Chicken and Dressing Casserole

This casserole is just right when you are craving chicken and dressing, but do not want to go to the trouble of roasting a chicken and making dressing. It is great served with cranberry sauce. I don’t recall where the recipe originated, but it has been in our family for twenty-five years or more. My mother-in-law, Cornelia, who cooked for her family until she was ninety-six years old, often prepared it for Sunday dinner. In 1994, when she was ninety years old, she was featured in a major newspaper in the Atlanta area as one of Georgia’s cooks.

1 whole chicken

½ cup (1 stick) margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (7-ounce) package dry dressing mix

1 (10¾-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 (10¾-ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup

Boil the chicken and set aside to cool, reserving the broth. Remove the chicken from the bones. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large skillet on medium heat melt the margarine. Sauté the onion in the margarine. Stir in the dressing mix. In a bowl combine the cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, and 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth. In a 3-quart casserole dish layer the ingredients in the following order: chicken, dressing mix, soup mixture, chicken, dressing mix, soup mixture. Top with the remaining dressing mix. Bake for 35 minutes.

YIELD: 12 SERVINGS

Rose Lewis

Covington, Georgia