Comfort Food: Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole

Some days you just need a high-calorie, dense, creamy comfort food. This is one of those foods. LSH and I were in the mood for some warm edible comfort so I thought I would give this recipe a try. I came across a couple recipes for this type of dish, but the base that I used was from Bobby at blogchef. It seemed like it would provide the highest calorie of comfort with the most substance so we gave it a shot and altered it a little bit. So if you are in the mood for something easy and comforting, give it a try!

Time: 40-60 min
Ingredients
2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 ounces egg noodles (it's about half of a big bag of noodles)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup (You can always use 2 cans of this instead of 1 of each. LSH hates mushrooms so that's what we did.)
1 cup sour cream
1-2 cup carrots, chopped
oil
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)
1-2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
1 cup crushed buttery crackers (like Ritz)
1/4 cup butter

If you do not have pre-cooked chicken, you can season the breasts with salt and pepper and throw them in a skillet with a bit of oil on medium heat. Flip the breasts once until they are fully cooked. Cut the chicken into small pieces or shred it. I think we did cubes more or less.

Preheat oven to 350.

 Cook the egg noodles according to the package. Drain them when they are done.

While the noodles cook, saute the carrots with a bit of oil in a skillet over medium heat. The goal is to tenderize them a bit. We didn't do this but it is a good idea to.

Once noodles are cooked and carrots are sauteed, mix together the two cans of creamed soup and cup of sour cream in a large bowl. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and turmeric if you want and any other desired seasonings. Toss in the carrots and the noodles and mix it up. Finally, toss in the chicken. At this point, you should have a large bowl of creamy deliciousness.

Lightly grease an 8x8 pan and dump the whole mixture in.

Melt the butter and stir in the crackers. These tasty little crumbles get put on top of the casserole with the desired amount of cheese. The crackers add an amazing salty, crunchiness.

Stick it all in the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes or until the casserole is cooked through and the topping is browned.

Let it cool a little bit then serve a big gloppy spoonful and relish in the comfort. :D
The original recipe says this serves 4, but that seemed ridiculous to LSH and I. We think it serves 5-6 people.

Original post at http://blogchef.net/chicken-noodle-casserole-recipe/