Casseroles are intended to be comforting and simple, made with just a handful of staples from our kitchens all tossed together in a dish and baked to warm and satisfying perfection. As retro as a casserole may seem, there is one very essential truth: they’re a great way to feed a hungry crowd with minimal effort and maximum satisfaction. We’ve got a classic casserole recipe here that our whole family loves, a cheesy chicken and broccoli bake with the crowning glory of golden fried onions crisped to perfection.

Casseroles are a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge. So, if we happen to have some leftover cooked chicken we can put it to good use here in this recipe. Otherwise, we’ll grab a rotisserie chicken from the store and shred up the meat to use in the casserole. We absolutely love the broccoli in this dish. Frozen broccoli is a great shortcut and we love to have some on hand in the freezer. Its addition to the casserole gives the dish a nice pop of color and of course adds a hearty serving of bright green vegetables to our dinner. Rice will always add great substance to a meal, so we don’t even feel like, with the combination of chicken, broccoli, and rice, we need to consider something for the side dish. Everything we need is in one glorious casserole dish.

Of course, what makes this meal so creamy and indulgent is the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and cheddar cheese. Once these all join forces in the casserole dish, we’re ready for some dinnertime magic to happen. The creamy sauce blankets the chicken and broccoli and then as if we needed more reason to eat this dish, it’s finished off with a sprinkling of fried onions, and now we’ve got creaminess and crunchiness to our meal. There’s just so much good going on here, it’s hard to believe just how simple it really is. Casseroles are a great way to make weeknight meals simple and satisfying, and this cheesy chicken and broccoli bake with fried onion topping is exactly what we’re looking for, simple, satisfying, AND delicious.