Dolly Parton’s 5-Ingredient Casserole
How to Make It
Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch square baking dish — I use nonstick spray, takes two seconds.
Shred your chicken. This is honestly the most work the whole recipe asks of you. If you’re using rotisserie, the meat pulls apart easily with two forks, though I usually just use my hands once it’s cooled down enough. You want about three cups.
Mix the chicken with the full can of cream of chicken soup and the sour cream. Stir it together until everything’s coated and combined — it’ll be thick and creamy-looking, a little unglamorous. That’s fine.
Spread half of that mixture into your greased baking dish. Top it with half the cheddar. Then layer the rest of the chicken mixture over that, followed by the rest of the cheese. The crackers go on last — crush a sleeve of them and sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes. You’re looking for bubbly edges and a golden brown topping. I give mine 33 minutes because my oven runs slightly cool and I’ve learned to account for that — yours might be different, just keep an eye on it the last five minutes.
Let it rest for five minutes before serving. I know it’s hard to wait. Do it anyway. It’ll cut cleaner and you won’t burn the roof of your mouth.
I’ve served this over Rice and I’ve served it over egg noodles and both are solid. My son likes it with nothing, just scooped straight out of the dish onto his plate like a man who has given up on sides entirely.
A Note on Variations
My neighbor Linda — she asked if she could add a can of diced green chiles next time. I told her I didn’t see why not. A little heat would be interesting in there. I’ve been thinking about a version with a pinch of smoked paprika stirred into the chicken mixture, just to add some depth, but I haven’t tried it yet.
If you want more vegetables, frozen peas stirred into the chicken layer work well. Broccoli florets, too, though I’d steam them a bit first so they’re not crunchy.
Leftovers
Keeps in the fridge for three or four days, covered. Reheat in the oven at 325 if you have the time — the crackers crisp back up a little. Microwave works too, though the topping goes soft. It’s still good. The whole thing reheats well, which isn’t always true of casseroles.
I keep this recipe saved in three different places because I’ve accidentally closed the tab one too many times in a hurry. That’s maybe the highest compliment I can give a recipe — that I went out of my way to make sure I never lost it. Dolly really does do it all. And now so can you, on a Tuesday night, with five ingredients and thirty minutes to spare.
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