Poppy Seed Chicken

August 7, 2024 Admin

This post is all about one of our favorite family meals Poppy Seed Chicken. You can find the recipe for this here. I am attempting to cook this a different way. With my casserole crockpot. I will also make some jasmine rice and fry up some asparagus to complete the meal. Let’s focus on the main dish though.

In the recipe it asks you to use a 9 X 13 casserole for the oven. Because it is already getting very warm in south Texas I am going to use my crockpot for this instead. (The oven heats up the camper quickly and causes problems for our air conditioner.) A while ago I ordered a casserole crockpot online. I have been wanting one for a long time, but when they first came out I couldn’t find one for less than $60. I was able to find one on Amazon for $35 and I have prime shipping so I was very happy. You can see the listing for this crockpot here. This is just a simple crockpot with the dial that has low, high and warm settings. We use this a whole lot. We use it just as much as we use the round Crockpot, if not more. These are my go to cooking tools from April to November.

Okay, now that I have stopped singing the praises of my crockpot, I will tell you more about this recipe. First, I decided that I would cook my chicken in the crockpot. I had chicken breast tenders that I wanted to use up so I brushed the inside of my crockpot with olive oil then placed the chicken in it, in a single layer. I then sprinkled pepper and seasoning salt on both sides. ( I use Tony’s Creole seasoning salt.) I then turned the crockpot on high for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

See also Texas State Aquarium

When it is cooked through, switch the dial to low. From this point on you are just warming everything up. I shredded it up right in the crockpot. I liked how it cooked and my AC unit was thankful for the lack of heat created by the stove and the oven. I also liked that all of those juices from the cooked chicken got mixed into the sauce.

Next, I added the cream of chicken soup. I do like to make my own but this time I had some cans to use up so I cut down on my assembly time for this recipe this time. There are many variations in this recipe, Our family favorites are chopped garlic, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. This is the way my sister made this for me the first time. Yum! Don’t forget to taste a bit of your sauce mix before mixing it with your chicken so you know you have the flavor right. I never use exact measurements, I always adjust it to my family’s taste. Once it’s all mixed up it will look like this.

Now you need to make your topping. I take a gallon size zip bag to crunch up the crackers. I use the flat side of the meat tenderizer to my rolling pin to crunch up the crackers. (Or I let my teenager daughter do it. She likes smacking crackers to bits.) I add the poppy seeds into the back and then the melted butter. Be careful doing this if you have thinner plastic bags. If the butter is too hot it could burn through the bag. I have done that before. When you have it mixed well, spread that on the top of your casserole. You can then cook it on low for another 2-3 hours, until it is nice and warm.

See also The 18 Things I Learned at 18

It turned out really good. The only difference I could see in making it this way was that the crackers on the top didn’t get as crispy. That did not ruin the taste though. Because we were packing for a trip the next day so I didn’t make any rice to go with this meal, like I usually do. I did cook some asparagus though. I chopped it into inch long pieces and fried it in a little olive oil and garlic. I tossed it with a little sea salt and splashed a little lemon juice over it. It is a nice light complement to this heavy casserole.

This meal is always a hit. I will continue to make it in the crockpot on the warm days. It just works so well. In this final picture you can enjoy my fine china.

More to read