This is a quick and easy version of a chicken noodle casserole—perfect for busy nights!
This cozy creamy casserole has chicken, egg noodles, and green peas in shortcut sauce. It’s topped with crumbs and baked until bubbly.
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The Easiest Chicken Noodle Casserole Ever…
- Minimal prep and few ingredients make this casserole a weeknight dinner winner.
- It’s creamy, flavorful, and totally effortless.
- It’s a complete meal in just one dish and a versatile way to use your leftovers.
- The topping is cheesy and slightly crispy with a buttery flavor.
- Enjoy this casserole dinner in just 30 minutes for a busy weeknight meal.
Ingredients in Chicken Noodle Casserole
Pasta: I love the light texture of egg noodles in this recipe. You can replace them with another medium pasta such as fusilli or penne.
Chicken: Use rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken in this recipe. Diced ham or leftover turkey can be used to switch it up.
Veggies: Mix in your favorite frozen veggies like peas, carrots, or broccoli. To use fresh vegetables, cook them to tender-crisp before adding them to the dish.
Sauce: The quick version of this sauce uses cream of chicken soup. Cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup are also great in this chicken noodle casserole recipe.
How to Make Chicken Noodle Casserole
One of the things I love best about this family favorite recipe is how easy the prep is!
- Boil noodles in a large pot until al-dente.
- Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish (recipe below).
- Sprinkle on toppings and bake until golden brown and bubbly.
Variations
- Swap out cheddar cheese for anything you have on hand. Try pepper jack for a kick!
- Crushed Ritz crackers can be used as a substitute for Panko bread crumbs.
- Add herbs like fresh thyme or parsley to the sauce for extra flavor and color!
More Cozy Chicken Favorites
Did you enjoy this Chicken Noodle Casserole? Leave a rating and a comment below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups egg noodles uncooked, 4 ounces
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken
- 10.5 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup 1 can, see notes for homemade version
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 cup frozen peas or frozen mixed vegetables
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Topping
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese optional
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon melted salted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the egg noodles al dente (firm) according to package directions. Drain well.
- In a 2-quart casserole dish, combine the cooked egg noodles, shredded chicken, chicken soup, milk, frozen peas, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
- In a small bowl, mix the cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs, and melted butter. Sprinkle the mixture over the casserole.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly. If desired, broil for 1 minute to brown the topping.
Notes
- Seasonings such as thyme or poultry seasoning can be stirred into the sauce. I find canned soup salty enough but you can add additional salt if desired.
- If substituting fresh vegetables, add them to the pasta water during the last few minutes until tender.
- Cook pasta just until it is just al dente.
- If you don’t have cooked chicken, simmer chicken breasts in water or broth for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Save the chicken water for cooking the pasta or for soup.
- 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese or Monterey jack can be added to the sauce if desired.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 4 days and in the freezer for 4 months.
- ¾ cup milk
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup light cream
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon each onion powder and garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
Place over medium heat and continue whisking until thickened. Stir in butter and season with salt & pepper to taste and use in place of canned cream of chicken soup.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Chicken, Main Course, Pasta
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I made this for the first time for a church potluck. I tripled the recipe. I used both cream of chicken and cream of mushroom. Everyone loved it. I had no leftovers!
My husband got a small taste of it and now he wants me to make one for us at home. It was delicious. Thank you❤
That is awesome, Leticia. So happy this recipe was a hit.
Can I assemble the casserole a couple of days ahead and cook later? 2 days later?
Hi Marcia, it should be fine to prepare in advance.
I can’t believe how good this casserole is! Yum!
REALLY good ! And fast. Made it with Costco rotisserie cut up chicken! And added chopped garlic.
I will make it again for sure!
For the people who are saying this is bland did you use salted water for your noodles. I have a cabinet full of spices and seasonings of all kinds that I use regularly. Other than throwing some garlic salt in my pasta water there was just sodium in the cream of mushroom. We were quite happy with it. Sure a couple of grinds of pepper would have been fine as well but since I have been sick for 2 days I was not really interested in a bunch of seasoning. I do not need anything to put me back in bed for another 12 hour period. However my other half who was not sick said it was great just the way it was. No other seasoning needed.
Mine came out dry??? maybe my oven didn’t need to be on 425.
Made this recipe and it was a hit. I added 2 can’s of Cream of Chicken soup and a little more milk. Didn’t have bread crumbs so I used potato chips crushed up and it was great! Added a little more flavor too. Used canned chicken as we didn’t have any other chicken and made it alot easier to throw together quick too and was just as delicious. Our son has food allergies so we have to be careful not to put ingredients in that he can’t have and this is everything he can and he loved it. Thanks for sharing!
So easy! I threw it all together and we enjoyed it so much!! Only my recipe was huge!! I didn’t double it or triple it, I 4pled it!! . It will definitely be a favourite for us. I substituted mushroom soup and I used mushrooms instead of peas. My husband just devoured it! Thank you for sharing your recipes with me!
Used cream of mushroom because that’s all the corner store had. Used fresh green beans, that’s what I had. Chicken left over from our Christmas Eve dinner.
We ate it all. Just the 2 of us.
Delicious!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Mandy!
So surprised by how many people are saying how good this is. I made this tonight for my boyfriend and I to have a nice comfy hearty dinner and it was so incredibly bland. I used paprika, fresh and powdered garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, a little cayenne, and onion powder to season the chicken and the chicken itself was delicious. But other than the chicken the only flavor you taste in this casserole is cream of chicken. I definitely recommend precooking the sauce (minus the chicken and noodles, over the stove and adding some seasoning before mixing everything and baking it altogether.
This was such a disappointing recipe.
I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this casserole as much as we do Stephanie. We love the chicken flavor of the sauce. It’s easy to add extra flavorings if you’d like to spice it up or even change the sauce for a different creamy soup for a change of pace. Thanks for trying the recipe!
It is a general rule with cream of whatever casseroles that you have to add seasonings to make them good for a modern pallet. These recipes originate back in the 40s and 50s back when Campbells had contests for recipes involving their soups. Most people didn’t buy a lot of spices outside of salt and pepper, at least not my family anyway. I treasure these old casseroles, but yeah, give it a shake of cayenne and a bay leaf or two. A few turns of the pepper grinder goes without saying. Literally. It isn’t mentioned in the recipe. I feel like I haven’t cooked if I haven’t turned my pepper grinder.
Very good tasting, however to dry. I will add another can of soup or some alfredo sauce next time.
Can I substitute tuna for the chicken (canned)?
Yes (or you can try our favorite tuna casserole here).
Could you use half and half cream instead of milk?
I’ve only tried the recipe as written, but I’m sure that would be just fine. If you find the mixture a little dryer (because the half and half is a bit thicker), add a couple extra Tablespoons. Let us know if you try it Anita!
Yum!! Used a can of artichoke hearts in water, drained instead of peas. Cut up 2 chicken breasts seasoned with pepper and a little Montreal steak seasoning, and browned on the stove in olive oil. Used a hot dog bun crumbled and mixed with 2 Tbsp of butter for crumbs and more like a cup of finely grated Mexican blend cheese. This was super easy and we loved it!
Can you use cream of celery soup
Hi Lori, that should work well.
i love this recipe! i added black pepper on top and it was simply delicious!
We loved it! Will definitely be making it many more times! NONE leftover!
This is delicious! Have made it several times….it is definitely a 5 star recipe.
Thanks Linda! So glad you enjoy it.
like chicken casserole recipe to be printed out on paper
To print this recipe you can scroll down the recipe itself and select the print button at the top. I hope that helps Susan!
This was delicious! I made it for my family and we just loved it. It is a shame it didn’t make more because everyone wanted the leftovers for lunch the next day.
It’s definitely going into our dinner rotation.
So happy to hear that Brenda. You will definitely need to make a double batch!