Creamy Chicken Casserole with mushrooms is a treasure of a recipe. It’s popularly called “Chicken Gloria” and it will win you over. This chicken bake is the perfect party dish and is a reader favorite.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
We love easy chicken casserole recipes like Chicken Tetrazzini and One-Pot Chicken and Rice. This Chicken and Mushroom Casserole does not disappoint!
Chicken Casserole Video
I hope you are inspired to try this chicken casserole for yourself! P.S. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube Cooking Channel.
Why we love this Chicken Bake
Crowd-Pleaser! Galina (my sister’s mama-in-law) is an amazing cook and this is her chicken and mushroom casserole. It is always a hit at parties and church potlucks. We make this often.
The chicken is incredibly tender – you will savor every morsel. I’ve seen sorta-somewhat similar recipes online referred to as Chicken Gloria, but I love that this one is made from scratch. It uses simple, non-canned ingredients (no cream of chicken soup needed).
Reheats Well – This chicken and mushroom casserole also re-heats really well (if you are lucky enough to have leftovers). You will likely add this recipe to your list of favorites.
Ingredients for Chicken Casserole
The ingredients for this recipe are surprisingly simple but they just work (see full printable ingredient list below):
- Chicken breast (or chicken tenders)
- Chicken broth
- Half and half*
- All-purpose flour (or use a GF substitute)
- Mushrooms
- Onion – it disappears into the sauce
- Garlic – don’t skip it
- Lemon juice – fresh is best
*What is half and half? Half and half is basically light cream. If you aren’t able to find “half and half” at your grocery store, you can substitute with equal parts of milk and heavy cream.
Can I Substitute the Mushrooms?
You can replace white mushrooms with portabello mushrooms. If you don’t like mushrooms, you can substitute with different vegetables, just pick sturdy veggies (avoid zucchini which turns mushy). Here are some great options to replace mushrooms:
- Frozen peas
- Asparagus
- Caramelized onions
- Artichoke hearts (well-drained)
How to Make Chicken Casserole
1. Sautee Chicken: Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Once the oil is hot, add chicken and saute until golden, and transfer to a 13×9 casserole baking dish.
Pro Tip: Work in batches if needed so you don’t crowd your pan. Don’t worry about cooking the chicken through; it still needs to go in the oven
2. Sautee Mushrooms: Add 3 Tbsp oil along and saute mushrooms and onions until soft and golden. Add garlic and saute another 1-2 min. Spread mixture over the chicken.
3. Make the Sauce: In a medium saucepan (or in the same pan you’ve been using), melt 3 Tbsp butter. Whisk in 3 Tbsp flour until lightly golden (1-2 min). Add 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add 1 cup half & half and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Combine and Bake: Pour sauce over the chicken casserole. Cover with foil and bake chicken and mushroom casserole at 350˚F for 45 minutes. Garnish with parsley if desired.
Serve with
This chicken bakes in gravy so it is great served over Creamy Mashed Potatoes or Egg noodles (the same way we serve Beef Stroganoff). It’s also great paired with these fresh sides:
Common Questions
You can use trimmed chicken thighs or chicken tenders instead. If using chicken tenders, you don’t need to slice them.
Make and combine the chicken and mushrooms and refrigerate. The next day, make the sauce, assemble, and bake as directed.
Yes, you can reheat a pre-baked and chilled chicken casserole in the oven: cover with foil and bake at 325˚f for about 20 minutes or just until hot, or reheat on the stovetop over low heat just until hot, stirring occasionally.
Yes! You can freeze leftover chicken casserole. One of my readers shared her method: “It works! I took the pan out of the freezer, left it in the fridge most of the day, and reheated it in a 350* oven for about 40 minutes.”
One of our readers reported great results using a multi-cooker/ slow cooker: brown the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker using the sautee function and remove. Sautée onions and mushrooms then return chicken to the pan. Combine sauce ingredients in a pan on the stove, pour it over the chicken, and slow-cook on low for five hours.
More Casserole Recipes:
Casseroles are perfect for parties and gatherings because they are easy to make and easy to scale up. These casserole recipes always get rave reviews:
- Lasagna – arguably the “ultimate” casserole
- Stuffed Shells – so easy with a 3 cheese filling
- Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole – creamy, cheesy, delicious!
- Green Bean Casserole – elegant and made from scratch
- Sweet Potato Casserole – with crunchy pecan topping
- Baked Tilapia Casserole – topped with veggies
Chicken Casserole Recipe (Chicken Gloria)
Ingredients
Ingredients for Chicken and Mushroom Casserole:
- 2 1/2 lbs chicken breasts , (4 to 5 large), cut into 1 -inch thick strips
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt , plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 cup all-purpose flour , to coat the chicken
- 6 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 lb white mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
Ingredients for the Sauce:
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour, for the sauce
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup half and half, or 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in flour. Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Once oil is hot, add chicken and saute until golden. Work in batches if needed so you don't crowd your pan. Don't worry about cooking the chicken through; it still needs to go in the oven. Transfer chicken to a 13×9 casserole baking dish.
- Scrape of any debris from the skillet. Add 3 Tbsp oil along with sliced mushrooms and diced onions and saute until soft and golden. Add garlic and saute another 1-2 min. Spread mixture over the chicken.
- In a medium saucepan (or in the same pan you’ve been using), melt 3 Tbsp butter. Whisk in 3 Tbsp flour until lightly golden (1-2 min).
- Add 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add 1 cup half & half and bring to a simmer. Season generously with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour sauce over the chicken and mushrooms. Cover with foil and bake at 350˚F for 45 minutes. Serve warm or hot over mashed potatoes, pasta or rice.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
can you use chicken tenders instead ?
Hi Char, chicken tenders would work great!
Thanks ! I think they work better , the chicken breasts lately have been very large and kind of chewy.
My pleasure! 🙂
Hi,
Do i have to pan fry first or could I just bake longer?
Hi Kelly, I haven’t tried it that way but I think that step is important for the sauce to form properly. Browning the chicken also enhances the flavor of the casserole.
This does look very tasty. I saw you mentioned adding artichokes to it, what about fresh spinach when cooking the mushrooms? I would like to add more vegetables to it.
Hi Jerusha, I haven’t tried that so I’m not 100% sure if that would work. I think the spinach would become overcooked and mushy by the time it’s done baking. I’ve searched through the comments on this and no one has reported trying spinach yet. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Jerusha, I think spinach would be great in this. The trick to fresh spinach would be to stir it in after the dish comes out of the oven. That way the spinach would wilt and not be mushy come service time.
The recipe calls for 1 tbsp of lemon juice, but the measuring spoon used in the photo is a 1 tsp measure. Which is correct?
Hi Phylis, 1 Tbsp is correct. You could add more to taste if you like 🙂
Dear Natasha, Fantastic recipe, really loved it and next day it tasted even better. If you could add an additional mention of measurements in milliliters and grams im sure your recipes will go even more worldwide.
I am glad you enjoyed the recipe! That is a good tip to consider. 🙂
this was absolutely gorgeous, huge hit with all the family, I don’t suppose you have the nutriaional values at all please? I’m only really interested in the calorie side of things
Hi Charlotte, I’m so happy you all enjoyed it!! 🙂 I don’t typically have calorie counts because of the time constraint that I have. I really need to hire some help to do that for us!
I know it can be a bit time consuming, but the best thing about making things at home is that you have complete control over how many calories you’re actually getting. Most of the ingredients you can simply google search for an approximation of how many calories it is for a serving.
I like to count the calories of the entire dish and then dividing it into portions to get the approximate calorie count per serving. It’s much more accurate than what Natasha might put because she might use different half-and-half then you (or different heavy cream/different milk, etc).
I recommend using My Fitness Pal since they have a very large database for calories in food.
Hi! This looks really good. I want to try it out this week for my family but the problem is, I don’t have an oven. Can I cook it in the pan instead? Thank you! 🙂
Hi Joyce, I haven’t tried making it on the stovetop so I’m not sure if it would work of if it would get scorched. If you try, stir occasionally and gently as it simmers over low heat. If you try it out on the stove, let me know how you liked it! 🙂
Natasha!
I was off today and saw this yummy recipe on Pinterest. Since I had all of the ingredients, I figured I’d try it. Let me tell you…it is absolutely DE-LISH-OUS!!! OMG! This will definitely be a household fav!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Carolyn, Washington, DC
My pleasure Carolyn! Thank YOU for sharing such an awesome review! 🙂
Absolutely delicious. Easy to make and great way to use mushrooms. My family loved it. Will make over and over again.
Thank you for sharing your awesome review Noemi!! 🙂
Do you think I could use chicken thighs instead and add potatoes? Would it still work and taste good?
Hi Ilona, Chicken thighs (boneless, skinless, trimmed of excess fat) would work great! I haven’t tried potatoes, but one of my readers, Megan, wrote the following: “I peeled one whole large sweet potato and cut into approx 10 pieces. I added this to the casserole dish with the chicken and mushroom & poured the sauce over the whole lot. The sweet potato cooked perfectly in 45mins. I did however make extra sauce.” Also, Victoria wrote: “parboiled some small nugget potatoes and put them as the bottom layer, added half a shallot to the onion, mushroom mix and a few sprigs of fresh thyme, plus a pinch of fresh sage and rosmary. Also, I didn’t notice your Dutch oven warning until afterward and actually cooked mine in a cast iron (coated) one (like a cheap Le Cruset), but it worked out beautifully.” I hope that helps!! Let me know what you end up doing. I’m curious!! 🙂
Made this tonight – came out absolutely perfect. Alterations made – used Coconut Milk in the sauce instead of half and half milk and added onion flakes to the chicken and mushrooms, as well as some dried herbs. Cooked for 45 minutes covered, and then 15 minutes uncovered to thicken it up.
Mmmm, that sounds good! Thank you for sharing Rani!
This is one of THE BEST chicken dishes ever!!
Thank you so much! I am glad you loved it Darci! 🙂
I am making this at some point this week. My family does not like onions, we always use onion powder, should this be a problem?
Hi Amy, that should still work fine 🙂 Just sauté the mushrooms and season to taste with onion powder 🙂
I’m going to try this with a bit of white wine.
Let me know how you like it with the white wine! 🙂
Have you tried adding broccoli to this? Think that would be too strong a flavor to cook it with the chicken/sauce?
Hi Amanda, I haven’t tried it but if I were to try, I would add it halfway or later if you like it to be crisp tender. To be honest though, I find it most appealing to make the casserole as is and just serve with steamed vegetables – that way they are perfect every time 🙂 Or you could stir in steamed broccoli at the end 🙂
I had the same issue as Sarah, below, with the oil pooling on top. It isn’t excess from the skillet. It also EXTREMELY liquidy – more like soup than a casserole. I put it back in the over for another 15 minutes hoping it would reduce but it’s not looking promising.
I’m at a high altitude but have never made adjustments for a recipe before. I triple checked that I followed the recipe properly 🙁
Hi Athena, did you dredge the chicken in flour and also use the correct amount in your sauce – it should be sufficient to thicken up the sauce. Are you using any different ingredients than what is mentioned? Did you make any substitutions or use a different sized pan? It should not be too liquidy but more like a light gravy when it’s done – the sauce will thicken as it stands but it should not be extremely liquidy like you are describing. I’m not sure what else it could be besides a substitution. Also, are you baking on regular bake mode and not convection oven mode? Some fat separation is expected and it incorportes into the casserole after you stir it. Cooking over high heat might cause it to separate more which is why I am asking about a convection setting.
In the picture of ingredients theres a jar of better than bouillon. But you dont list that in the instructions anywhere. Should I use that or not?
Hi Bryan, I used that to make my own chicken broth. You can either use BTB mixed with hot water to make the broth or use store-bought chicken broth 🙂
Hi! I made this dish and it turned out wonderfully! Although I was wondering, are you supposed to strain out the extra oil from the mushrooms/onions/garlic before adding to the chicken?
When I took it out of the oven you could see the oil sort of pooling at the top 😕
Hi Sarah, I didn’t really have any oil to strain out – some of that separation is normal but there shouldn’t be too much of it. Did you possibly add the extra oil from the skillet with chicken?
What kind of mushrooms do you recommend?
Hi Allie, just the regular white button or brown cremini (sometimes called baby bella) mushrooms work great!
I’m looking for a replacement for the 1/2 & 1/2 (and your alternative). Could I try Almond Milk and a little bit extra butter?
Hi Samantha, I haven’t tried that substitution so I’m not 100% sure, although one of my readers wrote in with the following helpful review: “I made this delicious recipe dairy-free style. I used vegan butter to replace dairy butter and coconut milk to replace dairy milk. The sauce is creamy and the chicken is incredibly tender…”