This keto poppyseed chicken casserole is an easy and delicious dish that the entire family will love. Serve it as is or over cauliflower rice or steamed broccoli for a complete meal!
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Who doesn't love a good casserole? They are super comforting and usually easy to make as well. What's even better is that this casserole is totally picky eater approved so your entire family will love it and no one will ever guess that it is low carb!
What should you serve with this keto chicken casserole?
The flavor of this poppyseed casserole will go well with most vegetables. My family usually enjoys this casserole overtop of steamed broccoli or cauliflower rice.
It also goes nicely with low carb pasta and luckily there are more options than ever. Some of my favorites are the fettucini from Great Low Carb Bread Company and the edamame pasta from Aldi.
Tips for making Keto Poppyseed Chicken Casserole:
- This casserole uses pre-cooked chicken. You can use leftover chicken, canned chicken, rotisserie chicken, or check out this recipe for a great basic chicken in the crockpot
- You can substitute reduced-fat sour cream for the regular sour cream, but be aware that it will result in a less creamy casserole and reduced-fat sour cream often has a higher carb count than regular.
- Do yourself a favor and make a batch of my keto butter crackers for the topping! The recipe calls for only half of a batch, so you will have the rest for snacking and they are absolutely delish!
- If you aren't up for making the crackers, don't worry, I've included an alternate topping method as well.
Can this casserole be made ahead of time and frozen?
I used to be big on freezer cooking and it's definitely something that I am trying to get back into the habit of doing again. Freezer cooking saves so much time and money - since the temptation to eat out is a lot less.
With that in mind, I decided to test this recipe from the freezer and it worked fairly well.
I prepared the recipe up to the baking instructions, but instead of baking I simply wrapped the casserole dish in plastic wrap and froze it. To cook from frozen, I wrapped it in aluminum foil and baked it at 350 degrees F for about 60 minutes, then I removed the foil and allowed it to bake for about 15-20 additional minutes.
I did not thaw the casserole before baking, although you certainly could which would reduce the baking time quite a bit.
The results were pretty good! The consistency wasn't quite as creamy as it is when baked fresh, but honestly, no one in my family even noticed the difference.
How to store leftovers
Leftovers will store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week. You can reheat them in the oven, microwave, or air fryer. I prefer to reheat in the oven or air fryer as this re-crisps the topping 🙂
Other great keto casserole recipes
- Keto Chicken Parmesan Casserole
- Chicken Broccoli and "Rice" Casserole
- Kentucky Hot Brown Casserole
- Upside Down Pizza Casserole
- Sausage and Wild Cauliflower Rice Casserole
📖 Recipe
Poppyseed Chicken Casserole | Keto, Gluten Free
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 cups Cooked Chicken Breast cubed
- 2 cups Sour Cream
- ¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 tablespoon Chicken Broth Concentrate or chicken bullion granules
- 1 teaspoon Celery Salt or regular salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Poppy Seeds
Butter Cracker Topping:
- ½ batch Keto Butter Crackers crushed
- 4 tablespoon Butter Melted
Butter Cracker Topping Alternative:
- 8 tablespoon Butter softened
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease a 9x13" pan with butter or non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl combine the cooked and cubed chicken, sour cream, heavy cream, chicken broth concentrate, celery salt, garlic powder, and poppy seeds.
- Transfer this mixture to the prepared dish and spread into an even layer. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl combine the crushed butter crackers with the melted butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the chicken mixture.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
For Butter Cracker Topping Alternative:
- In a medium bowl, combine the softened butter, almond flour, egg white, and salt.
- Crumble the mixture over the top of the chicken
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Be sure to read the entire post for tips, tricks, and help troubleshooting.
The nutrition information listed here is only an estimate and is simply provided as a courtesy. It nor any other information within this post should constitute medical or nutritional advice. Be sure to read all packaging and ingredient labels for potential allergens. Optional ingredients are not included unless otherwise specified.
Nutrition
Bek says
I can't even tell you how stupid happy I am to find this and make it! I grew up on the Ritz version of this (my mom called it "French Chicken Casserole" 😉 and I crave it regularly! I am so excited to try it over a big plate of green beans which was always my favorite pairing! Thank you!!
Sabra says
I hope you enjoy it! I never had it growing up, but it's something I used to make for my family regularly before going keto. Let me know what you think!
Claire says
I can’t wait to make this! I had already started using sliced almonds on top instead of ritz crackers and it’s good. Thank you for this recipe!
Lauren R. says
Made this tonight and wow! I didn’t care for the crackers by themselves this time but would make again and make them thinner but on this recipe they were perfect and got crispy. I didn’t have chicken broth concentrate so next time I will probably be sure I have that or a chicken cube. And I also think some cream cheese added on would make it extra creamy. So excited about this! Thanks so much for sharing
Joseph Grutt says
It says there are 472kcal per serving and I wanted to see if this was an error. I find it hard to beleive a keto item would contain almost half a million cal per servings...
Sabra says
Hi Joseph! There are definitely NOT 472,000 calories per serving 😂 kcal and cal are the same thing and can be used interchangeably. The software I use to calculate nutrition info and input it into the recipe card automatically uses kcal which I understand can be confusing. Here is an article that explains it in a bit more detail in case you are interested: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/kcal-vs-calories
So this recipe has 472 calories per serving. I hope that helps 🙂
Nick Brown says
Could pork skins be used as a topping?
Sabra says
Hi Nick, You could definitely use pork skins in place of the cracker topping. Hope that helps!