Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Casserole
40 Comments Oct 07, 2023
Updated May 14, 2025
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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.
Love Thanksgiving flavors but not the cleanup? This layered casserole combines all your holiday favorites—like green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and chicken—into one creamy, comforting dish. It’s an easy way to enjoy the classics without all the pots and pans.
Want to swap in ham? Try my Slow Cooker Christmas Casserole.
Ingredients for Thanksgiving Casserole
This may seem like a lot, but remember it’s a full meal to feed a crowd. Find the full ingredient amounts in the recipe card below the images.
- 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.
Variations
Here are approved changes for this recipe if you want to stray from the original.
- 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.
How to Make Thanksgiving Casserole
I’ve detailed below how to layer this dish, it’s really easy to put together with my guide below.
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.
My Serving Suggestions
You don’t need much more to complete this meal!
- 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.
- Pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream is the perfect way to finish dinner.
Featured Comment
“This is by FAR my favorite recipe of yours. We had it last night and it was so good! I wanted to eat more but I was so full. Even my 7th month old ate the most she has ever eaten. So freaking good!”
– Courtney
Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Casserole
How to Video
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
- Before starting the layers, liberally spray the entire inner crock with cooking spray to avoid any possible sticking.
- 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 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.
Sarah’s Notes
- Place the French fried onions 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.
- 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.
- Cooked chicken or turkey will not work as a substitute. This recipe was developed with raw chicken or raw turkey. The juices from the raw meat add moisture and flavor to the dish.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Holiday Recipes We Love to Make:
- Serve Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce alongside Slow Cooker Turkey Breast for a classic holiday pairing.
- These Slow Cooker Dinner Rolls are the perfect side for Mississippi Pot Roast or Christmas Roast Chicken.
- End your meal on a sweet note with Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie after enjoying Slow Cooker Spiral Ham.
Hi, Sarah. The recipe looks delicious. I’m curious if it would be possible to use leftover turkey meat from Thanksgiving. I know the cooking times would be very different. What are your thoughts?
It would need to be tested. The raw chicken helps the moisture in the dish. For the cooking time, the potatoes actually take the longest, so the same cooking time would apply.
Hi. 2 questions.
1) Will the milk survive the cooking time? I’ve read not to cook dairy products for too long in a crockpot because they seperate.
2) I have a 10 Qt. crockpot. Do you think I can get away with doubling this recipe?
I tested this three times. The milk did fine. I am unsure how long it would need to be cooked if you doubled it. And it barely fit in a 6 quart.
thank you.
Do you have any suggestions for an alternative to the soups? They’re sooo salty.
Try the low sodium versions.
Could cheddar cheese be used instead of mozzarella in this recipe?
Yeah it’s lighter in flavor.
Can I make it in the oven
I have not tested that, I apologize.
What can you substitute the cream of mushroom soup for when you are definitely allergic to mushrooms??
Use another cream of chicken.
High carbs. Sounds great though. I would def modify to a healthier version.
Can I substitute jarred Heinz Homestyle Gravy for the mushroom soup?
I have not tested that, so it’s hard to say. But I think it would be a good substitution.
Hi Sarah, Does the stuffing go in dry? Will there be enough moisture in it?
It does go in dry, the butter along with the moisture in the casserole will be enough. I tried to make this without that layer of butter, that time it was dry.
Can a 4 quart cp be used if I do the recipe at the “smaller” amounts?
I don’t see why not!