Tender and juicy white meat chicken topped with broccoli and a cheesy sauce with Ritz crackers. This Cracker Barrel copycat is easy to make and will become a family favorite.
Every time a craving for comfort food hits me and I don’t feel like cooking, we head to Cracker Barrel. And next to the Chicken Fried Chicken, the Broccoli Cheddar Chicken is my favorite thing on the menu.
I decided this needed to be something I could make at home. For those cold winter nights when I don’t dare leave the house. I searched the internet for recipes and found them to all be pretty much the same with slight variations.
This casserole can be assembled in just minutes and popped in the oven to bake for 45 minutes. I love that you don’t need to precook anything. I used frozen broccoli that I had defrosted overnight in my refrigerator. There’s no need to cook it or even warm it before adding it to the dish. You could use fresh broccoli instead, but you should at least partially cook it or it will most likely not get soft enough.
Instead of putting the Ritz Cracker crumbs on top, I put a thin layer of the cheese sauce on top of them. The crackers blend into the sauce and thicken and flavor it. But if you want a crunchy topping, mix them with a tablespoon or two of melted butter and sprinkle them on top of all the cheese sauce.
Buttery crackers, broccoli, and cheese are a hard to resist combination. Your kids are going to ask for this Broccoli Cheddar Chicken again and again.
Never miss a recipe. Follow Spicy Southern Kitchen on Pinterest and Facebook.
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken (Cracker Barrel Copycat)
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 1 can cheddar cheese soup
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- 8 ounces frozen chopped broccoli, defrosted
- 1 1/2 cups crushed Ritz crackers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a casserole dish.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in prepared dish.
- In a medium bowl, mix together milk, soup, paprika, and cheddar cheese.
- Pour half of cheese mixture over chicken.
- Scatter broccoli pieces over cheese mixture.
- Top with Ritz cracker pieces and remaining cheese mixture.
- Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes. (I look for small chicken breasts for this recipe. Larger ones I cut in half horizontally. You will need to increase cooking time by at least 10 minutes if your chicken breasts are larger and you do not cut them into 2 thinner pieces.)
Notes
Nutrition
Want to Save This Recipe?
Sharing with The Weekend Potluck
More Copycat Recipes
Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (Panera Bread copycat)
Thai Chicken Pizza – CPK copycat
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Delicious and easy recipe! I think it’s better than Cracker Barrel!
Thanks for sharing!
Love this recipe. It is easy to prepare
How many pounds of chicken? Breasts come in such a wide variety of sizes.
Wasn’t my favorite but my husband liked it. Next time I’m going to use fresh broccoli and cook the chicken in the iron skillet.
My husband loved it! It’s a keeper! Can’t wait to make it for my sons!
Great recipe! Delicious and easy to make! My husband loves it!
Thank you!
Great
Didn’t like it at all, would not make again. Gave most of it to the dogs
Why would you write that? It’s okay if it did not appeal to you….But, why be so insulting?
User error.
Wonderful recipe! It’s simply delicious! Better than Cracker Barrel!
Thank you!
This recipe is easy to fix!
It is incredibly delicious!
Thanks for an amazing recipe!
I worked at Cracker Barrel for a few years. And always loved this (I use boneless, skinless breast and thighs)
Sometimes I use a rotisserie chicken if I need to make it in a hurry
Love it! Yummy!
This was so very good! I cut the breast in half to thin them out. The sauce was just perfect!
This is the best. Maybe even better than CB’s!!!
What size casserole dish? I ate this a couple of hours ago but it was cracker Barrel.
I really like the recipe. I have started to use a recipe for a “from-scratch” condensed cheese soup vs a canned version. That really elevated the flavor. But a canned cheddar soup is quicker and easier, and the taste is still pretty good
This was a hit with my family and I will be making it again. I did add 2 packets of already cooked (like Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice) on the bottom of the pan with seasonings and a little oil. I substituted half-and-half for the milk for an extra creamier sauce and added extra shredded cheese as well as some melted butter with the Ritz crackers for the topping.
I started making this because my Cracker Barrel runs out of it. This recipe is perfect and I actually like it much better than the restaurant version! Of course, I add extra cheese and extra crackers. I like the ability to customize to my taste.
So delicious! I use a little bit of Cajun seasoning on the chicken as well and smoked paprika instead of regular paprika. So yummy!
Easy and so delicious! Will make again.