Chicken Bachina Hot Dish

(This recipe was originally posted in conjunction with the Meijer Ad Week of 3/25/12 - 3/31/12)

I was never a big fan of chicken broccoli casserole until I tried this version.  Now I'm sold on it...and I hope you will be too!

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked, diced chicken breast
1 1/2 - 16 oz bags frozen broccoli, thawed
Sauce:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
4 Tbsp margarine
1 cup cubed Velveeta cheese
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp dry minced onion
dash pepper
Topping:
4-6 slices of bread
6 Tbsp margarine, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook sauce ingredients over medium heat, stirring continually until cheese is melted.  Layer in a greased 9x13 pan half the chicken, half the broccoli, and half the sauce.  Repeat layers.  Tear up bread into chunks and arrange on top of casserole.  Drizzle with 6 Tbsp melted margarine.  Bake uncovered, 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.  Serve with bread and/or salad.

Options and Tips

• The fastest, easiest way to cook chicken breast for any recipe:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Trim all visible fat from chicken breast pieces.  If pieces are large, cut them in half.  Place chicken pieces in a greased baking dish and bake 10 minutes.  Turn over each chicken piece and return to the oven.  Bake 10-12 more minutes.  Allow to cool slightly and then dice.  If you're in a hurry, pop the chicken in the freezer for a few minutes to cool it down faster.
• Cheaper cuts of chicken may be substituted to reduce the cost of this recipe
• A healthier alternative to drizzling melted margarine would be to use spray butter and lightly spritz all the bread pieces.
• This is a great way to use up any almost-stale bread or buns.  In the picture above, the "bread chunks" are actually torn-up hotdog buns.
• For small families, split this recipe into two 9x9 casseroles.  Bake one tonight, and freeze the unbaked one for another night (or to give away). 

This recipe was given to me by Sarah Kamps.  I believe it is originally her mother-in-law Laurie Kamps' recipe.

This recipe is linked to the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom.