Sunday afternoon, my husband, Keith, ran to the Carrollton Dollar General store to pick up a few chili fixings. He returned with multiple bags full of “essentials.” Among those, he stocked up on cream of mushroom soup and chicken broth, “just in case.”
When Keith and I first started dating, he informed me that he wasn’t a fan of anything made with cream soup – chicken, mushroom, celery, and so on. He certainly got over that stage because several of my go-to dishes are made with some sort of cream soup, particularly Poppy Seed Chicken (the late Mildred Fondren’s recipe) which he absolutely loves.
Poppy Seed Chicken
3 chicken breasts, boiled and chopped (salt the water)
1 can cream of chicken
8 ounces of sour cream
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1.5 sleeves of Ritz crackers crushed
¼ cup butter (half a stick)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream, and poppy seeds. Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle Ritz crumbs over the top of the dish. Dot with butter pats. Cook uncovered until cracker crust is golden with bubbling edges.
My very first cream of casserole to make was Chicken and Rice Casserole. It was a terrible experiment with the rice severely undercooked and crunchy. The trick is not to take the foil off until it is cooked completely. Patience has never been a virtue of mine.
Chicken and Rice Casserole
1 box Uncle Ben’s Long Grain Wild Rice (original recipe)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can water (or more depending on moistness of rice)
Chicken breasts or tenders
In a greased 9 x 13 pan, mix the box of rice, cans of celery and mushroom soup and
one can of water. Arrange the raw chicken on top of the rice mixture, and cover and seal with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours without uncovering.
Green Bean Casserole is the quintessential holiday dish. I usually expect its appearance on Thanksgiving and Christmas and sometimes even on Easter. Some love it, and some not so much. However, for me, who was burn out on green beans while living in the sorority house in college, it is about the only way I can choke down a green bean. (I also like them steamed with a little crunch still there.)
Green Bean Casserole
2 1/2 pounds French-style green beans 6 cans of French-style green beans
2 cans (10.75 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/3 cups fried onions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Using fresh green beans: Trim the ends, put in a microwave safe bowl with a tablespoon of water and cover with wet paper towel and microwave for 5-7 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
Using frozen green beans: Microwave the green beans long enough to thaw, drain and pat dry
Using canned green beans: Drain well and pat dry, no need to microwave.
In a large bowl mix the green beans, mushroom soup, cheddar cheese and 1/3 cup of the fried onions, then add it to a baking dish. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Top with remaining fried onions and cook an additional five minutes before serving.
I love broccoli and cheese. Even my sister, Stephanie, who grew up hating any and all vegetables except a tomato loved broccoli and cheese growing up. My mother mixed the broccoli and cheese together to create a gooey glob to entice Stephanie to eat it.
Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Casserole is like Momma’s broccoli and cheese with a little sophistication. It is one of my favorite cream soup recipes.
Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Casserole
2 cups water
2 cups uncooked instant rice
20 ounces canned chunk chicken, drained
1 can (10.75 ounce size) cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10.75 ounce size) cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 package (16 ounce size) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1 small white onion, chopped
1 pound processed Velveeta cheese, cubed
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Bring the water and rice to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once at a boil, cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed then fluff with a fork.
Combine the rice, chicken, soups, butter, milk, broccoli, onion, and cheese in a bowl. Spoon into the prepared baking dish.
Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbly.
Since Keith is now an Instant Pot connoisseur, I’ve been collecting recipes for him to try out. Of course, we have plenty of cream of mushroom soup. This one is on our list to try. It sounds like a big pot of comfort food.
Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
1/2 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
10.5 ounces can cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoons flour
3 cups beef broth
3 cups egg noodles uncooked
1 cup sour cream
Spray Instant Pot interior with cooking spray. Set to sauté. Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic.
After beef is browned stir in flour. Add broth, soup, and salt and pepper. Mix. Add noodles.
Place lid on Instant Pot. Set to high pressure for 8 minutes. After it is done, let the pressure naturally release for about five minutes, and then change to quick release until all the pressure is gone.
Stir in sour cream until combined.
