinkle the cashews and chow mein noodles on each individual portion.  The sauce will be more runny but hey, you cut down on the cooking time by 20 minutes!

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3 from 2 votes

Cashew Chicken Casserole

To make this ahead of time, place everything in the casserole dish except cashews and chow mein and then store in the fridge. Add toppings right before baking and cook for a total of 30 minutes.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8

Author Garnish & Glaze

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup onion diced
• 1/2 cup celery diced
• 2 cups peppers chopped (I prefer red, orange, and yellow any color combo works just fine)
• 2 10 ounce cans cream of mushroom soup*
• 2/3 cup chicken broth
• 4 cups cooked chicken cubed (~12 chicken tenders)
• 1 cup mushrooms quartered*
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 6 drops hot sauce
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup chow mein noodles
• 2/3 cup cashews halves

Instructions

• In a large skillet, melt butter and saute onions and celery until onions are tender. Add peppers, soup, and chicken broth and simmer 5 minutes. Mix in the chicken, mushrooms, soy sauce, and hot sauce and simmer 5 more minutes.
• Grease a 2.5 quart dish (or 9x13 inch) and press cooked rice into the bottom of the dish. Pour the chicken mixture on top. Sprinkle chow mein noodles and cashews on top.
• Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Notes

*If you don't like mushrooms don't add them and use cream of chicken soup instead cream of mushroom.