Chicken Zucchini Casserole

This recipe is not fancy (if you want to know where I'm coming from here, read yesterday's post). In fact, more than likely, you have a similar, if not identical, recipe in your recipe box or binder. It's an oldie, but a goody.

This recipe is safe (when it comes to feeding guests whose food tastes you may be unsure of), comforting and homey. It reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner.

I've made this many times, but not recently. I was inspired by the shelf-full of frozen, chopped zucchini I have in the freezer. I pulled out the recipe, read it over and almost didn't make it because it calls for canned cream of chicken soup. I just haven't bought cream of anything in awhile and rather liked that I hadn't.

Then, I remembered that in the back of my most heavily used cookbook these days (go ahead, pretend you didn't notice), there is a recipe for Cream Soup Substitute. That did it. I was off. You can either make the substitute or use the store bought stuff. I won't be mad:-).

From Simply In Season: (if this is hard to read, double click on the photo to make it larger)

Follow this easy recipe and you will end up with a dry mix to label and stick in your fridge until you are ready to use it.

When you need cream of chicken soup, simply measure out 1/3 cup of the dry mix...

and add 1 and 1/4 cup water.

Stir with a whisk and cook over medium high heat until...

it's thick and bubbly. Add it to your dish when cream of chicken soup is called for. I tripled this recipe (I was making several casseroles) and I still had over half of my dry mix left to keep in the fridge for the next time. We could not taste a difference between this and the store bought variation (in this casserole).

Chicken Zucchini Casserole (my mom's recipe)

1 package (6 ounce) stuffing mix, chicken or turkey flavored
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups diced zucchini
2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken or turkey
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted (OR use Cream Soup Substitute from above)
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sour cream

In a large bowl, combine the stuffing mix and melted butter.

Add the chopped zucchini, making sure to drain it well if it's been frozen. Also add the shredded carrots. I didn't use carrots this time because I don't have any raw carrots. Only soft, pressure canned ones. And they wouldn't shred very well. The carrots add a lovely color and another veggie, so if you have them, use them.

Add the shredded chicken. It helps (sometimes) to have a little helper. In this case, Sadie girl.

Add the chopped onions.

Stir in cream of chicken soup and sour cream.

Once it's combined well, transfer it to a greased 2 quart baking dish or 8x8 inch casserole dish. Then, pop it in your 350 degree oven for 4o min. (or until the top starts to brown nicely). Or, you can pop it (unbaked) into the freezer for another time- just make sure to thaw it completely before baking.

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