Chicken Dried Beef Casserole

This is one of those retro casseroles your grandma used to bring to every church supper, and there’s a reason nobody ever stopped making it.

Chicken breasts get wrapped in bacon, laid on a bed of salty dried beef, and drowned in a sauce made from cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, and a whole pint of sour cream.

Three hours of low, slow baking turns everything impossibly tender while the bacon renders and the dried beef gets silky on the bottom.

Serve it over egg noodles or rice and let that sauce do all the talking.

Variations

• Use turkey bacon for a lighter take that still brings the smoky wrap
• Add a can of French-fried onions on top in the last 15 minutes for crunch
• Stir a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce into the soup mixture for extra savory punch

Kitchen Tips

• Place the bacon seam-side down so it stays wrapped around the chicken during the long bake
• Line the dish with dried beef in a single layer; it acts like a flavor-packed base that keeps the chicken from sticking
• Don’t be tempted to raise the temperature to speed things up; the low heat is what keeps everything moist and tender