Crispy Leftover Chicken and Shells Casserole
Updated Jul 03, 2025
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Leftover chicken recipes are pretty popular in our home because we eat a lot of chicken. This is one of our boys’ top favorite casserole recipes.
You can make this easy leftover chicken casserole for about $5.00 and well under $1.00 per serving. As my dad used to ask, “How do you like those apples?!”
Featured Comment: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐So delicious! I used left over breaded chicken tenders and added pepper jack cheese for some kick. A quick easy weeknight choice.. I can’t wait to refry the rest… Toni
📝 Crispy Leftover Chicken Casserole -Fast Facts
✅ Prep Time: ~10 minutes
⏲️ Bake Time: ~35 minutes
🍽️ Serves: ~6 (depends on portion size)
👨🍳 Skill Level: Easy
📦 Equipment: Large bowl and 9×13 casserole dish
💵 Estimated Cost: ~$5.00 total / ~$0.85 per serving
This budget-friendly casserole uses leftover chicken, pasta shells, cheese, soup, and milk—just stir, bake, and enjoy a creamy, comforting dinner ready in under an hour. Great for weeknights or reheating the next day!
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💖 Why You’ll Love This Leftover Chicken Recipe
- 🍗 Use Up That Chicken – Whether it’s leftover oven fried buttermilk chicken, plain diced chicken, Smoked Whole Chicken, or air fryer chicken drumsticks, this leftover chicken recipe puts it to good use.
- 💸 Budget-Friendly – Just a handful of pantry staples turn your leftovers into an easy dinner under $1 per serving.
- 🧀 Creamy & Crispy – Cheese, cream soup, and breadcrumbs come together for a comforting bite that’s both creamy and golden on top.
- 🕒 Quick to Prep – Stir it all in one bowl, pop it in a casserole dish, and let the oven do the work.
- 🍽️ Looking for More Leftover Chicken Recipes? Use it with other fan-favorites like
- 🔁 Endless Leftover Options – This leftover chicken recipe also works with Skillet Honey Lime Chicken Thighs, Juicy Air Fryer BBQ Chicken, and virtually any family chicken recipe. It’s one of many inexpensive family dinners, perfect for stretching your grocery dollars.
Table of Contents
- 📝 Crispy Leftover Chicken Casserole -Fast Facts
- 💖 Why You’ll Love This Leftover Chicken Recipe
- 🥘 Ingredients and Notes
- Variations and Substitutions
- 🔪 How to Make Leftover Chicken Casserole
- Recipe Questions and Answers
- What to Serve with Leftover Chicken Casserole
- More Leftover Recipes
- Crispy Leftover Chicken and Shells Casserole Recipe
- More Family Dinner Casserole Ideas
Like our Tex-Mex tater tot casserole, this leftover chicken recipe comes together in a snap and uses ordinary ingredients you already have on hand.
🥘 Ingredients and Notes
(Find the complete recipe at the end of this post.)
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 rigatoni mac and cheese with bacon in it.
Cream Soup – Like our Creamy Garlic Mushroom Meatballs, 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.
Variations and Substitutions
- Use whatever kind of leftover poultry that you have on hand.
- Rotisserie chicken from Costco.
- Leftover barbecued chicken from the grill
- oven-roasted turkey tenderloin
- Leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat
- 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 flair.
- To make it extra creamy, substitute the milk with heavy cream or half-and-half.
🔪 How to Make Leftover Chicken Casserole
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.
Recipe Tip
To make this leftover chicken recipe saucier and creamier, add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of milk to the pan before it goes into the oven.
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⭐ Most readers end up making this in a few days.
Recipe Questions and Answers
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. To reheat this, follow the same directions for reheating alfredo sauce.
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 Leftover Chicken Casserole
This leftover chicken recipe is a meal all by itself, but if you want to add an ordinary side dish or two, consider some of the following easy side dishes:
More Leftover Recipes
If you’re looking for the best way to use leftovers, be sure to read how to reheat enchiladas; they can taste even better the next day! Speaking of leftover and enchiladas, you’ll want to check out our leftover steak recipe for enchiladas!
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Crispy Leftover Chicken and Shells Casserole
Save This Recipe for Later (You’ll Want It Again)
Get this recipe sent to your inbox, plus a few of our best easy meals
⭐ Most readers end up making this in a few days.
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
- 1/4 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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Family Dinner Casserole Ideas
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Can i sub the shells for a different pasta?
Yes, any pasta should work with this.
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.
Can this recipe be frozen?
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.
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?
Yes, this would be an equivalent amount.
Tastes great. I added a bag of frozen peas to add color.
Wow, this is extremely yummy. Hubby’s not much into casseroles but loved this as well. Thanks for sharing.
Kathleen, Thanks for the great feedback!
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…
Daniela, we will email you the link to download it. Sorry for the problem with it.
Is it suppose to be 1/4 cup breadcrumbs or 1 cup?
Hi Joyce. It should be 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. Thanks for bringing this typo to our attention!
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
Leigh, I think you will agree, this is the perfect use for leftover rotisserie chicken; hope you enjoyed!
Just made this hopefully my family will love it we also had some leftover broccoli that I added in.
Sounds like a great addition to this leftover chicken recipe!