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Our easy Chicken Noodle Casserole recipe is the ultimate kid-friendly comfort food! It is made from scratch with a simple white sauce combined with chicken and egg noodles and baked with cheese on top.
Classic Chicken Noodle Casserole, done right.
Classic Chicken Noodle Casserole, done right.I love to reinvent the classics and everyhting about this easy Chicken Noodle Casserole is better than Grandmas! The homemade sauce is key–no canned soups, or other processed ingredients–just wholesome, real ingredients that everyone usually has on hand.
It's definitely a picky eater approved recipe that my entire family loves. It has all of the flavors we love from Chicken Noodle Soup but even more of a “comfort food” vibe, with the pasta and and cheese. It's a great one for feeding a crowd, or perfect for a meal train for a friend. I also like to to meal prep this recipe with roasted vegetables.
For more comfort-food classics try our Cheese Enchiladas, Chicken Casserole, Meatloaf, Instant Pot Pasta and Meatballs, Hamburger Gravy, Fettuccine Alfredo, or American Goulash!
How to make Chicken Noodle Casserole:
Combine: Cook egg noodles according to package instructions. Make the sauce by melting butter in an extra large saucepan. Add flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried basil, then stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth slowly, stirring until thickened. In a separate mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, egg, ½ cup parmesan, and 1 cup mozzarella.
Bake: add chicken, noodles, and cheese mixture, stirring to combine. Transfer to a large casserole dish and bake. Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Serve With:
- Broccoli Salad
- Roasted Vegetables
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower
- Balsamic Roasted Carrots
- Wedge Salad
- French Green Beans
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Prep the entire chicken noodle bake up to 24 hours in advance, just slightly undercook the egg noodles. Assemble then cover tightly with foil and keep in the refrigerator. Let sit on the counter for 30 minutes before baking as instructed.
To Freeze: Undercook the noodles and only boil them for 4 minutes then follow the recipe to assemble and bake. Allow it to cool completely then cover with a double layer of aluminum foil and keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen for 1 ½ hours (still covered with foil). Take the foil off and bake for an additional 20-40 minutes until hot and bubbly.
More Must-Make Chicken Recipes:
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
- Easy Roast Chicken
- Garlic Chicken
- Grilled Chicken Sandwich
- Chicken Gyros
- Boursin Pasta
- Chow Mein
Chicken Noodle Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 ounces egg noodles, , cooked al dente
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 24 ounces cottage cheese, , small curd
- 1 large egg, , beaten
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, , divided
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, , divided
- 4 cups cooked chicken, , chopped
- fresh chopped parsley, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Cook egg noodles in a large pot of boiling water, just until al dente, or even 1-2 minutes less. (The noodles will continue to cook later, when baked). Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sauce: Melt butter in an extra large saucepan over medium to medium high heat. Add flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth, about a cup at a time, until mixture is thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Cheese layer: In a large mixing bowl stir together cottage cheese, egg, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, and ½ cup parmesan cheese.
- Combine: Add chicken, noodles and cheese mixture to the saucepan and stir to combine. Taste and add additional salt, pepper or dried basil, if needed.
- Bake: Pour mixture into a 9×13’’ baking dish (or you can bake it right in an oven-safe saucepan it is in). Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes or until golden on top and bubbly. Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe December 2017. Updated March 2020, November 2023 and January 2025.
Original recipe inspired from Betty Crocker.
Hi Lauren. My wife and I are in our late 40’s and learned Canning about 10 years ago. Our garden keeps us busy and then well fed during the winter with all we have “Put up”. This year we also pressure canned 20qts & 10pts of chicken. We wanted to try our results with something other than the run of the mill condensed soup recipes, so after a brief search, we found yours. Having a fully stocked harvest, I also threw in some of our corn, beans, spinach, shrooms, and of course the chicken. It was sublime! I also toasted some crumbled vegetable Ritz crackers in duck fat to add a bit of crunch to the top. Fantastic recipe and a fitting showcase for all of our toil. Will make often this Michigan winter. Thank you taking the time to share it with everyone.
Best wishes,
Steven & Trina
Really good casserole. Followed recipe but used regular chicken broth as it is what I had on hand. Mine needed less salt and more noodles but no one cared because the flavor was delicious! It’s a keeper.
This casserole was delicious! I didn’t have any fresh chicken on hand so I used canned chicken (so easy!). I was able to make two 8 x 8 casseroles, one with chicken and one without (for my teen who doesn’t eat meat), so this recipe pleased everyone. This is undoubtedly going to become one our new favorite dinner recipes. Thank you!
This was super yummy! Will definitely make this again!!
Thanks Marilyn! Happy you liked it 🙂
Can you freeze this? Would you bake it first?
Hi Caroline, I just updated the recipe with freezing instructions! I would bake it first, then freeze it.
Made this last night, was a big hit. I did make some changes: cut the amount of butter in half, sautéed half an onion, finely chopped and 3 carrots chopped in it, until soft. Added half the flour, then 2 cups chicken broth and 1 cup pasta water. Used a 16 oz package of cottage cheese(thats what was in the fridge) and added ~1 cup thawed frozen peas to the cheese mixture. It was so good that the request went out to put this on the list of regular dinner meals.
Many thanks for an outstanding recipe!
Hi Lauren, the baking temp is missing from this recipe when you print it out! Can’t wait to try it tonight! I’ve got my sister-in-law hooked on your site too!
What is the bake temperature and when do you add the rue?
Bake at 350 degrees. Add when you mix everything together 🙂
Yummy! I know this casserole would be a hit at our house!
Looks yummy! Gonna give it a go soon, probably this weekend. Thanks for the idea!