Help please! My chicken casserole was a disaster.

Thank you gnetters. I still had some chicken thighs lurking in the freezer. Cooked them in the oven, this afternoon, and now have a tasty casserole with tender chicken. I didn’t brown anything, just chucked in the veg and chicken with a stockpot, a little water and a can of condensed chicken soup, some thyme and some black pepper. I’ve always been a brown the meat first person but this way is so much less faff and it tastes fine to me.

Okay..needed more seasoning.Take little sips of it..add more if neccesary.Oxocube...Chicken is a bit tasteless...bit of gravy mixture...

I recall days when my Grand.a used to say that a stringy chicken was an old layer which had died of natural causes and only good enough for the stockpot .
If a chicken has white stripes or a hard 'woody "breast then it's a fast growing variety .
There's been so many complaints about the quality of chicken over the last couple of years .
Only the chicken from Waitrose has survived the criticism .

Some white wine might help but supermarket meat and poultry has probably gone down hill. We have a lovely Irish butcher down the road but he’s quite rightly expensive for the quality. So we have to buy basics from the supermarket like most of us. Sorry it turned out stringy. I have experienced the same recently.

I recently made Chicken Chasseur. It was horrible. Same recipe I have used for years. Definitely the quality of the chicken.

Your recipe sounds fine to me.

I'm wondering if the quality of the chicken has let you down .
If it went stringy then it had been left on the hob for too long ,but should have been delicious.
My daughter thickens her dishes by taking out a ladle or two and liquidising it then adding it and reheating .
This produces a far tastiest dish than using flour .
Rather than waste it-turn it into a stock .

Thighs can be chewy. I would’ve slow cooked in the oven.

I only ever buy chicken breast filets and sear them before the cooking process which is normally a curry. From experience, slow cooked chicken does break up and turn stringy.

I too suspect that you did nothing wrong, and that the meat was far poorer quality than usual.

I cook casseroles in the oven in a covered dish, and do not brown the meat first, and using warm air, I set the temperature at 180 centigrade for 45 minutes, or in an ordinary oven 195 degrees for the same lenght of time.

One of the best ways of cooking chicken though, or indeed any cheap stewing lamb or other meat is to use a tagine - the north African earthenwear dish with a funnel shaped top.

Chop whatever vegetables you want to use, lay them in the greased base of the tagine, lay the meat on top, salt it very well, add whatever else you want of spices, for instance coriander and pepper, sprinkle the meat lavishly with cooking oil, and about 2 dl of cold water and pop it in the heated oven at about 195 degrees for an hour or so.

The good thing about this method is that all the ingredients retain their taste and form, and you don't need to check the dish whilst it is cooking, but can take a rest, or a bath or do whatever else you want, while it cooks.

Depending on the weight of ingredients, adding 500 ml of water seems a lot . All your ingredients will contribute more liquid and cook in about 20 mins, no time for liquid to be cooked off. Chicken thighs don't really lend themselves to being chunky, hence the stringy texture, perhaps chicken breasts would have
worked better.

I always brine chicken in salt water for a while before cooking. Keeps it moist.

I often use the condensed mushroom soup, with extra mushrooms.

If I remember, I always get the meat for a casserole out of the fridge a good few hours before cooking. I must have read somewhere that it's better to start from room temperature rather than very cold.

for flavour you should (I think) leave the skin on. Buy free range chicken and never use breast, it is tasteless - the flavour is in the bones and the skin. If you find that too fatty make it the day before, refrigerate and the following day skim off any fat. Good luck.

Most peculiar! I doubt it was the Donna - I always use Tesco chicken thighs for my weekly casserole & never have problems with flavour. I don't brown either, just chuck it in with an onion and whatever veg I've got plus a Knor stock pot then into the oven for a couple of hours at 170°. Pretty much the same as everyone else! Always tasty & a huge hit with my two DGSs .

It'll be the chicken. So much of the chicken I've bought from supermarkets recently has been stringy, chewy and tasteless.

Or possibly too much stock/liquid if the thighs were perhaps a bit smaller than usual?
(but i agree that the quality of the chicken may also be the problem.)

teabagwoman

I’m going to be trying out all these ideas. I don’t know what Od do without Gransnet.

I agree, some yummy recipes from our wonderful gransnetters

I brown off all meat and vegs then chuck into slow cooker and cook with chicken stock, drop of white wine, thickening it at the end and keep the chicken and vegs quite large. Cooked on low for three hours.

I’m going to be trying out all these ideas. I don’t know what Od do without Gransnet.

I agree that it might have been over cooked. I also use chicken thighs and brown lightly before cooking. I use one or two Knorr stock cubes depending on amount.

When I do mine I cook the veg in some water with a knorr chick stock cube, (or two, if its a bigger amount) together in a pot with some water for 15 mins or so then add chix thighs, and finally a tin of Campbells condensed chicken or mushroom soup so its nice and creamy S&P some dried Tarragon and whack it in the oven until chicken is cooked for prob half an hour…

I wouldn't normally brown chicken unless it had skin on it as it can simply make the outside go tough.

My mum was a self-confessed average cook but her chicken casserole was wonderful. I still make it a lot and so does my daughter.
Sauté some chopped onions then add chicken (always thighs) which have been dredged with a little flour. Cook gently for a few minutes. Then add 1 can of condensed mushroom soup and some chopped carrots and mushrooms. Can be cooked on the hob or in a medium oven - I generally allow a good 2 hours. A little salt and white pepper is good and you can add halved new potatoes if you like.
Simple but very good. I usually use cast iron lidded casserole when I make it.

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Me neither. And I only use chicken breast so I don't have to worry about little ones and bones. And none of us particularly likes the brown meat anyway.

A recent very successful addition recommended by a friend has been to add a can of Cross&Blackwell condensed Chicken soup to your usual recipe (as it is, not condensed - your stock will dilute it). It's delicious and also works wonderfully in a Chicken and Leek Pie.
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