This easy Cajun Chicken Casserole is creamy, cheesy and wrapped in a delicious buttery crust! It’s a family favorite for when we need something a little more fun and unique! You can also add crawfish to it, if you have any on hand!
Cajun Chicken Casserole
You don’t need to live in Louisiana to obsess over this cheesy, flavor packed Cajun Chicken Casserole! If you need to spice up your weeknight dinner or impress your friends at a potluck, this casserole has everything you’re looking for. Just one bite and you’ll be dreaming of New Orleans!
Growing up in the South, it’s impossible to not love good ole Cajun cuisine. My family is from Louisiana and I was born there, so I grew up eating all things cajun. This recipe is toned down a bit to be more family friendly, but you could absolutely add things like cajun sausage or crawfish to the filling for an extra flavor punch!
Besides being the most popular dish at the party, this Cajun Chicken Casserole is also perfect for an easy family dinner! It’s protein packed with ingredients like cheese and chicken, and it’s got lots of veggies like orange and red bell peppers. Quick, easy, delicious, and Cajun. What’s not to love?
How To Serve Cajun Chicken Casserole
Rule number one of all casseroles – serve it up nice and hot! No one likes a cold casserole. This bad boy is best fresh out of the oven, but it also reheats well!
If you’re traveling, just wrap the top in foil and heat it up in the oven when you arrive to your destination. It’ll be just as delicious as when you first made it!
For sides, this Cajun Chicken Casserole goes well with just about anything! One of our favorite pairings is corn with butter and cajun seasoning. However, petty much any vegetable or side salad compliments this insanely good casserole.
Ingredients
- Olive Oil
- Yellow Onion
- Orange Bell Pepper
- Red Bell Pepper
- Green Onions
- Garlic
- Heavy Cream: You can also use half and half or evaporated milk.
- Cajun Seasoning: We highly recommend our homemade cajun seasoning, but store bought also works great!
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- Chicken: You want to use cooked and shredded/chopped chicken. A rotisserie chicken helps make this a quick dinner!
- Crescent Sheets: If you happen to purchase the crescent rolls instead, just press the perforated edges together and place them on top of your casserole.
If you want to turn up that Cajun heat, add some extra red pepper flakes, a few pinches of cayenne pepper or even a few shakes of Tabasco hot sauce!
Adding more cajun meats?
Want to kick up the flavor? You can add just about any meat you would like, but you will want it pre-cooked like the chicken. The casserole is not in the oven long enough to cook raw meat inside. Below are some fun meat additions we have done before:
- Cajun Sausage or Andouille Sausage
- Alligator
- Shrimp
- Crawfish
How To Make Cajun Chicken Casserole
Step 1: Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Step 2: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, orange bell pepper and red bell pepper. Cook stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes, until tender. Add green onions and garlic, cook for one more minute.
Step 3: Stir in heavy cream and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Stir often.
Step 4: Stir in Creole seasoning, followed by the mozzarella and parmesan cheese, stirring until the cheese is melted and well blended. Add chicken and continue to stir for one minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
At this point in the recipe, try not to eat the whole thing with a spoon. It’ll be tempting! But I do recommend taking a bite and checking the seasonings. Add a little extra heat or salt, to taste, if needed.
Step 5: Unroll crescent rolls and place the first sheet in the bottom of a greased casserole dish. (If using crescent rolls, press preforations to seal.) Pour the chicken mixture over the top and smooth into an even layer. Cover with the second crescent sheet.
Step 6: Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until crescent roll top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Can I prep this meal ahead?
Yes! We recommend making the filling ahead and popping it into the refrigerator. Then when you are ready to make this chicken casserole, you just have to spread the filling in between the crescent dough sheets and pop it into the oven.
Can I substitute the crescent sheet dough?
Yes, we have also used puff pastry or even biscuits. I recommend puff pastry over biscuits, but both will work.
Puff Pastry – if you using puff pastry, I recommend only placing it on top of the casserole – not the bottom. OR you can use the puff pastry shells that you pre-bake and fill with the hot filling instead. This is a much more upscale way of serving this Cajun Chicken Casserole and will impress your guests!
Biscuits – If using biscuits, I would quarter the biscuits and mix them in with the filling and then bake. The casserole will turn out like a “bubble-up bake” instead. A little different than pictured here in the blog post, but still delicious!
Whether you make this Cajun Chicken Casserole on a chilly fall night or during Mardi Gras season, it’s going to be a huge hit!
This is our dependable go-to casserole when we need a little shake up in the recipe routine. Kids and adults alike just can’t seem to get enough of it. Laissez bon temps rouler!
Looking for more easy casserole recipes? Try our favorite Tuna Noodle Casserole or easy Shepherd’s Pie!
Cajun Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 orange bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 4 cloves
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken
- 2 cans crescent sheets, or rolls!
Optional additions:
- Cajun sausage, cooked and sliced
- crawfish tails, cooked
- cayenne pepper or hot sauce, if you like it spicy!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, orange bell pepper and red bell pepper. Cook stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes, until tender. Add green onions and garlic, cook for 1 more minute.
- Stir in heavy cream and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Stir often.
- Stir in creole seasoning, followed by the mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, stirring until cheese is melted and well blended. Add chicken (can also add crawfish or Cajun sausage, if desired, at this point) and continue to stir for 1 minute. Taste filling and add any extra creole seasoning, cayenne pepper or hot sauce until you reach your deserved flavor and spice level. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Unroll crescent rolls and place the first sheet in the bottom of the greased casserole dish. (If using crescent rolls, press perforations to seal.) Pour the chicken mixture over the top and smooth into an even layer. Cover with the second crescent sheet.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until crescent roll top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Looking for more easy Cajun recipes?
Being from Louisiana, we obviously love and cook with lots of Cajun influences. Here are some of our favorite recipes:
So hearty and delicious. Keeping this one in the dinner rotation!
Easy and delicious.
A great recipe! One suggestion I would make is to partially bake the bottom layer of crescent dough for a few minutes (otherwise the bottom layer of dough will be raw, esp. in the center). Then add the filling and the top layer of dough and continue baking until the top layer of dough is golden brown!
Absolutely delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it Kristin!