Leftover chicken recipes are pretty popular in our home because we eat a lot of it. This is the number one favorite of our boys. You can make this delicious casserole for about $1 per serving and it will taste great the next day too!
🍲 What is this?
This tasty meal shows that you can use any leftover poultry for another meal. It’s not only good tasting and fast, but it’s also darn affordable.
You can make this easy casserole for about $5.00 and well under $1.00 per serving. As my dad use to ask, “How do you like those apples?!”
It doesn’t matter if the original poultry was fried, roasted, barbecued, or even from the rotisserie. This is the best way to use leftover chicken!
You probably won’t find this leftover chicken recipe at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Lucky for us, our boys are O.K. with that.
🥘 Ingredients and notes
Other than the meat, this easy family meal has just a few ingredients. Because it is a casserole, you can use your imagination pretty freely. If you want to add a bag of mixed vegetables to this, your kids won’t even know the difference!
For the Pasta – Shells work great for this leftover chicken recipe, but you can also use the tubular rigatoni like what we use in our best mac and cheese.
Cream Soup – You can also use cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup in this recipe.
For the Cheese – Use whatever you have on hand. Parmesan, cheddar, and mozzarella all work for this casserole.
For the Milk – 2% or whole milk works best for this casserole. Anything less takes away from the creaminess of it.
🔪 How to make it
The steps to making this leftover chicken recipe are short and sweet. Another bonus to using good leftovers.
Other than the ingredients, all you need is a 9 x 13-inch casserole pan, a mixing bowl, wooden spoon, and some measuring cups.
1. Cook and drain the pasta shells as directed. Then combine all the ingredients with the meat in a large mixing bowl.
2. Stir it all together.
3. Transfer the ingredients to a greased 9 x 13 casserole pan.
4. Bake at 350° for about 35 minutes.
Pro Cooking Tip: For a saucier and creamier dish, add an extra ½ to 1 cup of milk to the pan before it goes in the oven.
Our whole family loves this leftover chicken recipe. Because it is a recycled meal, we are getting a twofer. Of course, this makes it even better!
Variations and substitutions
- Use whatever kind of leftover poultry that you have on hand.
- Leftover fried chicken
- Rotisserie chicken
- Leftover barbecued chicken
- Turkey tenderloin
- Leftover Thanksgiving turkey
- Use your favorite cheese in this leftover chicken recipe, or whatever you have on hand.
- Mozzarella cheese works great for a mild and light flavor.
- Cheddar cheese will add a little more savory flavor to this leftover casserole.
- Parmesan cheese will give it a bit of an Italian flare.
- To make it extra creamy, substitute the milk for heavy cream or half and half.
Common questions
Make sure it is cooled and then sealed and wrapped in the refrigerator as soon as possible. Never allow poultry to sit at room temperature for over 2 hours.
It should be tossed out after 3 or 4 days in the fridge. If it starts to smell or look funky, throw it out.
You can freeze this leftover chicken recipe for up to 6 months. Use plastic wrap to seal it before placing it in the freezer Allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight, the day before you bake it.
What to serve with it
This is a meal all by itself, but if you want to add a side dish or two, consider some of the following easy side dishes:
More leftover chicken recipes
- Quick Chicken Quesadillas
- Mexican Lasagna
- Chicken and Biscuits Skillet Pot Pie
- Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup
Be sure and see our full collection of easy dinner recipes.
🧑🍳 Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and a comment. We love hearing from our readers!
⏭️ Stay in touch with us on social media by following us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!
📬 Get our recipes delivered to your inbox for FREE!
📖 Recipe
Crispy Leftover Chicken and Shells Casserole
Ingredients
- 16 oz. chicken coarsely cubed
- 16 oz. pasta shells
- 8 oz. shredded cheese
- 1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F°
- Grease a 9 x 13 casserole pan.
- Prepare pasta as directed, drain.
- In a large mixing bowl, cube leftover poultry. Add grated cheese, soup, milk, breadcrumbs and pasta.
- Stir mixture thoroughly then evenly distribute in prepared casserole dish.
- Bake for about 35 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Video
Notes
- Basil
- Oregano/Italian seasoning
- Thyme
Eileen K says
We really enjoyed this. I added 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper and green peas. I also topped it with bread crumbs.
Will definitely make again.
Paula says
Can this recipe be frozen?
Dan from Platter Talk says
Hi Paula. You can freeze this for up to 3 months. To reheat, allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake as directed.
gil says
How many ounces is the can of condensed cream of chicken/mushroom soup? Mine comes in a 12 oz carton…is this the equivalent of the can in this recipe?
Dan from Platter Talk says
Yes, this would be an equivalent amount.
Dianna says
Tastes great. I added a bag of frozen peas to add color.
kathleen hendricks says
Wow, this is extremely yummy. Hubby’s not much into casseroles but loved this as well. Thanks for sharing.
Dan from Platter Talk says
Kathleen, Thanks for the great feedback!
Daniela says
you have an metric conversion chart that who disappears only if i join whit my e mail , i joined once , twice
i dindn’t the close button … it is annoying…
Dan from Platter Talk says
Daniela, we will email you the link to download it. Sorry for the problem with it.
Joyce Pereira says
Is it suppose to be 1/4 cup breadcrumbs or 1 cup?
Dan from Platter Talk says
Hi Joyce. It should be 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. Thanks for bringing this typo to our attention!
Leigh ann says
I am making this right now…with my leftover rotissire chicken I used cheddar cheese because I love cheddar..30 minutes away from something really good. Thanks for this recipe
Dan from Platter Talk says
Leigh, I think you will agree, this is the perfect use for leftover rotisserie chicken; hope you enjoyed!
Amanda Draper says
Just made this hopefully my family will love it we also had some leftover broccoli that I added in.
Dan from Platter Talk says
Sounds like a great addition to this leftover chicken recipe!
Maria says
This must be a silly question as no one else asked it, but the cream of chicken soup–is it the condensed or ready to serve kind?
Dan from Platter Talk says
Maria, You’ll want to use condensed cream of chicken soup for this easy leftover chicken recipe. Thanks for the question!
Veena Azmanov says
Such a great way to use up leftover chicken. We love casseroles in our home, especially in winter. This sounds like something I wanna try. Saving for later
Marisa Franca says
What a great way to use chicken! Everyone loves pasta so stick some chicken with it and add some cheese and you’ve got a delicious meal everyone ties into. I’ll be saving this recipe.
Kylee from Kylee Cooks says
Such a yummy way to repurpose leftovers! This could be good for thanksgiving turkey too!
Lauren Vavala says
This is a great idea for leftovers! Such a family friendly meal too – anything I can get my kids to eat without any whining is perfect!
Mahy Elamin says
Wow, this is a really great idea for my children. A simple and easy list of ingredients is what I love. Now I know how to use leftover chicken. This recipe looks super easy and full of ingredients my family loves. Looking forward to trying soon. Thank you for a great idea!
Claudia Lamascolo says
I love using shells in a casserole, the kids love them too, This is one the whole family will love what a great all in one meal!
Jennifer A Stewart says
I usually use my leftover chicken for chicken and rice but I am going to switch up with this next time!
Madi says
This sounds like the perfect comfort food! I can’t wait to make this for dinner!
Michaela Kenkel says
Repurposing leftovers is always a great idea!! Fried chicken in anything has GOT to be good!
Angela says
Oh how I am loving this one! Food waste is such a pet peeve of mine and I LOVE how you’ve used these leftovers! Plus… fried chicken is delicious!
Kathy says
What a great way to use leftover fried chicken. We always buy too much of it and end up wasting it. Thanks to this recipe that won’t happen again. I know my family would love this dish!
debi at Life Currents says
This is such a fabulous way to use up leftovers. I love a big casserole that gives us lots of meals. I think I’ll add frozen green peas when I make this.
Dan from Platter Talk says
Thanks, Debi. We never knew how many people face this dilemma (leftover chicken), until we put this leftover chicken recipe together. We hope you try it soon!
michele says
We don’t ever have leftover fried chicken (yes, we overindulge, but its fried chicken, but we do however have a LOT of leftover roast chicken… what a great way to use it up in such a comfort food that we’ll all LOVE!
Dan from Platter Talk says
Take my word for it, this leftover chicken works well for either version!
Diana says
What a wonderful idea! I never know what to do with leftover chicken, so I just throw it in pasta. Pinning to try later!
Dan from Platter Talk says
Thanks so much, Diana. Our boys really enjoyed this one!
Allison - Celebrating Sweets says
I love finding new ways to use up leftovers. Sounds great!
Dan from Platter Talk says
Our kids loved this, as did their dads – win/win!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
It’s all about the comfort foods. You’re right that good food can be affordable. Looks good.
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
This looks super tasty. I don’t usually like shells but I can’t wait to try them like this because my hubby loves them. Thanks for sharing.
Jeff the Chef says
What a fantastic way to reinvent a leftover! For a home chef, those kinds of recipes are must-haves. Nicely done.
Jeff @ Make It Like a Man! says
I love these kinds of dinners! These soerts of recipies need to be in every home cook’s arsenal.