Chicken casserole

1201261

Hi everyone, I don't know where to put this thread as I cannot find a thread for cooking - so here it is for those who know what to do about this!

I am planning on cooking a chicken casserole tomorrow. I have a Colman's Chicken casserole mix as I have never made it before so I will start off by using a mixture. It says to add onions and carrots and skinless chicken. I have boneless, frozen chicken. I will be adding more vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, thick celery and some baby potatoes.

Do I have to fry the chicken first before I put it in the casserole (will be going in the oven for one hour), and will it make my vegetables soggy if I leave it in there for that long? I definitely don't want a soggy mess! It's for me and my partner so I don't want to ruin it.

Many thanks :smile:

Reply 1

moutonfou

You should always defrost frozen chicken overnight in the fridge before using. Some people I know do microwave it on defrost on the day and haven't as far as I know had any trouble - but I was always told the slower the better with chicken.

But however you defrost it (slowly in the fridge or more quickly in the microwave using the defrost setting), never heat frozen chicken directly from the freezer (whether deciding to microwave on full power to speed up the defrosting process - no no! - or putting straight into the pan frozen - even bigger no-no!). If using the microwave to defrost, similarly make sure the middle is fully defrosted before using.

So short answer is you preferably need to get that chicken in a bag or on a plate in the fridge to defrost overnight for use tomorrow.

You can then either:

1. Put chicken directly into the casserole raw with your veg and casserole mix. Quicker and less washing up!
2. Fry off the chicken first before putting into the casserole - not necessary (it will still cook through if you put it in raw) but some people like the firmer outside that comes with it having been fried off first. However to do this you will either need to fry it in a pan and then transfer to an oven proof dish, or have a purpose-made casserole dish that can both go on a hob and can then go straight into the oven. Don't try to put a pan in the oven / put an oven-proof dish on the hob if you're not sure it's been made for both!

As for the vegetables, you will be surprised how slowly vegetables cook in the oven compared to boiling on the hob. I did a chicken casserole for an hour last week for example and the carrots were still slightly crunchy. So after an hour I'd get it out, test one of your carrots and see if you want to pop it back in for a bit to soften them up or if you like them as they are.

As a side-note, you can follow the packet instructions and it will make a nice casserole, but they usually come out on the wetter side with quite a lot of liquid. If you want it to be thicker, either add a little less water than it says to (you can always add more halfway through cooking if it looks a bit thick) or a nice little touch can just be to throw some rice in there - that you way you have a bit of carbohydrate in there and the rice also soaks up the extra moisture making it nice and thick.

Good luck!

(edited 9 years ago)