Creamy Chicken Casserole with Cheesy Cauliflower Mash (Low Carb)
This Creamy Chicken Casserole is the low carb version of a cross between chicken pot pie and shepherd’s pie! It has a rich and creamy chicken and vegetable filling, and is topped with cheesy mashed cauliflower.
Servings 6 servings
Calories 346kcal
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 large stalks celery diced
- 1 medium carrot diced
- 3 large cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 3 cups cooked chopped or shredded chicken leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken work great
Topping:
- 1 2/3 cups mashed cauliflower
- 4 ounces shredded white cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- For the filling, melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot, and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
- Stir in the chicken stock, thyme, salt, and black pepper, and bring up to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and cook 10 minutes (uncovered), stirring occasionally.
- Whisk in the cream cheese until completely incorporated, and then stir in the chicken.
- Cook until the chicken is warmed, about 5 minutes.
- Carefully pour the filling mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
- For the topping, stir together the mashed cauliflower and cheese in a medium bowl. Spread this mixture on top of the filling in the casserole dish.
- Bake until the casserole is warm and bubbling, about 20 minutes, and then broil it briefly to brown the top (stay with it, this can take less than a minute!).
- Serve.
Notes
- Net Carbs: 8g per serving
- Instead of leftover chicken, canned chicken also works well here.
- Feel free to use regular mashed potatoes as the topping instead of the cheesy mashed cauliflower.
- You could skip the topping and serve the creamy chicken and vegetable filling on a bed of mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, toast, or stuffing (dressing).
- To make mashed cauliflower, chop up a head of cauliflower. Boil it until tender, and then mash the cauliflower the same way you'd make mashed potatoes.
Nutrition
Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 643mg | Potassium: 488mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2425IU | Vitamin C: 16.9mg | Calcium: 197mg | Iron: 1mg