Chicken Noodle Casserole Made from Scratch

🧂 Ingredients

• 12 ounces wide egg noodles

  7 3/4 cups
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 green bell pepper

  stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine
• 1 onion

  chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 pound boneless

  skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise and trimmed
• 6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese

  shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 25 Ritz crackers

  crushed coarse

Instructions

• 1 Bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add noodles and 1
  tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until just al dente, about 3 minutes
  (or follow package directions). Drain noodles and rinse with cold water until
  cool, about 2 minutes. Drain again and set aside.
• 2 Melt 1 tablespoon butter in now empty pot over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper
  and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, for about 5 minutes.
  Transfer to a bowl; set aside. In now-empty pot, melt remaining 2 tablespoons
  butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, for about 1
  minute. Slowly whisk in broth and half-and-half and bring to a boil. Reduce heat
  to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, for about 5 minutes. Add
  chicken and cook until no longer pink – 8 to 10 minutes.
• 3 Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove pot from the heat. Once the chicken is cool
  enough to handle, transfer chicken to a plate, and shred into bite-size pieces.
  Whisk cheddar cheese into sauce until smooth. Stir shredded chicken, noodles,
  bell pepper mixture, mushrooms, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 1/4 teaspoons pepper
  into cheese sauce.
• 4 Transfer mixture to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and top with crackers. Bake until
  golden brown and bubbling, about 15 minutes. Let casserole cool on wire rack for
  10 minutes. Serve.

Nutrition Info