Easy Cheesy Crack Chicken Casserole

Loaded with chicken, cheese, bacon, ranch, and spinach, this Crack Chicken Casserole is ultra comforting and keto-friendly, without the pasta, rice, or cream of chicken soup. Perfect on its own, with a side of veggies, or in a low-carb tortilla, this easy casserole recipe is perfect for a quick dinner that the whole family will enjoy. It’s Keto + Gluten-Free.

This recipe was originally published on January 12th, 2022.

❤️ Why you will love this Crack Chicken Casserole

• It’s SO comforting: With 3 types of cheese plus ranch and bacon, this creamy chicken casserole is some of the best comfort food out there.
• You can use up leftovers: This is a great recipe to use up leftover rotisserie chicken or leftover turkey. You can also throw in any leftover veggies you have in the fridge like broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, green onions, and green pepper (or any other bell peppers).
• It’s easy! Perfect for busy weeknights, it’s one of those easy prep, dump-and-cook type recipes. Apart from the bacon – that needs to be crisped up a little before adding it in.
• Super quick meal: This easy recipe is ready in just 35 minutes, with only 10 minutes of prep time. That’s a lot of flavor for such little time and effort!
• It’s very low carb! With only 3.7g of net carbs per portion, this delicious recipe is perfect for the keto diet!
• The crunchy cheese topping. The best part, that golden goodness you can see is crispy, crunchy cheese that was broiled at the end of cooking. Phenomenal!

?️ Key ingredients for Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

• Ranch: I whipped up my homemade Ranch dressing for this recipe as it’s very low carb, really easy to make, and more flavorful as well! Store-bought ranch would work as well, e.g. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. Just double-check the carb count on the bottle!
• Bacon: Before mixing the bacon into the rest of the ingredients I dice and crisp it up in a frying pan, and then add it along with any extra bacon grease to the casserole.
• Cheese: Cheddar and mozzarella is the combination of cheese I prefer for this recipe. The kind of mozzarella I used was a firm block of mozzarella cheese (I grated it), not the soft buffalo mozzarella. You can also use pre-packaged, grated mozzarella cheese but it may be slightly higher in carbs than the block of cheese. The mozzarella makes it oozy and delightful.
• Cream Cheese: I added 2 180g packages of Philadelphia cream cheese to this recipe. Any brand if fine, full fat is best.
• Chicken: Shredded tender chicken breasts are ideal for this recipe. Store-bought rotisserie chicken is great (especially leftover chicken!), or you can make your own shredded chicken ahead of time in an instant pot or slow cooker. I made the instant pot method. My raw chicken weighed 1kg (2.2lbs) and cooked it weighed 670g (1lb 7oz). Chicken thighs or diced chicken breast can be substituted. Creamy crack chicken casserole is also a great way to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or Christmas.
• Spinach: Get some greens in there! Spinach adds color and melts in with the rest of the soft texture. I used thawed frozen spinach as I always have some on hand.

? How to make Cheesy Crack Chicken Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F.

2. Cook the bacon: Dice the bacon strips with a knife or cut with scissors and fry the pieces over medium-high heat until you have crispy bacon bits.

3. Mix the other ingredients: Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl add the cooked chicken breasts, cream cheese, 2/3 of the mozzarella, 2/3 of the cheddar, spinach, and 3/4 of the ranch (1.5 cups), and mix well together.

4. Add the bacon after it’s finished cooking and mix well.

5. Add to a baking dish: Spoon the chicken mixture into a 9×13″ baking dish and spread it evenly.

6. Drizzle the remaining ranch over the top of the chicken mixture in the casserole dish, and spread it evenly.

7. Add the remaining cheese: Sprinkle the remaining grated mozzarella and cheddar over the casserole.

8. Bake for 10 minutes covered, then 10 minutes uncovered.

9. Broil: Finally, set your oven to the broil setting and broil the casserole for the last 5 minutes, until the topping is golden.

10. Serve this baked crack chicken casserole with a drizzle of ranch!

? How to store and reheat this Crack Chicken Casserole recipe

• Store: Refrigerate this crack chicken recipe in an airtight container or with aluminum foil covering the food for up to 4 days.
• Reheat: Reheat in the microwave until piping hot, or in the oven at 200°C/392°F for 15-20 minutes, until heated through.

❓ What ranch dressing can I use?

You can make your own (this is what I did – I rarely find ranch here in the UK). I used my Whole30 Dump Ranch recipe – it’s very easy!

On the other hand, you can buy premade ranch at the supermarket if it’s available in your country. Hidden Valley is the iconic brand, and their carbs are fairly low as well. Whichever brand you buy, check the net carb count on the nutrition label!

? How many net carbs are in this keto chicken bacon ranch casserole?

There are 3.7g net carbs per portion.

? More keto dinner recipes you’ll love

• KETO CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE
• BRAZILIAN CHICKEN STROGANOFF
• VEGAN KETO INSTANT POT CHILI
• KETO ORANGE CHICKEN
• WHOLE ROAST BBQ CHICKEN

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