Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole is creamy, comforting, and one of my favorite ways to use up leftover rotisserie chicken. It's quick, easy, and a family favorite!
Everything comes together in about 10 minutes. Just mix, pour, and bake.
But the real star of the show is that Ritz cracker topping! Buttery, golden, impossibly crunchy – it's what people remember.
This is my go-to chicken casserole for busy weeknights, and I think it’ll become one of yours too.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
- Store-Bought Rotisserie Chicken: I love using rotisserie chicken for this recipe. It's juicy, flavorful, and saves so much time. But you can also use leftover cooked chicken, grilled chicken breasts, or canned chicken.
- Ritz Crackers: These buttery crackers give the casserole that iconic golden crunch. Simply put them in a large Ziploc bag and crush them with your hands or a rolling pin. Easy peasy.
- Cream of Chicken Soup: You can swap in cream of celery soup or cream of mushroom soup if that's what you have on hand. They all work great.
- Sour Cream: I go full-fat for the best texture, but light sour cream also works. You can also substitute with plain Greek yogurt.
- Butter: It’s the secret to achieving that coveted crispy, buttery Ritz cracker topping.
- Seasonings: Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
How to Make Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole
You’ll love how easy this casserole is to prepare! See the recipe card below for full ingredients, measurements, and directions.
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Spread into the baking dish.
3. Make the topping. Stir crushed Ritz crackers and melted butter in a bowl until coated.
4. Sprinkle the cracker topping over the chicken mixture. Bake uncovered for 25–30 minutes, until hot, bubbly, and golden.
Recipe Tips
Follow these tips for the best creamy chicken casserole.
- Full-fat is where it’s at! Use full-fat sour cream for a richer, thicker casserole.
- Try a crushing trick. Put the Ritz crackers in a large Ziploc bag and crush them with your hands or a rolling pin.
- Keep it crispy. To keep the cracker topping crisp, don't cover the casserole while baking.
- Try fun variations. Add shredded cheddar cheese to the filling for a cheesy twist. Mix in frozen peas, broccoli florets, or other veggies. Or try crushed potato chips or cornflakes in place of Ritz for a different crunchy topping. You can also add a teaspoon of poppy seeds to the seasonings!
What To Serve with Ritz Chicken Casserole
I like to serve chicken casserole with green beans, broccoli, corn, or a fresh green salad. You can also serve it over hot rice for another great combo.
How to Store Leftovers
This casserole makes for wonderful leftovers!
To Store: Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and can be kept for up to 4 days.
To Freeze: The casserole can be frozen either baked or unbaked. For baked casserole, cool it completely, wrap tightly with plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 2 months.
For unbaked casserole, assemble without the cracker topping, wrap it well, and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then add the topping before baking.
To Reheat: For best results, reheat the casserole covered with aluminum foil at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes until warmed through. Individual portions can be microwaved until heated thoroughly.
Some of our Popular Chicken Recipes
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Ritz Cracker Pork Chops
Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
Swiss Chicken Casserole
Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
Dorito Chicken Casserole
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Chicken Noodle Casserole
Chicken and Biscuit Casserole
Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole
Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole is a weeknight family favorite. It's rich and creamy with a buttery Ritz cracker topping!
8
servings10
minutes30
minutes365
kcalIngredients
4 cups cooked shredded chicken (from rotisserie chicken or cooked chicken breasts)
1 (10.5 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed (about 45 crackers)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl, mix together the shredded chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until well combined. Spread the chicken mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, combine the crushed Ritz crackers with the melted butter, stirring until the crumbs are evenly moistened.
- Sprinkle the buttered cracker crumbs evenly over the top of the chicken mixture.
- Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly, and the cracker topping is crispy and lightly browned.
- Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired.
Notes
- For added flavor and nutrition, stir in 1-2 cups of steamed broccoli, peas, carrots, or mixed vegetables to the chicken mixture before topping it with crackers.
- Substitute cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup for the cream of chicken.
- For extra cheesy goodness, mix in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese with the chicken.
- Use crushed potato chips, cornflakes, or panko bread crumbs in place of Ritz for a different crunchy topping.
Nutrition
- Calories: 365kcal
- Fat: 26g
- Saturated Fat: 13g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.4g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 6.6g
- Cholesterol: 92mg
- Sodium: 628mg
- Potassium: 266mg
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Sugar: 3g
- Protein: 18g
- Calcium: 76mg
113 Comments
can you substitute pork chops or pork for chicken
Hi Schelia!
Shredded pork would work best here, as it has the same texture as the chicken and is usually nice and tender.
If you want to try it with pork chops, I suggest getting nice, thick ones without the bone.
1. Sear them in a skillet with a little oil over medium-high heat until browned on both sides (about 2–3 minutes per side).
2. They don’t need to be fully cooked at this stage as they’ll finish cooking in the oven.
3. Instead of mixing the cream of chicken soup and sour cream with shredded chicken, spread the mixture directly into the greased baking dish.
4. Place the seared pork chops on top of the creamy mixture and then add the topping.
5. Bake uncovered at 350°F for about 30–35 minutes, or until the pork chops reach an internal temperature of 145°F and the topping is golden and crispy.
Let me know if you try it!
I added portobello mushrooms and added Lipton Onion Soup mix to the sour cream. The casserole was amazing!
Sounds yummy, Pamela!
We do this with an extra sleeve of Ritz crackers. Toast it and then it goes in a bowl with a spoon so folks can add some extra crunchy toppings to their serving.
As a huge fan of the crunchy topping, I 100% approve this tweak! <3
Has anyone tried leftover turkey in place of chicken?
I’ve made this 5 or 6 times and it’s wonderful. The last two I’ve prepared it I ended up with an almost soup. I used Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup in another recipe and it did the same thing. Have you had any trouble with Campbell’s becoming runny recently?
I, myself, haven’t really noticed it, but my grandmother was just complaining about this same thing the other day.
Maybe it’s been a couple of bad batches? Because honestly, it really does seem the same to me. But she swears the last couple of cans she’s used haven’t been “up to snuff.” (In her words.)
What do you serve this with?
So, between me, my mom, and my gramma, we make this recipe A LOT. Haha.
When I cook it, I like to serve it with mashed potatoes and green beans.
When my mom makes it, she typically pairs it with green beans and mac & cheese.
My grandmother, on the other hand, goes in a totally different direction and serves it with cold sides. (Usually pea salad and broccoli cauliflower salad.)
It really just depends on your mood, I suppose. I do, however, think it goes really, really well with green beans, regardless of what else you decide to make with it. 🙂
With just a few additions, this is every bit as good as the homemade chicken and dressing we make for the holidays and so much easier. I’ll mention that I use canned chicken in mine.
I assemble as usual and before I add the buttered crackers, I spread a can of well drained green beans (french style works best) and, on top of those, three or four pieces of crumbled cornbread. I sprinkled it with the poultry seasoning with sage that I use in my homemade cornbread dressing and drizzled a little bit of chicken broth from the canned chicken over the whole thing. Then, I put the crackers on top.
It is every bit as good as the dressing I make for the holidays and a whole lot easier and cheaper to make. We had it again last night with corn and cranberry sauce…so very good!
Sounds absolutely delicious, BJ!
I’ve never thought about adding green beans on top, but I bet that would dial up the flavor!
Just made this recipe last night for my family and they absolutely loved it. . I boiled boneless skinless chicken breast bc it was what I had on hand then used the broth to cook noodles. This is definitely a keeper. Thanks for a great recipe.
It’s one of my family’s favorites, too, April!
Just made this tonight for the first time. Wanted some extra protein so I subbed Greek NF yogurt instead of the sour cream. My 11 y/o daughter and her friend loved it, so did I! It was so easy to make, thank you!
This is one of my all-time favorite casseroles, Holly. And I’ve probably loved it since about the same age as your daughter. My grandmother just called it “chicken casserole” when she made it, but her recipe was almost exactly the same. The only real difference is that she adds water chestnuts to hers for a bit of extra crunch. <3
Tried tonight and added peas, onions and peppers. was really yummy! had to cook longer but is a keeper!
Sounds delicious, Barb!
I can’t wait to try this, Yummy
I make this often, you can double the soup, add small amount of chicken both, then noodles at end in crock put, yummy. Add leftover vegs before noodles then ritz on top! Great casserole
This is very similiar to one I make, except 2 can cream of chicken soup, use 3 cans of chicken breast (I am lazy), and some egg noodles (husband prefers). only seasonin̈g is black pepper.
What can I use as a gluten free alternative to Ritz crackers?
Hi Roma!
You can try looking for gluten-free crackers in the free-from section of the supermarket.
Other options include cornflakes, potato chips, or gluten-free panko breadcrumbs 🙂
I’m not going to “pin,” or “email” recipes. If you can’t give an easy to print recipe, I’m not interested!!!
Hi, Patsy! If you scroll down to the recipe at the bottom, you’ll find a print button that makes it easy to print the recipes. It’s in the lower righthand corner of the image right above the ingredient list. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Do you think this could be made in a crock pot?
I’ve never tried to make this recipe in a slow cooker or Crockpot, Debra. So I can’t be sure it would work. However, I’ve done a little digging around, looking at similar recipes, etc., and it seems like it could be.
Here are the steps I’ve cobbled together from checking out similar recipes:
1. Mix the chicken, soup, sour cream, onion powder, garlic, salt, and pepper.
2. Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Then, spread the chicken mixture evenly in the slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours, until hot and bubbly.
4. About 30 minutes before serving, in a separate bowl, combine the crushed Ritz crackers with the melted butter, stirring until the crumbs are evenly moistened.
5. Sprinkle the buttered cracker crumbs evenly over the top of the chicken mixture in the slow cooker. Cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes on HIGH until the cracker topping is lightly browned.
Again, I’ve never actually made it. That’s just a cobbled together recipe that MIGHT work. The only part I’m unsure of is step 5. I don’t know if the crackers would retain their crispiness cooked in a slow cooker. Maybe, though. If you try it, let me know how it turned out please. We may want to update the recipe to include this method if it works well. <3
You could combine the cracker crumbs and melted butter, then toast them in the oven, and sprinkle them on top of the casserole in the crock pot when ready to serve. That would keep them from getting soggy.
I didn’t think of that, Jami! Great idea!
I love this recipe & it’s SO delicious & easy to make…
Can the sour cream be left out ? What can be substituted ?
Hi, Doreen. The sour cream plays three main roles in this dish. 1. It adds moisture. 2. It makes it creamy. 3. It adds that tangy flavor that makes the casserole so good.
With all that in mind, the best substitute for it would be Greek yogurt at a 1:1 ratio. It, too, is creamy, moist, and tangy. Another possible substitute is mayo. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have that same tangy flavor that yogurt and sour cream have. I’d stick to the yogurt as a replacement, if at all possible. 🙂
It’s great with mayo!
thanks, i don’t like tangy sour cream or Greek yogurt.
me either not in hot foods.
I think you could substitute an equal amount of cream cheese for the sour cream and be just fine … soften it in the microwave first.
How about unflavored greek yogurt?
My mom’s been making this for 30 years. If the sour cream is a no go, you might try adding some salsa, slightly drained, to the cream of chicken soup. Spice things up a bit and it won’t water it down. 🙂
Love your easy delicious recipes. Thank for sharing.
Really good. I added broccoli and it was super tasty.
I’ve never tried it with broccoli! I’ll do that next time!