Grandmother’s Ritz Chicken Casserole Recipe

Ritz Chicken Casserole is a family favorite recipe made with 6 ingredients! A comforting chicken recipe with a crunchy Ritz cracker topping!

Ritz Chicken Casserole is one of the easiest yet most comforting meals my Grandmother taught me how to make as a young girl. Made with just six ingredients, it was a recipe she knew everyone loved and was so simple to make.

I love to serve it with green beans, broccoli, or another vegetable for a complete meal.

How to Make Ritz Chicken Casserole

To make this easy chicken casserole, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Ingredients

Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and the estimated nutritional information.

• Chicken – you’ll use cooked chicken in this recipe. Grandmother would use whole chicken breasts, as photographed, but you can also use shredded chicken if you’d like. If you are in a pinch, store-bought rotisserie chicken works wonderfully. Grandmother’s original recipe used eight chicken breasts, but you can reduce this to 3 to 4 chicken breasts, one whole rotisserie chicken, or 3 to 4 cups of shredded chicken.
• Cream of Chicken Soup – I use 1 cup of my homemade cream of chicken soup, but you can also use one can of your favorite store-bought cream of chicken soup.
• Cream of Mushroom Soup – If you use a can of store-bought cream of chicken soup, you can omit the cream of mushroom soup.
• Chicken stock or broth – Again, I prefer my homemade chicken stock or broth, but definitely keep stock of good, organic stock in my pantry to use in a pinch.
• Sour cream – Adds a touch of that signature tangy sour cream flavor.
• Ritz crackers – Rich, buttery crackers make a crunch topping on this casserole. You’ll need two sleeves of these crackers.
• Butter – Added to the top of the Ritz crackers on the casserole for incredible flavor in the baked casserole.

Substitutions and additions

Green onions – If you love green onions, slice 2 green onions and stir into the casserole. They add so much flavor.

Parsley – if you have fresh parsley, add a ½ cup of chopped fresh parsley to the casserole for added fresh flavor and color.

Chives – stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh chives.

Broccoli – stir in 2 cups of cooked broccoli to make this casserole a complete meal.

Step-by-Step Instructions

This comforting chicken casserole is so quick and easy to make and ready in 30 minutes.

Arrange chicken in a 9×13 baking dish. My Grandmother’s original recipe called for eight cooked chicken breasts, as shown. You can reduce this to 3 to 4 cooked chicken breasts, or 3 to 4 cups of cooked shredded chicken, or the chicken from 1 store-bought rotisserie chicken.

In a bowl, mix cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, sour cream to make the Ritz Chicken Casserole sauce.

Pour the Ritz Chicken Casserole sauce over the cooked chicken. If you are using shredded chicken, you can mix the shredded chicken in the bowl with the sauce mixture and then pour all of the ingredients into the baking dish.

Top the casserole with the crumbled Ritz crackers and top with the pats of butter.

Bake until the crackers are browned and the casserole is bubbly, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions

To make ahead. Assemble the casserole without baking. Cover tightly with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate. Remove from the refrigerator while the oven in preheating. Bake as directed.

To store leftovers. Cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

To freeze. Cool completely, wrap tightly with plastic wrap or store in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, reheat and serve.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

Originally published 2010. Updated photographs and instructions 2023.