Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Casserole

Oct 07, 2023Updated 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.

thanksgiving casserole in a slow cooker with pie and cranberry sauce on the side.

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.

Ingredients for thanksgving casserole with text overlay of what the ingredinets are.

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.

3 images showing how to add potatoes, chicken and cream soup to slow cooker.

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.

3 images showing how to add stuffing, green beans and cream soou on top of other layers in slow cooker.

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.

3 images showing how to add cheese, and french fried onions to other layers in slow cooker.

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.

thanksgiving casserole done cooking in a black crockpot.

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.

plate of thanksgiving casserole with pie and cranberry sauce in background.

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

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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.