Chicken and Rice Casserole

​We had some pretty amazing meals over the holidays and now my refrigerator is bursting with leftovers. What do I do when I have too many leftovers in my refrigerator and I can't seem drum up enough excitement to eat them?  I turn them into something else so they don't look like leftovers anymore.  In this case, I had leftover herbed basmati rice and leftover dry rubbed grilled chicken breasts.  I turned to a chicken casserole recipe that I was passed down to me from my mom.  It's an oldie but goody. 

Chicken Casserole
3 cups chopped cooked chicken            
2 cups diced celery                                1 can cream of chicken soup
1 Tablespoon minced onion                4-6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup mayonnaise                                  1 ½ cups crushed cornflakes
1 ½ cups cooked rice                            ½ cup slice almonds
1 teaspoon lemon juice

​​Saute celery and onion in butter to soften.

Combine celery, chicken,

​mayonnaise,

rice, 

lemon juice, 

​and soup. 

​Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Spoon into casserole dish.  

​Put cornflakes in a ziploc bag.

Brown cornflakes and almonds in butter and sprinkle over casserole.

Bake 45 minutes at 350.

Once again I forgot to snap a picture of the casserole before we ate - sooner or later I'll get the hang of this food blogging thing.  Anyway - my daughter had 3 servings of chicken casserole - obviously it was a big hit.  The casserole was delicious and it's a great way to use up leftovers.  Your family doesn't even have to know that they're eating leftovers. 

​Ciao!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe