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Over the last few years, I’ve repeatedly stopped to drool over photos of Poppy Seed Chicken that my fellow food bloggers have posted on their pages! From what I’ve read, Poppy Seed Chicken is a popular, classic Southern comfort food recipe, and so many people have fond memories of their mothers making this dish!
Poppy Seed Chicken is a casserole made most often with chicken and mushrooms smothered in a creamy sauce that is sprinkled with poppy seeds and topped with Ritz Crackers.
Most of the recipes I’ve seen online have used canned cream of chicken soup as the base for the sauce. So when we decided to share our homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup recipe here on A Family Feast, the very first recipe I wanted to try was Poppy Seed Chicken! We decided to make our recipe with strips of chicken, but shredded chicken is another option.
I can totally see why Poppy Seed Chicken has become so popular over the years – it really is wonderful comfort food that the entire family will love!
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Poppy Seed Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons of softened butter, divided
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 3 tablespoons shallots, minced
- 8 ounces Cremini (baby bella) mushrooms sliced
- 2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thick strips
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 3 cups condensed cream of chicken soup
- 3 teaspoons poppy seeds, divided
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- Few grinds black pepper
- 1/4 cup light cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 sleeve Ritz Crackers, crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Have a 9×9-inch casserole pan or dish standing by.
- In a large fry pan, heat two tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of the oil over medium heat and add shallots. Cook for 2 minutes, increase heat to high and add mushrooms. Cook mushrooms on high heat for 8-10 minutes tossing and turning often until browned (they will give up some liquid then pull it back in again). Remove to a bowl and return pan to medium high heat.
- Add two more tablespoons of butter and the remaining olive oil and once hot, cook chicken strips in two batches browning on both sides for about two minutes each (cook them slightly undercooked as they will finish cooking in the oven). As you finish each batch, add directly to the casserole pan and layer half the mushrooms over each batch.
- Once the last batch of chicken leaves the pan, deglaze with the white wine, scraping up any browned bits.
- After the wine evaporates, add all of the condensed soup, 2 teaspoons of the poppy seeds, celery salt, pepper, cream and milk and heat just to hot. Pour this over the chicken and mushrooms.
- In a small bowl, mix the last two tablespoons of butter with the last teaspoon of poppy seeds and the crushed Ritz. Pour over chicken mixture and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
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Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
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Poppy Seed Chicken is one of my favorite dishes and has been since I was a child. My Mom used to make it on special occasions and our whole family loved it! Hers has shredded chicken, cream of chicken soup, and sour cream as the base. Seasoned with garlic salt and white pepper. The poppy seeds were sprinkled on the top of the butter/cracker topping. It was served over a bed of rice and she usually served it with a spinach and mushroom salad. It smells heavenly baking. I always thought it was an elegant meal when I was young and guess I still do. I serve it to my husband when I’m feeling fancy. HaHa. He loves it too!
Your Mom’s version sounds wonderful Lana! I can definitely see why this recipe is so popular!