The Old-Fashioned Chicken Casserole That Transports Me To My Grandmother’s Kitchen

My grandmother spent almost two decades working as a copy editor and copy chief for Oxmoor House publishing, where among other titles, she edited hundreds of Southern Living Annual Recipe books. One of her favorite pastimes was visiting the Test Kitchen to sample whatever was brewing that day. Decades later, I do the same when an enticing smell drifts down to the editorial department. 

She was the absolute best at fine-tuning even the most difficult recipes on the page, and she was a good cook herself, but by no means a master chef (another trait we share). Not that she should’ve been—the woman got her masters while raising three kids and became a college professor in the meantime…before even starting her storied career in publishing. But my grandmother did have several dishes that she perfected and made her signatures. 

What Makes Poppy Seed Chicken Special

When we arrived at my grandmother’s house for dinner on a non-holiday, there was a good chance she had one of two dinners cooking: a batch of chili with mini cheese toasts (if it was 70 degrees or cooler) or a casserole dish of Poppy Seed Chicken with a pot of white rice. Poppy Seed Chicken is everything a casserole should be: easy to make with few ingredients, warm, filling, and able to feed the whole family. It’s just the kind of comfort food Southerners immediately turn to when there’s a birth or a death in the family. 

A few weeks ago, my mom picked up some ready-made casseroles to put in the freezer because we had out of town company, and God forbid anyone’s stomach even think about growling. One of those casseroles was Poppy Seed Chicken, and with a single bite, I was transported to my grandmother’s house, making my plate around her kitchen island and topping it off with a Millie Ray’s roll (Don’t judge that the rolls weren’t made from scratch: Millie Ray was her cousin, so we were supporting the family business). 

Now I have my own child to feed every night, and I’m constantly reminded by Instagram of the plainness of some of the dinners I serve. My grandmother would probably hate that of all the beautiful meals we enjoyed at her home, I’m writing about a six-ingredient casserole, and one that includes a cream-of soup no less. But it’s what I remember, and it makes me smile. So if my son looks back on eating sheet pan chicken or peanut butter-banana sandwiches fondly, that’s okay with me. Food memories are often more about a feeling than a certain taste or pedigree of a recipe, at least for me. 

What You Need To Make Poppy Seed Chicken

To start, you obviously need chicken, and for this recipe, it should already be cooked. This is where that Costco rotisserie chicken you buy every week comes in handy. Other than that, you’ll need just a few pantry staples: one can condensed cream of chicken soup, sour cream, poppy seeds, buttery crackers (like Keebler or Ritz), and unsalted butter. Go ahead and add white or brown rice to your list if you don’t have some on hand, because this creamy casserole needs a starchy base. 

How To Make Poppy Seed Chicken

This is one of those recipes that literally anyone can make, even your aunt who you always ask to bring ice to Thanksgiving. You simply stir the filling together, pour it in a greased baking dish, stir the topping together, put it on top of the filling, and bake. The most intensive part of this recipe is preparing the rice that you’ll serve under it. If you’re really in a time crunch, just get microwaveable rice, and voila! Plus, like any good casserole recipe, you can file this one under the “freezes beautifully” section of your recipe tin. 

Though she passed almost two years ago, my grandmother remains. She’s here in her beautiful penmanship scribbled in books she gave me. She’s here on her favorite beach watching the Gulf wash over my baby’s toes for the first time. And she’s here as I eat a heaping forkful of buttery white rice and Poppy Seed Chicken and wash it down with “just a splash” of red wine.