Thanksgiving Casserole has all the flavors of that delicious holiday feast conveniently made in your slow cooker. Now there’s no reason to wait for the holiday season to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner when the craving strikes anytime of the year.
Round out your meal by making our Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce, Slow Cooker Dinner Rolls, and Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie.
Why this recipe works
Who doesn’t enjoy Thanksgiving dinner? But who really loves doing all the dishes after making each side dish individually more than once a year? That’s where this recipe comes in.
Classic Thanksgiving table recipes meet comfort food in this multiple layered creamy casserole that features some of your favorites like green bean casserole, mashed potatoes (and sweet potatoes if you like), turkey (or in this case, chicken), and stuffing.
It’s really like all the traditional holiday favorites of sweet potato casserole, classic green bean casserole, cooked turkey (er, chicken), and a dressing recipe all rolled into one easy dish.
Once done, the potatoes will be fork tender and could easily be smashed like mashed potatoes. This is the ultimate in Thanksgiving casseroles, all the delicious food in one pot.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken — we used chicken breast, but a mixture of white and dark meat could be used. Turkey breasts or turkey tenderloin can be used IF you can find them at the store
- Potatoes — classic russet potatoes work best, but a mixture of those with sweet potatoes is delicious.
- Stuffing — turkey flavor Stove Top is our favorite, but chicken is also tasty.
- Green beans — we used frozen, but fresh trimmed greens are perfect too.
- Pantry staples — cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, French fried onions, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried parsley.
- Dairy — butter, milk, and mozzarella cheese. We don’t recommend using pre-shredded cheese, the anti-caking agent used on the cheese can lead to a dryer casserole.
Step One – Our first layer is the potatoes. Peel and cube them into small pieces (sweet potatoes too if you’re using them.) Add them to the crockpot and pour the milk over, place the butter slices on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with the allotted salt and pepper.
Step Two – For the second layer, cube the chicken and add it to a bowl. Toss the chicken with the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley. Stir the chicken until all the pieces are completely coated with the seasonings and then add it to the slow cooker over the potatoes.
Step Three – As evenly as possible, spread the cream of mushroom soup over the chicken completing the third layer.
Step Four – Sprinkle the stuffing packet over everything and place the remaining stick of butter slices on top.
Step Five – Cover the stuffing and butter with the green beans.
Step Six – Smooth the cream of chicken soup over the green beans as evenly as possible.
Step Seven – Cover the entire surface with the freshly grated mozzarella cheese.
Step Eight – Cover the slow cooker with its lid and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours. Cooking time will vary depending on your actual appliance but the edges should have begun to brown, the top bubbling, and the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F. The potatoes should also be fork tender.
Step Nine – Once done, sprinkle the French fried onions over the top.
Tips:
- Place the French fried onion on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for a minute or two to warm, brown, and crisp before adding them to the casserole. This is not necessary but does add a nice touch. Or you can brown the french fried onion in a dry skillet.
- Before starting the layers, liberally spray the entire inner crock with cooking spray to avoid any possible sticking.
How to Serve
- Add a generous dollop of cranberry sauce to each serving to complete the taste of Thanksgiving dinner.
- Hot dinner rolls and a side salad make great additions to this meal.
- Other Thanksgiving meal favorite sides like creamed spinach, wild rice, and slow cooker corn casserole would be right at home served with this casserole for an extra big meal.
- Pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream is the perfect way to finish dinner.
Adaptions
- To make a slightly thinner creamy sauce, add up to a cup of chicken broth over the green beans before the cream of chicken soup.
- Swap the mozzarella with either pepper jack cheese (for a slightly spicy kick), Swiss cheese, or cheddar cheese for bolder flavor.
- Add cubed pieces of butternut squash, quartered Brussels sprouts, or corn either with or in place of the green beans.
- Use Stove Top’s cornbread dressing if that’s a family favorite in stead of turkey.
Recipe FAQs
No, but that sounds delicious. This is a casserole using fresh, uncooked ingredients that tastes like the holiday dinner.
We do not recommend using any sour cream, as that will alter the overall flavor of the dish, but 4 ounces of cream cheese cut into cubes could be added to make this casserole even creamier.
Sure can. Following the tip above, toast panko (Japanese style bread crumbs) and sprinkle in place of the fried onions. Potato chips or corn flakes could also be used in a pinch. Toasted pecans pieces coated in brown sugar and browned butter and dried cranberries would make this an even more comforting casserole with extra flavor.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Some separation may occur, but once reheated and stirred, it will come together again.
The fastest way is in the microwave for 2 minutes on 75% power, stirring every 30-45 seconds or until heated through. Conversely, place any leftovers in an oven-proof baking dish or casserole dish, cover with tin foil, and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until heated through.
No, this recipe was developed with raw chicken or raw turkey. The juices from the raw meat add moisture and flavor to the dish.
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Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Casserole
Equipment Needed:
Ingredients:
Potato Layer
- 3 lbs. russet potatoes peeled and diced SMALL (or 1.5 lbs. russet and 1.5 lbs. sweet potatoes)
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter sliced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
Chicken Layer
- 2 lbs. chicken breasts cubed into 1 inch pieces (can use cubed raw turkey breast or tenderloin)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. parsley
Next layers (in order)
- 10.5 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
- 6 oz. turkey stove top stuffing (or chicken flavor)
- 1/2 cup salted butter sliced
- 1 lb. frozen green beans (or fresh trimmed green beans)
- 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup
- 8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese (freshly shredded if possible)
- 1 cup toasted French fried onions
For serving
- cranberry sauce
- dinner rolls
Instructions:
- Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray.
- Peel and cube them into small pieces (sweet potatoes too if you’re using them.) Add them to the slow cooker and pour the milk over, place the butter slices on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with the allotted salt and pepper.
- Cube the chicken and add it to a bowl. Toss the chicken with the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley. Stir the chicken until all the pieces are completely coated with the seasonings and then add it to the slow cooker over the potatoes.
- Next in order add these layers (spread each layer out evenly over the next): cream of mushroom soup, stuffing mix, sliced butter, green beans, cream of chicken soup, then mozzarella cheese.
- Cover the slow cooker with its lid and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours. Cooking time will vary depending on your actual appliance but the edges should have begun to brown, the top bubbling, and the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F. The potatoes should also be fork tender.
- Once done, sprinkle the French fried onions over the top. Serve and enjoy.
How to Video:
Sarah’s Notes:
- Place the French fried onion on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for a minute or two to warm, brown, and crisp before adding them to the casserole. This is not necessary but does add a nice touch. Or you can brown the french fried onion in a dry skillet.
- Before starting the layers, liberally spray the entire inner crock with cooking spray to avoid any possible sticking.
- Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Some separation may occur, but once reheated and stirred, it will come together again.
- The fastest way is in the microwave for 2 minutes on 75% power, stirring every 30-45 seconds or until heated through. Conversely, place any leftovers in an oven-proof baking dish or casserole dish, cover with tin foil, and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until heated through.
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Awesome recipe that was highly recommended to me by a friend. After making it, I can understand why. Made as per instructions and it came out looking just like your picture. There we’re only two of us and I had a ton of leftovers. We ate it for two more meals and froze the rest for a day when I don’t have time to cook. Will definitely make again. Thank you for another great and satisfying recipe.
Excited to make this. We’re in the middle of moving houses and have ZERO dishes. Do you think I could try frozen diced potatoes in place of fresh?
I think that would work great.
Since this is calling for fresh potatoes, I would allow the frozen ones to THAW before putting them in, Because cooking times are based on fresh/raw potatoes.
Have you tried any other stuffing mixes, (Pepperidge Farms or Brownberry) to see how they work?
I have not, I apologize.
Happy Thanksgiving! This turned out Fantastic! Thank you for the recipe. I changed it a bit, but I’ll still give it 5 Stars. What fits in a 10Qt?…5 lbs. of potatoes, 5 Lbs. of chicken, a few carrots and celery, 1 lb. of sliced mushrooms, 20 oz. of frozen green beans, 2 boxes of stuffing mix, and 3 cans of soup. Wife wants to try this again with baby corn added. The stuffing came out nice and moist without extra juice drowning the bottom. I was worried about the milk, but it came out good. Cook time was 7 hrs. Chicken hit 187F. New Thanksgiving Dinner.