Potato and Chicken Casserole
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Entree
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 lbs potatoes, Yukon gold (about 6 medium)
- 1 onion, minced
- 1 carrot, grated
- 2–4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tablespoon butter or oil
- 1– 1 1/2 cups half n half
- salt, pepper, poultry seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon dry herbs, seasoning blend
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1–2 onions, thinly sliced, optional
- 8–10 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- 3–4 tablespoons mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
- 4–6 oz grated cheese (Mozzarella, Provolone, Monterey Jack, Colby, Gruyere, etc.)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel and and julienne the potatoes, about 1/4 inches thick. Place the potatoes in a 9 x 13 inch deep baking dish.
- Melt the butter in a skillet and add the minced onion, grated carrot and the minced garlic. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Cook for 5-7 minutes, on medium heat, until the vegetables are softened and slightly golden.
- Add the cooked vegetables to the potatoes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, ground black pepper, and any combination of dry herbs and/or seasoning mixes that you like. Mix to combine.
- Top the thinly sliced onions on top of the potatoes. This step is completely optional. If you’re not a fan of onions, you can skip it.
- Meanwhile, prep the chicken thighs. If you didn’t buy boneless skinless chicken thighs, I have a tutorial how you can debone chicken thighs. Remove the bone, skin and cut out all the grease that you possibly can.
- Season on both sides with salt, ground black pepper, poultry seasoning, paprika and any other seasoning mixes that you like.
- Heat the half n half until it’s almost boiling. Pour over the potatoes. It should barely cover the potatoes, but still not come to the top.
- Place the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes.
- By the way, you can use pork instead of the chicken. Cut country style pork ribs into thin pieces, pound each cutlet into thin, uniform pieces, season and place on top of the potatoes. You can also use sausage. I usually brown the sausage first, though.
- I would NOT recommend using chicken breast in this recipe. Chicken breast cooks very quickly and 1 1/2 – 2 hours in the oven will make it as dry as leather.
- Thinly spread the mayonnaise or yogurt on top of the chicken and then sprinkle with grated cheese. You can use any cheese that melts well and use as much or as little cheese as you like.
- Cover with aluminum foil. To keep the cheese from sticking to the foil, spray it with oil first. This is a good trick to keep in mind when making anything that’s topped with cheese, such as lasagna.
- Bake for 1 1/2 – 2 hours at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, until the potatoes are cooked through. Take off the foil in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking so you can brown the cheese. You can even broil it, if you’d like for just a few minutes. Keep an eye on it though. It tends to burn to a crisp while your back is turned. The second that you step out of the kitchen or start washing dishes, POOF, it’s all black!
- Serve warm. I like to reheat it in a skillet if we have leftovers.