Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

This homemade poppy seed chicken casserole is made from scratch without canned soups and with a delicious Ritz cracker crumb topping. Made in a slow cooker and cooked to perfection, this is a comfort food dish that the whole family will enjoy.

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Ingredients for Poppy Seed Chicken

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Dried thyme
• Dried sage
• Onion
• Butter
• All-purpose flour
• Low sodium chicken broth
• Heavy cream
• Poppy seeds
• Sour cream
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Ritz crackers
• Fresh parsley or chives

For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.

How to Make Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

1. Place your slow cooker on high heat and add your chicken breasts, quartered onion, and herbs.
2. In a medium-sized saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and then whisk in the flour until combined.
3. Stir together for a few minutes until the flour is just beginning to turn a golden color.
4. Add in your chicken stock and heavy cream while whisking constantly to combine.
5. Continue to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
6. Stir in the salt and pepper.
7. Pour your homemade sauce over the top of the chicken and onions in the crockpot and cook on high heat for about 3 ½ - 4 hours or until the chicken can be shredded easily. Alternatively, you can cook this on low heat for 8 hours, but I find that this actually causes the chicken to dry out.
8. When you are halfway through cooking this crockpot casserole, check on the liquid within the pot and add in some more chicken stock if the sauce looks too dry or thick. The consistency should be slightly thicker than cream.
9. When the chicken has finished cooking, remove the sprigs of fresh herbs (if you used fresh herbs) and remove the onion quarters as well.
10. Shred the chicken and stir in the sour cream, poppy seeds, parsley, and chives. Cover the crockpot with the lid. Momentarily set aside.
11. Turn your oven on to High broil.
12. Crush your Ritz crackers into crumbs and sprinkle them over the top of the casserole inside of the crockpot.
13. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of melted butter over the top of the cracker crumbs.
14. Remove the ceramic insert from the crockpot and place it into your oven.
15. Broil on high for just a few minutes or until the crackers are slightly crisp and darkened in color. Make sure to keep an eye on them because they can burn easily and quickly.
16. Serve warm, and enjoy!

Poppy Seed Chicken Recipe Tips

When whisking your roux sauce, whisk the entire time. While it may take some practice, don’t worry if there are a few small lumps. It will come together better as you continue to whisk.

It should be completely fine to place your slow cooker liner into the oven because it’s made of ceramic which is oven-safe. If you are concerned about this, check the manufacturer's instructions. You could also just remove the casserole to a greased 9x13 baking dish, add the toppings and broil it in that if desired.

Substitutions 

• Herbs. If desired, you can swap out your dried herbs for fresh herbs. To do this, replace the one teaspoon of dried thyme with 2 sprigs of fresh thyme or replace the teaspoon of dried sage with 4 fresh sage leaves. Remove the leaves and sprigs after the slow cooker cook time.
• Homemade roux sauce. If you would like to use canned cream of chicken soup instead of making your own homemade sauce, you may. You will need 1 can of cream of chicken soup (about  10.5 ounces in size) for this recipe. Combine it with 1 cup of chicken broth and leave out the butter, flour, and heavy cream.

How to Make Chicken Poppy Seed Casserole in the Oven

1. Place chicken breasts in a pot of boiling water.
2. Cook until done and the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and stir in flour.
4. Cook for a few minutes, until flour just starts to turn golden.
5. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth and heavy cream, whisking constantly.
6. Let simmer for 3-5 more minutes until thickened.
7. Add salt and pepper.
8. Shred chicken.
9. Combine sauce with shredded chicken, sour cream, poppy seeds, and herbs.
10. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish and spread evenly.
11. Crush package of Ritz and sprinkle over top of the mixture in the baking dish.
12. Drizzle remaining 4 tablespoons melted butter over the top.
13. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

How to Shred Chicken in Crockpot

There are two simple methods for shredding chicken. One is the two forks method, and the other is much faster but a little on the messy side because it uses an electric mixer.

The two forks method:

1. Either leave the chicken breasts in the crockpot or place them onto a sturdy cutting board.
2. Rake two forks over the top of the cooked breasts, pulling in opposite directions.
3. Continue until the breasts have been fully shredded.
4. Return the meat to the slow cooker before stirring it back into the sauce.

The electric mixer method:

1. Leave your chicken breasts inside the crockpot and grab your electric handheld mixer and beaters.
2. Beat on medium speed as you run the mixers over the top of the chicken.
3. The chicken meat will shred automatically.
4. Continue to run the mixer over the chicken until fully shredded.

One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to take a classic or old-fashioned recipe like this poppy seed chicken and turn it into an even easier dish to prepare. While the original version is cooked on the stovetop and oven, we embrace the crockpot for a meal that practically cooks itself. Tender chicken, poppy seeds, and a homemade creamy sauce are what make this casserole recipe a bit more unique.

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Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

Longbourn Farm • Alli Kelley

This homemade poppy seed chicken casserole is made from scratch without canned soups and with a delicious Ritz cracker crumb topping.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings 8 people

Calories 401 kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• Redmond Real Salt

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 sprigs fresh)
• 1 teaspoon dried sage (or 4 leaves fresh sage)
• 1 onion (quartered)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups chicken broth (low sodium, divided)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ teaspoon salt (to taste)
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers (crushed)
• 4 tablespoons butter (melted)
• Fresh chopped parsley and chives (optional)

Instructions

 

• Turn crockpot on high and place chicken breasts, quartered onion, and herbs in it.
• In a medium saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and stir in flour.
• Cook for a few minutes, until flour just starts to turn golden.
• Add the chicken stock and heavy cream, whisking constantly.
• Let simmer for 3-5 more minutes until thickened.
• Add salt and pepper.
• Pour over everything in the crockpot and cook on high for 3 ½ or 4 hours, until the chicken is shreddable. You can also cook on low for 8 hours, but I find this dries out the chicken.
• Halfway through cooking, check the liquid in the pot, add more chicken stock if it starts looking dry or too thick. The consistency should be slightly thicker than cream.
• When chicken is done, remove herb sprigs (if you used fresh herbs) and onion quarters.
• Shred chicken.
• Stir in sour cream, poppy seeds, parsley and chives and leave covered in crockpot.
• Turn oven on to broil on high. 
• Crush package of Ritz and sprinkle over top of the mixture in the crockpot.
• Drizzle remaining 4 tablespoons melted butter over the top.
• Remove ceramic insert from crockpot and place in oven.
• Broil on high for just a few minutes (keep your eye on it!!) until the crackers are slightly crisp and darker in color.

Nutrition

Calories: 401kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 26gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 154mgSodium: 615mgPotassium: 564mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 964IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 86mgIron: 1mg

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