Chicken and Mushroom Casserole (Healthy)

This simple, low in fat chicken and mushroom casserole is a delicious, super easy to throw together and versatile dinner idea. It can be served with pasta, rice, bulgur wheat, quinoa or potatoes.  It’s a healthy dish the whole family will enjoy!

This chicken and mushroom casserole is a super simple, delicious recipe that takes only about 15 minutes to prepare.  The dish takes less than 40 minutes to make from start to finish.

What mushrooms to use in chicken and mushroom casserole

I used 2 types of mushrooms in this casserole – regular closed cup (use chestnut mushrooms instead if you like) and porcini.  Porcini mushrooms have a very strong flavour so you will only need about 10 g of these. (Which also makes this dish relatively inexpensive, see Top Tips below).  Even this small amount of porcini will enhance the flavour and add depth to the sauce.

The porcini mushrooms need a tiny bit of preparation before combining with the sauce.  Place them in a bowl, add a bit of cold water and rub with your fingers to get rid of any grit.  Then rinse and soak in 1/2 of cold water for 5 minutes.  Lastly boil this mixture, covered, for 10 minutes.  (See photo below)

By this time your sauce will have practically been made (see steps below) so all that’s left to do is to pour the porcini mixture into the sauce and stir.  Cook for another minute and assemble the recipe.

Equipment you’ll need

Kitchen scales, measuring cup and spoon

Small saucepan and spoon

Cutting board and knife

Large pan and spatula

Medium sized shallow oven dish

How to make mushroom sauce for healthy mushroom chicken: step-by-step

1.Whilst the porcini are cooking prepare the sauce.  Start by roughly chopping the regular mushrooms.

2. Fry the onions gently in a little oil until golden.

3. Add the chopped mushrooms and increase the heat.  Cook for 5 minutes stirring often until the mushrooms start releasing water.

4. Combine the fromage frais (fromage blanc) with the corn flour and add into the pan.  Stir and pour in the porcini along with the water from the cooking, season, stir thoroughly and cook for about a minute.

5. You are now ready to assemble the recipe.

2

How to assemble healthy chicken mushroom recipe

This is very quick and easy to do.  Place the chicken pieces in a single layer in your casserole dish and spoon over the mushroom sauce ensuring the chicken is thoroughly covered.  Drizzle over a bit of olive oil and pop your casserole into the oven.

The sauce will be quite thick to start with but the chicken will release lots of juices as it cooks, which as a result will give the sauce a perfect creamy consistency.  Not too thick but not too runny, either.

I baked my chicken and mushroom casserole for 20 minutes but you may need to reduce or increase cooking time by a couple of minutes depending on the size of your chicken pieces.  It is important not to overcook the dish as this may make the chicken a little tough.

What to serve with healthy chicken and mushroom casserole

Enjoy this low fat chicken casserole with mushrooms alongside pasta, rice, bulgur wheat, quinoa or potatoes.  It goes equally well with all of these sides.  For a low carb dinner idea try it with spiralized root vegetables.  Other side dishes you could pair it with include spiced baked potato wedges and hasselback sweet potatoes.

Freezing

This chicken mushroom bake is easy to freeze.  Once cooled simply transfer into an airtight container (one large or several smaller ones for individual portions) and freeze for up to 3 months.  To defrost place in the fridge overnight, then reheat in the microwave.

Top tips

The best place to get porcini mushrooms I’ve ever come across is a Polish delicatessen.  You’ll pay a lot less than in a regular supermarket.

I used naturally low in fat fromage frais (fromage blanc) which tastes a lot like sour cream and creme fraiche (both very calorific) and won’t curdle during cooking!

The mushroom sauce will be quite thick to start with but it will have the right consistency once the chicken has cooked.

Cooking times may vary depending on the size of your meat pieces.

More low calorie chicken breast recipes

Baked Mushroom Crusted Chicken Breast

Cauliflower Rice Crusted Chicken

Spinach Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Almond & Quinoa

Easy Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake

Check out also this collection of 13 healthy, easy ope pot chicken recipes!

KEEP IN TOUCH!

How has your chicken mushroom bake turned out for you? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for regular recipe updates!

Print Recipe

Chicken and Mushroom Casserole (Healthy)

This simple, healthy chicken and mushroom casserole is a delicious and versatile weeknight dinner idea - it can be served with either rice, potatoes or pasta.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: International

Keyword: casserole, chicken, mushroom

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Monika Dabrowski

Ingredients

• 300 g regular closed cup or chestnut mushrooms roughly chopped
• 10 g porcini mushrooms
• 600 g chicken breast skinless, sliced into 3-4 long strips each
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2.5 tbsp corn flour
• 1/3 cup fromage frais
• 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp fine sea salt and plenty of pepper

Instructions

• Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl, add a bit of water and rub with your fingers to remove and grit. Rinse, place in a saucepan, add 1/2 cup water and soak for 5 minutes. Cover the saucepan (do NOT drain the water), bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside reserving the water.
• Preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200 C/ gas mark 6. You will need a medium oven dish.
• While the porcini are cooking prepare the sauce. In a large pan heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil and fry the onion gently until softened and golden. Add the chopped regular mushrooms, increase the heat and cook for 5 minutes until they release water, stirring often.
• Combine the fromage frais with the corn flour, add into the pan and stir until well combined. Add the porcini mixture (including the water they cooked in), season, stir and cook for a minute until the sauce has thickened. The sauce will be quite thick.
• Place the chicken strips in the baking dish in a single layer, spoon over the mushroom sauce (ensuring all the meat has been covered), drizzle with a little oil and bake for about 20 minutes (cooking times can vary so ensure the meat is cooked through before serving, but try not to overcook it). Remove from the oven, stir and serve.

Notes

The best place to get porcini mushrooms I've ever come across is a Polish delicatessen.  You'll pay a lot less than in a regular supermarket.

I used naturally low in fat fromage frais (fromage blanc) which tastes a lot like sour cream and creme fraiche (both very calorific) and won't curdle during cooking!

The mushroom sauce will be quite thick to start with but it will have the right consistency once the chicken has cooked. 

Cooking times may vary depending on the size of your meat pieces.

RECIPE LINK PARTIES

I am sharing this healthy chicken and mushroom casserole recipe with Saucy Saturdays and Cook Once Eat Twice.