Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake

  Ah…fall. I love it!

Some folks get down during fall because it’s the gateway to winter. Not me! No, no. I love, love, love fall. (But I hate winter.) Especially because after many long weeks of avoiding my oven like the plague I can turn it back on! (I don’t have central AC…the struggle is real!)

So in honor of fall, I have this easy bake. It’s comfort food at its best. But comfort food tends to make us nervous, doesn’t it? Mostly because it’s so yummy we think we are going to eat way too much. I have a soultion! The below recipe yield this lovely little casserole dish (notice it isn’t much bigger than the salad plate it’s sitting next to) full of  yumminess. It’s about 2-3 post-op sized servings. Just enough to have it for dinner, some leftovers, maybe one last portion…then you’re done! No getting saddled with way too many leftovers. Good, right?

When I made this recipe, I did so using fresh vegetables. But you can easily use frozen (and that’s what I’ve included in the recipe directions). If you don’t like cauliflower/broccoli (or if you aren’t cleared for it yet), feel free to use whatever veggies you like. The basic idea of this dish is as follows: chicken, creamy, cheesy, goodness.

That can easily be replicated with any number of vegetables!

Cheesy Chicken & Brocolli Bake
As it were, I picked cauliflower because it’s a pretty forgiving vegetable. I hear people say all the time that they don’t like the taste of cauliflower. I guess it has a taste. But not really? It has a smell. I will concede that. But what flavor it has is mild and it yields easily to other flavors, like the savory taste of the chicken and the cream soup. And the cheese. Did I mention the cheese?
Cheesy Chicken & Brocolli Bake
The cheese is another way this dish is super-versatile. I like to use Mexican-blend cheese on my casseroles (which, I found, differs from Taco blend because the latter has actual taco seasoning mixed in with the cheese…you learn something new every day!). But you really and truly can use whatever kind of cheese your heart desires. If you’re a cheddar person, I’d advise a mix of mild and sharp, but otherwise, get creative with it. One important thing for this recipe (especially if you are new out!) is to let the veggies cook very, very, VERY soft. These are cruciferous vegetables (meaning they aren’t the easiest for your body to break down) so only do broccoli/cauliflower after you are cleared to do so…then cook until soft!
Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 post-op servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 post-op servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 post-op servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 post-op servings 15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Set a skillet (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) over medium heat and allow it to get hot. Add chicken and cook until done.
  3. Boil broccoli and cauliflower until done (you can boil them together, about 8-10 minutes), then mash with a potato masher.
  4. Add chicken to the pot of mashed cauliflower/broccoli and mix in soup. Stir to combine thoroughly.
  5. Transfer to a mini-casserole dish and top with both cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is done to your liking.
Share this Recipe
Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

10 comments

  1. I will definitely try this recipe as both broccoli and cauliflower are veggies I tolerate. What is the serving size and do you have the nutritional value per serving?

    • Hi there! Serving sizes vary widely. I had one post-op tell me hers yielded 8 servings. For me it was two. If you look at the picture the casserole dish is only a little bit bigger than a salad plate, but even then portion sizes vary! In general, Bariatric Foodie doesn’t provide nutritional information for its recipes (for lots of very good reasons I won’t bore you with). But here’s a great guide to figuring them out using the ingredients you have on hand. 🙂 https://www.bariatricfoodie.com/bf-basics-how-to-figure-out-recipes/

  2. Do you make the soup according to the directions before adding it to the recipe or do you just add condensed soup. Thanks!

  3. I made this I added cauliflower rice to mine, I love the mixture of broccoli and cauliflower together, it made a lot, I’ve been eating on it all week, now I’ve added hot sauce to it when I warm it up, ya’ll it taster like buffalo chicken dip, nuff said :0)

  4. i cannot wait to try this recipe.

  5. Sounds like a tasty, easy recipe. When I was an early post-op the last thing I wanted to do was spend a lot of time cooking something that I might not like or where I ended up throwing half of it out because I was sick of it after 6 meals! (You might want to correct the spelling of broccoli throughout, though.)

  6. Have tried this and cooked for the whole family and it was a hit thanks so much.

  7. What are the nutritional stats on this dish?
    Looks delicious!

    Thanks!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sahifa Theme License is not validated, Go to the theme options page to validate the license, You need a single license for each domain name.