Reheating chicken casserole

Use thighs not breast meat, they don’t dry out so much

I’ve never cooked this in advance , don’t like reheating chicken h

Problem is some people will only eat breast

Ditto to thighs instead of breasts. Tastier and more moist. If you have one nearby, M&S do very good skinless, boneless chicken thighs.
As long as you refrigerate it once cooled, and then heat through thoroughly it’ll be fine.

I've re-heated chicken casserole. Like Witzend says, do it thoroughly and it should be fine. And yes, thighs.

Thanks I'll do thighs then.

If it's a casserole I don't quite see why it should dry out on reheating. Just add a bit ore liquid if it looks as though it might.

And, as everyone has said, reheat it thoroughly.

There shouldn't be any problem in reheating chicken if it has been properly cooked initially to destroy any bacteria it may contain.

I agree about thighs, they also have more flavour, breasts can be very dry and bland. Boneless thighs are virtually indistinguishable anyway once they are in a casserole!
But basically just make sure there is plenty of liquid covering the meat, reheat gently but thoroughly keeping it covered, obviously.
I used to do a lot of catering for private households and always cooked the day before , chilled well down and the clients would reheat it.
There is NO hygiene issue in reheating cooked meat or chicken especially in a casserole.
The oven temperature and time needed to reheat, it'll vary depending on the size of the casserole dish and the density of its contents, but a safe bet is to reheat at a moderate temperature around 180 C for 30 -40 minutes, or until hot through.

(You could always prepare it in advance and put it on early on Sunday morning I suppose. )

I have recently discovered Sainsburys Taste The Difference Sage and Butternut Squash sauce. It’s in glass bottles. Last weekend I cooked a chicken casserole with it. Cooked it on Saturday evening and we had it for lunch on Sunday. I used skin on chicken breasts and they were still juicy when reheated but chicken legs would work just as well. Recipe to feed two people is below - you can increase quantities to suit.

2 whole boneless chicken breasts, or legs, skin on
4 banana shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 button mushrooms
1 small red pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped (optional)
1 bottle Sainsburys Taste the Difference Butternut Squash and Sage sauce
Quarter pint of dry white wine
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
Olive oil for frying.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces on both sides until lightly browned, then transfer into a casserole dish.

Add a little more oil to the pan and fry the shallots and garlic until starting to soften then add the chopped red pepper and chillies if using. Fry for another couple of minutes, then add to the chicken pieces.

Wash the mushrooms and add to the chicken and vegetables. Put the sage and butternut squash sauce into a bowl - it’s quite thick and gloopy when cold. Rinse out any residue in the bottle with the white wine, combine with the rest of the sauce and add to the casserole, stirring well. Cover and oven cook on 170C for about an hour, then remove and stir in the soy sauce. If the sauce is too thick at this stage, add a little more white wine. Cook for a further half an hour, or until the chicken and veg are tender and cooked through, and the sauce is bubbling. Stir in the creme fraiche and sprinkle on some fresh chopped parsley before serving.

As an alternative to whole chicken breasts, you can use the smaller chicken fillets, which cook a bit quicker. I’ve also used sliced pork fillet instead of chicken and that’s good too.

I served this with creamy mashed potatoes, tenderstem broccoli and baby carrots. It was yummy !!

Have you got a slow cooker? If so, just put the stuff in, early Sunday morning, on high, or late Saturday night (on low)

HowVeryDareYou

Have you got a slow cooker? If so, just put the stuff in, early Sunday morning, on high, or late Saturday night (on low)

Will try this with my recipe the next time I do it - completely forgot my slow cooker since it was put in a cupboard while we updated the kitchen. Off to dig it out as we speak.

MaizieD

If it's a casserole I don't quite see why it should dry out on reheating. Just add a bit ore liquid if it looks as though it might.

And, as everyone has said, reheat it thoroughly.

There shouldn't be any problem in reheating chicken if it has been properly cooked initially to destroy any bacteria it may contain.

What maiz says. Reheating chicken casserole presents no problems at all in my experience, which includes filling in occasionally for the cook where I work, a day care centre for people with dementia.

If you're really worried make a beef or venison casserole instead.

(You could always prepare it in advance and put it on early on Sunday morning I suppose.)

I was going to suggest that - prepare everything in advance, even putting it all into the casserole dish then pour on the liquid (wine, stock or whatever) the next day and cook it fresh the next morning.

I like the look of that recipe, Pammie1
DH does something similar in the slow cooker but with chunks of butternut squash.

Callistemon21

^(You could always prepare it in advance and put it on early on Sunday morning I suppose.)^

I was going to suggest that - prepare everything in advance, even putting it all into the casserole dish then pour on the liquid (wine, stock or whatever) the next day and cook it fresh the next morning.

I like the look of that recipe, Pammie1
DH does something similar in the slow cooker but with chunks of butternut squash.

@Callistemon21. I’ve used butternut squash - cooked and liquidised with the cooking liquor - as a base for vegetable soups and it works really well. I tried pumpkin but it was a bit too sweet - butternut has the right consistency without being overly sweet. I first bought a bottle of the Sainsburys sauce a while back without much thought to how I would use it - it just looked interesting. I keep a bottle or two in the store cupboard now because it’s quite versatile - I’ve even used it as a base for bolognaise sauce and it gives a nice, deep savoury taste.

Lots of great suggestions here, now and for future occasions. Thanks everyone

I must look put for that, Pammie1 (if I get to Sainsburys, there isn't one near here).
I find butternut squash is such hard work these days!

Callistemon21: As both my hands are affected now with osteoarthritis I find myself using more and more frozen vegetables. I picked up a bag of cubed butternut squash today in Morrisons when I was looking for chopped onions. I find the onions save my tears as well!!

Thanks Grayling, I'll look out for ready prepared, I think.
I like butternut squash soup too but haven't made any for ages.

MayBeMaw

I agree about thighs, they also have more flavour, breasts can be very dry and bland. Boneless thighs are virtually indistinguishable anyway once they are in a casserole!
But basically just make sure there is plenty of liquid covering the meat, reheat gently but thoroughly keeping it covered, obviously.
I used to do a lot of catering for private households and always cooked the day before , chilled well down and the clients would reheat it.
There is NO hygiene issue in reheating cooked meat or chicken especially in a casserole.
The oven temperature and time needed to reheat, it'll vary depending on the size of the casserole dish and the density of its contents, but a safe bet is to reheat at a moderate temperature around 180 C for 30 -40 minutes, or until hot through.

(You could always prepare it in advance and put it on early on Sunday morning I suppose. )

I can deffo tell the difference between breast and thigh meat! I much prefer thigh as its tastier but breast won't dry out in a casserole.

Callistemon21

I must look put for that, Pammie1 (if I get to Sainsburys, there isn't one near here).
I find butternut squash is such hard work these days!

We used to get a butternut squash in nearly every veg box during the first lockdown. It was from a co. that usually supplied restaurants, trying to keep going when they were all closed.
You couldn’t specify anything you didn’t want - luckily dh and I like just about everything but I’d always found butternut squash too much of a faff - so rock hard to cut up.,

Until I realised that you could stab it all over, microwave for 12 minutes or so, and then just scoop the flesh out.

So during that lockdown I made a lot of Thai style butternut squash soup - with onion, chicken stock cubes, garlic, ginger red chilli, and coconut milk. And blitz.

Sometimes with some potato or swede added, which worked fine. Very tasty! But we like spicy food.

If you are re-heating, everything has to be consumed on the day. The leftover cannot be re-heated again. I always cook fresh and then re-heat for ourselves what is left over. You should never re-heat any food twice.

I think any casserole tastes better the next day, as does bolognese sauce. No problem with reheating, just do it very slowly.

How do you think they make frozen meals, they cook everything then let it go cold before freezing. Then reheat. Or you can slow cook it early on in the day