Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli
This is a recipe I started making when I was completely sick of cooking, but still wanted something warm and homemade for dinner. You know the sort of week I’m talking about. The sink fills up faster than you can wash dishes, everyone keeps asking what’s for dinner, and for some reason the fridge looks both full and empty at the very same time.
One afternoon I came home to find chicken, broccoli, shredded cheese and a can of soup waiting for me in the kitchen. I actually almost ordered take out instead of this, but figured I could at least throw everything in a slow cooker and hope for the best. The smell a few hours later changed my mood completely.
The chicken was cooked to tenderness, the cheese melted into the creamy sauce. The broccoli then soaked up all that rich cheesy flavor without being mushy which honestly surprised me because slow cookers can ruin broccoli if you’re not careful. By dinnertime the whole kitchen smelled warm and comforting in that old-fashioned casserole kind of way. Suddenly everyone was hovering around asking if dinner was ready.
That usually meant a recipe had worked. What I like most is how simple everything looks. No complicated prep. ” No stacks of dishes. A few ingredients, slowly transforming into the sort of dinner people actually feel happy to eat after long days.
I usually toss it over rice because the sauce is great and I hate to waste it, but I’ve also eaten leftovers standing in front of the fridge with a fork out of the container. Maybe not my finest hour, but it sure was honest.
Ingredients:
- 2 lb. chicken breast
- 4 cups broccoli, cut into florets
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1 cream of mushroom soup (canned)
- 1 cup milk;
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Directions
Step 1: Add Chicken
- Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot.
- Sprinkle the garlic powder on top.
Step 2. Add the creamy ingredients
- Pour cream of chicken soup and milk over the chicken.
- Spread it out a little so that the chicken is coated.
- It doesn’t look that exciting at the moment. But that will be later.
Step 3: Take it low and slow
- Cover and cook on LOW 5-6 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours.
- When done, chicken should shred easily with a fork.
- The middle of it and your kitchen starts to smell good.
Step 4: Add broccoli and cheese
- Shred the chicken right in the slow cooker.
- Add the broccoli and all but a bit of the cheddar.
- Toss everything together until the sauce coats the broccoli.
- Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Cover and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender and the cheese is fully melted.
Little Kitchen Notes
- Mild cheddar has a milder flavor but sharp has more flavor.
- Fresh broccoli holds up better than frozen.
- Rice works great under all that cheesy sauce!
- It’s even more like a warm casserole, topped with crushed crackers.
Final Thoughts
This recipe reminds me why simple comfort food is timeless. A few simple ingredients, a slow cooker and a little patience somehow create the kind of dinner everybody remembers. And honestly, if a meal brings people together in the kitchen before dinner even starts, there’s probably a reason it becomes a favorite.
