Crunchy Chicken Casserole

I had some leftover chicken which needed using up today and so I put it together with some bits and pieces and came up with a delicious casserole.  I know  . . . it uses tinned soup, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, and I will confess right now, I am not a tinned soup snob.  It has it's uses, and this is one of them.



 In keeping with my dietary requirements I used low or half fat ingredients for everything, with the exception of the crispy onions on top.



The end result was a delicious casserole that was not only low in carbs and sugar, but high protein.  There are roughly half of your daily fat requirements in it however, so you do have to take it easy fat wise the rest of the day, but that's not a problem if you stick to what you should be eating.

 

It is filled with all sorts of tasty crunch . . .  chopped hearts of palm (you could use water chestnuts instead), chopped celery, flaked almonds  . . .



 You could, of course, replace the low fat sour cream with a no fat alternative, like plain yogurt, but I find yogurt can split, especially the low fat one . . .  so I stuck with low fat sour cream, which adds a special richness.  With it's low carbs and sugars, this is quite diabetic friendly.

 

I served it with plenty of green vegetables on the side and Todd had a crusty roll with his.  It went down a real treat.   I love it when leftovers feel like a luxury, don't you?  It's really win/win.  No waste and you feel indulged.   Economical and thrifty as well.  That's a bonus.

*Crunchy Chicken Casserole*

Serves 4 

Printable Recipe 

Simple and satisfyingly delicious.  Creamy and rich with lots of crunch.  All you need on the side is a cooked vegetable and perhaps some crusty bread. 

1 1/2 cups chopped chicken breast meat (about 3 breasts chopped)

3 stalks of celery, trimmed, washed and finely chopped

60g of grated strong cheddar cheese (1/2 cup)

60g of sour cream (I use low fat, 1/2 cup)

110g of low fat mayonnaise (1/2 cup)

2 hearts of palm, quartered and chopped

(alternately can use 1 small tin of water chestnuts,drained and chopped)

1/2 (295g) tin of condensed cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 oz)

(Shove the rest into a freezer container and freeze it until you have a use for it)

85g of flaked almonds (1/2 cup)

To top:

a heaped dessertspoon of crispy salad onions (french fried onion rings)

30g grated strong cheddar cheese (1/4 cup)

 

Preheat the oven to 180*C.350*F gas mark 4.  Butter a 8 by 10 inch baking dish.

Stir the chicken, celery, 60g of cheddar, mayonnaise, sour cream, soup, almonds and hearts of palm together in a bowl.  Spread this in the prepared baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, for half an hour.  Remove from the oven.  Scatter the crispy salad onions over top along with the cheese.  Return to the oven for 5 minutes.  Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

 

Using low fat ingredients, topping not included:

Calories per serving:  405

fat:  27.7g

carbs:  12g

Fibre: 3.3g

Sugars:  1.4g

Protein: 28.4 g