This creamy, dreamy mix of canned soups, frozen veggies, and leftover turkey (or chicken) has all the flavors of a warm bowl of soup turned into a casserole. The perfect and delicious way to use up leftovers!

When I first created this recipe, the steps were a lot like making soup. I would poach 3-4 chicken breasts, then repurpose the poaching liquid to cook the pasta. This recipe also began with a homemade cream sauce with fresh mushrooms. In partnership with Our Family®, I’ve simplified this recipe using mostly pantry ingredients and repurposing leftover turkey or chicken. This version has the same flavors and creamy, dreamy goodness as the original recipe, and gets dinner on the table much faster with a lot fewer dishes to wash afterward!

This will not surprise you if you are a regular reader of my blog, but this recipe like many of my others can easily be adapted to suit your tastes! A few options to customize the main recipe that you could try.

You could start the recipe as I originally did with poaching chicken, or substitute any leftover chicken/turkey that you have. To make it even easier and faster substitute a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. An average store-bought rotisserie is 2.5 to 3 lbs, which is more than you need for this recipe, so you will have enough extra for a chicken sandwich!
You could also start the base with a homemade cream sauce. I like the combination of flavors from combining the cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups, and it is so much quicker. The key is to use two cans for the right consistency. You could adjust this to your tastes by using two cans of the same flavor or even substituting something you like better. Cream of Broccoli soup is a delicious alternative too.
Not a fan of peas and carrots? Substitute broccoli, mushrooms, or spinach.

If you don’t like shortcuts, do this one old school. Poach the chicken, blanch fresh vegetables, make your favorite cream sauce and toss it all together and bake! You won’t be disappointed, but you will be washing more dishes!

Whatever you do, don’t skip the buttery crackers on the top! The texture of the buttery, crunchy, topping makes this dish! It’s just like soup and crackers!

Turkey, Casserole, Leftovers

Dinner, Lunch, Casserole

Yield: 6-8

Author: Teresa Fiocchi

Turkey Noodle Casserole

This creamy, dreamy mix of canned soups, frozen veggies, and leftover turkey (or chicken) is the perfect way to use up leftovers and is the ultimate comfort food!

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 lbs turkey or chicken, cooked and shredded
12 ounce bag Our Family® curly ribbon noodles
1 10.5 ounce Our Family® condensed, cream of chicken soup
1 10.5 ounce Our Family® condensed, cream of mushroom soup
1 cup Our Family® Sour Cream
12 ounce Our Family® peas and carrots, frozen
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttery round crackers, crumbled (approximately 30 crackers)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9x13 pan or 2-quart baking dish, set aside.
In a large pot over high heat, bring 5 quarts of water to a rapid boil. Add salt. When the water returns to a boil, add pasta. Cook two minutes less than package directions. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven. Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water.
Mix together the condensed cream of chicken soup, condensed cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, salt, and pepper. If the mixture is too thick, add some of the starchy pasta water. Add frozen vegetables and shredded turkey (or chicken).
Gently fold cooked noodles into the soup mixture. Once thoroughly combined, add to pan or baking dish.
Melt butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Stir in crumbled crackers. Top casserole with the crackers.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until heated through and crackers are lightly brown.