Reheating chicken casserole

win

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.

We once had Scottish neighbours who made a huge pot of broth on the weekend and reheated every day for the weeks lunches.

I digress! Just seen GN recommendation to buy a "hob scraper" ?!?! What the? Why would you scrape a glass hob? Beggars belief!

Add little extra fluid to casserole befor reheating always use a cover to maintain moisture, always use meat /food thermometer when reheating they're invaluable and keeps your cooking safe as houses yet not cremated!hope your day goeth well

Witzend

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.

Morrison's Aldi Lidl all do excellent skinned and boned thighs at an absolute fraction of mands prices!

I think the issue Beswitched was concerned about was the texture of chicken breasts if overcooked (by being cooked and reheated) - they can get very dry. My OH finds breast meat very difficult to eat - says he feels like he’s choking! He’ll only eat legs.
By now I’m sure Beswitched has decided what to feed her guests and prepared - hope it’s an enjoyable occasion

Assembling it....?

I would use breasts. I'm not really a thigh fan, nor are most of my family or people for whom I would cook. Sounds lovely. I agree with the sibling it and covering, then cook the day you serve, if possible.

Another tip - throw a tin of mushroom soup into your chicken casserole, it really adds to the flavour . I've also used Campbells chicken soup . Or, I suppose you could use any tinned soup, cheaper than Sainsbury's sauces.

Being alone I make twice as much as I need and freeze half. Cool it as quickly as possible before freezing and reheat thoroughly.
Since I saw a programme on TV how thousands of chickens are reared in sheds and fed so they mature in a short time I now only buy free range.

Witzend, what a good tip re:- the butternut squash in the microwave. A bit like the Singing Swede!

I was in Sainsbury's this morning, but hadn't read this thread until now, so missed out on looking for the jar of sauce.
Our little local Sainsbury might stock it, if I am lucky.

I would have no issues with reheating a chicken casserole, if it's been in the fridge since being made in the first place. We often eat reheated leftovers, and are still here to tell the tale after many years of doing so .

I much prefer breast to thigh, as I don't like the texture of leg meat, but that's obviously a question of taste.

No problem with reheating chicken as long as it is heated thoroughly and is piping hot. It’s important to cool it then refrigerate as soon as cool enough to go in the fridge if you are reheating it later, though, as other posters say.

I often freeze any left over casserole (including chicken), defrost thoroughly and reheat. You could make your casserole in advance and then freeze it once cool, if it’s going to be a few days between cooking and eating it.

Of course!

I parbake potatoes in the microwave

Witzend

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.

Your Thai butternut squash soup sounds fab Witzend. With the addition of a few more spices it sounds like it would make a good curry sauce too. I do something similar with butternut squash - halve it, take out the seeds, brush it with a little olive oil and roast it in the oven - deepens the flavour.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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!!

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!

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

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.

(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.