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.
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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
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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
Amazing. Chicken is very flavorful. Sauce is nice and creamy. It is a perfect dish that reheats well the next day. Thank you Natasha!
Thank you Gosia for your awesome review! 🙂
Hello dear. Do you think I can prepare the casserole in the morning and bake it right after church?
You could probably prep everything before church but don’t add the liquid/gravy ingredients until it’s ready to go into the oven. Keep in mind if your cooked chicken is cold from the fridge, it may need an extra 5-10 min in the oven. 🙂
This came out really velvety and tender! I made it in my multivarka, using the browning function for the chicken and mushrooms, and then assembling with the sauce and putting it on “bake.” Maybe a regular oven would be better but this way worked for me. I served it with boiled buckwheat. Leftovers made a good blini filling for breakfast the next day!
I will say that this recipe caused quite the pile of dirty dishes, what with browning everything separately and also making a sauce. But that’s home cooking for you! I had even made homemade chicken broth earlier in the day, and used it for the sauce.
I know, I wish there was an easier way!! I’m so glad you liked it. It truly is a family favorite and a staple at most parties! 🙂
How long do you saute the chicken on each side and at what heat?? New cooker here 🙂
Just until it’s golden brown like in the picture. It doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through since it’s going into the oven to bake for a while. Maybe saute 2 min per side.
Loved this dish, so did the hubby, which is so important to me!! This dish has so much flavor and chicken was very tender. We had it with mashed potatoes the first time, then second time with kasha (grechka)…tastes really good with both. Thank you Natasha for such delicious recipe! 😉
I’m glad your family loves this dish, I’m craving some just by reading your comment :).
natasha what kind of base are you using? chicken? veg? thx!
Also, can you actually “taste” the salt difference in the reduced sodium version?
Yes, it’s quite a bit less salt so if you use regular, add less salt 🙂
I’ve used both but usually use chicken base 🙂
Just came out of the oven…NOPE.. didnt wait for it to cool down, tried some right away! def making this again! Thanks!!!
That’s awesome! Thanks for a great review 🙂
I have made this several times and I really like it! I have tried many of your recipes, and they always taste really good :)thanks!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
I made it the other day. We loved it! Natasha thanks much for sharing this recipe. Great job as always! Well done 🙂
Thank you Natasha! Oh wow, it’s a bit like talking to myself (which doesn’t happen too often) 😉 I’m so glad you loved it!
😉
Hey Natasha:) im planning on making this tomorrow but reading your ingredience i think u missed word “flour” from what i understood “1 cup more to coat the chicken + 3tbsp for the sause
i had to sneak peak at your print recipe and it said flour there:) lol
thnx again and looking forward to make this 🙂
Oh my goodness! Thank you! I also mis-spelled “sause”. Oh dear. Thank you so much! It is flour 🙂
I just recently discovered your website, and love it! So many good recipes and ideas! Made the chicken for dinner last evening, and my family loved it. Thank you!
Welcome to the site Oksana and thank you for the good report. I hope that you’ll find many new favorites :).
Hey Natasha! First off, I’m a big fan of yours and follow your blog daily for new recipes and updates. Recently got married and made this recipe for him today which he raved about and complimented my cooking. Truth is, I don’t cook by taste or visual, I like recipes and structure and you make this happen. Thank you!!
That’s so awesome!!! Music to my ears 🙂 I’m so happy you like my blog. Thanks for sharing your sweet story 🙂
Hi Natasha,
First of all thank you very much for this site. I’m just starting to learn to cook and this site is a great help! I made this dish 3 times. The first time everything was great. The last two times however, the butter separated from the rest of the sauce in the oven. What am I doing wrong?
If you’ve printed an older version, I’ve slightly changed the recipe to omit the sour cream. I think it’s creamier without it and it reheats better too. You can give it all a little stir to make the sauce creamy again, but I’m not sure what’s causing it to separate. Are you using all the same ingredients as the first time you made it? same heavy cream?
I was going off the recipe without the sour cream. But I was using half and half instead of milk and heavy cream. Since I hardly use milk or heavy cream, I figured I would buy half and half only. Maybe that’s the problem. Thank you for your reply!
Amazingly, thrillingly, deliciously tempting, and ohhhhhh soooo good!!! I’ve made this half a dozen times already, and absolutely everyone who has tried it has fallen in love with it. Its THAT good! I use chicken thighs (I always use thighs; I prefer them over chicken breast), and it was just amazing. I also used some grated carrots (on the smallest size grater) when making the sauce. It gave the dish a pleasant creamy yellow color instead of the original drab(ish) grey. Loved it! I purposefully make way too much so we can have leftovers for work the next day 🙂 I often make this for church potlucks and parties cuz its easy to transport. And plenty of raving, too! haha. My little trick 🙂 Thanks for the amazing recipe. Definitely one of my very favorite chicken posts on your website. Keep up the good work! God bless ya!
Wow! What an awesome review 🙂 Thank you so much! Sounds like you’ve found yourself a new favorite. I’ll try your suggestions with the carrots and chicken thighs; I bet it was super juicy with the thigh meat!
Delicious recipe! Love mushrooms, Thank You for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
As a funny guy once said, “Two enthusiastic thumbs up!” Lol Delicious recipe Natasha! This will probably be on my next ‘dinner for guests’ menu. My husband and I both loved it:)
Well put! 🙂 That’s awesome! I’m so glad you both loved it.
Sooo good. Had some friends over for dinner last night, everyone loved it. They all said it tasted like something from Olive Garden. Thank you, you’re awesome!! 😉
Woohoo!! Thanks you for the great review! Olive Garden huh? dang! 🙂
I just made this dish and served it with mashed potatoes and its so very delicious! Loved it, loved it, loved it! I am so happy, Thank you Natasha 🙂 And for dessert we will have for second time this week Vadim’s perfected banana bread 🙂
Awww that’s awesome!! I’ll let him know! 🙂
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a long time and finally made it today.
It was delicious!! I had seconds and my husband had thirds. =D
I will defiantly make it again!
Thanks for the great review! I’m so glad you both really enjoyed it 🙂
I made this tonight – and my husband raved and said it was restaurant quality! He wants me to put it on my regular rotation now. (It was served with rice and spinach. Also, I did add some marinated artichoke hearts and a whole shallot.)
He thanks you profusely for this elegant dish – and so do I!
Cynthia, this is music to my ears :D. Thank you for such a good report, I’m glad that your husbands likes it so much.
I’ve tried to make this recipe for a home-dinner-date wand OMG it’s soooooo yummm! thanks Natasha 🙂
That’s awesome!!! I’m so glad you loved it!!