This Creamy Chicken Casserole is just 6 SmartPoints on Weight Watchers Freestyle plan. It's 6 SmartPoints on the myWW Blue plan & the myWW Purple plan and 7 SmartPoints on the myWW Green plan.
If you follow the new WW Personal Points plan then you can find out how many Personal Points this recipe will be for you & track it in your WW App by clicking on the blue button in recipe card below!
Not the most pretty looking dish, but what it lacks in style it make up for in taste. It is creamy, filling and delicious and what's more you get a massive portion for your SmartPoints!
Now that's my kind of Weight Watchers Chicken recipe!
The creamy sauce in this casserole is a variation on the sauce that I use to make these Swedish Meatballs.
With Weight Watchers we tend to steer clear of creamy sauces, but this one is different.
It isn't made with lashings of cream! Although, it certainly tastes like it does.
Instead of cream I made the sauce by adding skimmed milk to chicken stock, thickening it with a roux and stirring in a couple of spoonfuls of half fat creme fraiche.
This gives it a rich creamy taste and thickens the sauce so that it nicely covers the chicken and mushrooms.
If you're unable to get hold of half fat creme fraiche or you don't particularly like it, read on for alternatives!
Please be aware that this post was written prior to Weight Watchers changing to the WW Points Plan. Scroll down the page to check how many Points it works out on the 2023 - 2024 WW Points Plan, as well as some of the older Weight Watchers plans.
How many SmartPoints in Creamy Chicken Casserole?
Weight Watchers changed their program at the end of 2019. It now includes 3 individual plans, giving anyone following the WW program lots of choice about how they use their SmartPoint allocation.
Using the official WW recipe builder I have worked out the SmartPoints for this Creamy Chicken Casserole for each of the plans.
- Freestyle plan - 6 SmartPoints per portion
- myWW Blue plan - 6 SmartPoints per portion
- myWW Purple plan - 6 SmartPoints per portion
- myWW Green plan - 7 SmartPoints per portions
More WW Chicken Recipes
If you are looking for other Weight Watchers friendly chicken recipes, you may like this Chicken Marsala or perhaps this Chicken Tikka Masala. This Chicken, Leek & Mushroom Pie is also a very popular dish.
Preparing the chicken:
Now it may be tempting to omit this step (as the flour and oil adds a few extra points), but I strongly recommend you don't skip this part.
Sealing the chicken this way stops it from becoming tough when baked. It also browns it and adds to the overall flavour.
- Cut the large chicken breasts into strips (pic 1).
- Place the flour into a bag or container and season. Toss the chicken in the seasoned flour so that they are fully coated (pic 2)
- I saute the chicken in batches (pic 3). I tend to do 3 batches and use ¼ of a tablespoon of olive oil per batch.
- You want to seal the chicken, but you don't want it to cook through. Turn the chicken with tongs until the chicken is sealed and parts of it have turned golden brown (pic 4)
Preparing the sauce:
To make the sauce, you need to make a roux. This is done by adding flour to butter, or in this case olive oil. This amount of roux will not thicken the sauce much but it does help!
- Warm the oil in a pan and add the flour (pic 1). Stir together over a warm heat until it makes a paste.
- Continue to cook the paste for a minute or two (so that the flour cooks).
- Add the stock bit by bit (pics 2 & 3) making sure that you whisk to avoid it becoming lumpy.
- Once all the stock has been added, stir in the milk (pic 4)
- Bring the sauce to a simmer, whisking continuously and then remove from the heat. Stir in the creme fraiche. The sauce should have thickened slightly and is now ready to use.
Putting it all together:
- Layer the sauteed chicken into a casserole dish (pic 1)
- Top with the sauteed onions, mushrooms and garlic (pic 2)
- Pour over the creamy sauce (pic 3)
- Bake, uncovered, for a further 40 minutes (pic 4)
What I used to make this dish:
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit this page to see what that means.
I used a good quality non stick frying pan, like this one available from Amazon.
I use my Edge of Belgravia precision knife for slicing and dicing! Available from Amazon.
What to serve this casserole with:
- Roasted Butternut Squash Mash for no extra SmartPoints
- A small serving of rice for an extra 3 SmartPoints (or use brown rice for no extra SmartPoints if you are following the Purple plan!)
- A small serving of pasta for an extra 4 SmartPoints (or use whole wheat rice for no extra SmartPoints if you are following the Purple plan)
- A scoop of mashed potato made with margarine for an extra 4 SmartPoints
Alternatives:
If you don't like half fat Creme Fraiche, you can stir through a couple of tablespoons of Philadelphia Light soft cheese instead.
Alternatively, you can use 3 tablespoons of soured cream - this will give the casserole a slightly different sharper taste.
If you use full fat Creme Fraiche, you will have to add a further 6 SmartPoints to the whole casserole.
I used common white mushrooms in this recipe, but you could use Portobello mushrooms for an extra meaty casserole or shiitake mushrooms for a different flavour. Or a mixture of all three!
Creamy Chicken Casserole | Weight Watchers
Ingredients
- 4 skinless chicken breasts chopped into strips
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil divided
- 5¼ cups mushrooms (500g) sliced
- 1 onion diced
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
For the sauce
- ¾ tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1½ cups chicken stock (350ml)
- ½ cup skimmed milk (120ml)
- 2 tbsp half fat creme fraiche or alternative - see post
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180oC / 350oF /170oC Fan
- Place the flour, salt and pepper in a bag or tub and add the chicken strips. Toss until they are fully coated with the seasoned flour.
- Heat a quarter of the olive oil in a good non stick pan and add a third of the chicken. Turn a few times until the chicken is sealed on all sides and parts of it have turned a light golden brown. Remove from the pan and place in a large casserole dish.
- Cook the rest of the chicken this way - in two more batches, adding ¼ tbsp of oil to the pan before adding the chicken. The chicken does not have to be cooked through, it just needs to be sealed to prevent it from becoming dry and tough when baked later.
- Add the last ¼ tbsp of oil to the pan and scrape up any bits of flour that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the chopped onion and fry for a few minutes until they have started to soften.
- Add the mushroom and saute for a few more minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and cook until the mushrooms have softened and all the water has cooked off.
- Add the minced garlic and saute for a further 1 - 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and spoon over the chicken strips.
For the sauce
- In a saucepan, heat ¾ tbsp of olive oil over a medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of flour and mix to make a paste. Stir for 1 - 2 minutes.
- Add a little of the chicken stock and whisk or stir in, till combined and smooth. Carry on adding the stock, bit by bit until it is all incorporated and has turned to smooth sauce. Add the skimmed milk and bring to a simmer.
- Once the sauce has come to a simmer, remove from the heat and stir in the half fat creme fraiche. Season to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken, mushrooms and onions. Place the casserole dish in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes.
- Serve warm. See serving suggestion above.
Nancy Davis says
I made this recipe over the weekend and it's absolutely delicious!! Thanks for all the great recipes.
Marianne says
Nancy, I am so pleased that you enjoyed it 😀 Good luck with your WW journey. Kindest regards Marianne x
Kathy says
I just fixed this recipe. Wonderful. I did use low fat Philadelphia cream cheese 2 tablespoons and added fresh broccoli when I added the mushrooms. I will keep this recipe. Thank you
Alana says
This recipe sounds great iam going to make for dinner tonight
Heather says
I must be blind, lol. I’ve looked several times but can’t find the serving size. Can you help?
Marianne says
Hi Heather
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
This particular recipe serves 4. The serving amounts appear in the recipe card under the 'prep time', 'cook time', 'total time' etc. I agree it doesn't really stand out there and is on my list of things to change on the website over the next few weeks!
Best of luck with your WW journey.
Kindest regards
Marianne
Rose s says
Plan on making, looks delicious. You stated it serves 4 but what is considered a serving. Thank you
Maggie says
What’s the serving size? I know it says it serves 4 would you just divide it all by 4 because that’s a lot of food
Karen Tefft says
I am trying this gem tonight. It looks amazing! I plugged it into my WW Recipe Builder and even with regular creme fraiche, it totaled out to 4SP for Blue. That is a win! I am making the butternut mash to serve with it. I cant wait!
Mary says
Where did you get that pan? I love it!
Marianne says
Hi Mary
I think that I brought it from a Homesense store in Canada. I can't be sure though - it was some time ago.
Kind regards
Marianne
Jennie says
This was really, really good! Even my fussy kids loved it. I served it with potatoes mashed with nonfat Greek yogurt and roasted squash! It was not fast, but it was good!
Marianne says
I am so pleased that you (& your kids) liked it Jennie!
Best of luck on your WW journey.
Kind regards
Marianne x
Jane says
I just made this recipe and it is absolutely delicious. My kids, who can be a little picky, LOVED it. I froze the left overs and just reheated, still delicious! Cauliflower riced and vegies a great 6pt dinner.
Karen says
Just cooked this tonight and loved it! Even the hubby ate it all and he’s fussy.
Marianne says
So pleased that you and your husband liked it Karen.
Best of luck with your WW journey.
Kindest regards
Marianne
NHawitt says
I just made this tonight and it was delicious, thank you. Will definitely be going in to regular rotation. The sauce is so savoury and flavourful.
Marianne says
So pleased that you enjoyed it!
Beth says
I can’t wait to try this recipe it looks delicious
Marianne says
Really hope that you enjoyed it Beth!
Kindest regards
Marianne x
Nancy says
Going to try this for tomorrow’s Sunday lunch….
Marianne says
Hope you enjoyed it Nancy! It's one of my faves.
Kindest regards
Marianne
Shauna says
Can you freeze this? I try and food prep for the week.
Jade says
This recipe was delicious. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture, but my husband and I were really hungry when it was ready. Served over brown rice. My husband even commented on how perfectly done the chicken was. Moist and tender. Will absolutely keep this in my ww dinner rotation! Thank you.
Marianne says
Hi Jade
I am so pleased that you & your husband enjoyed it! It's one of my favourites.
Best of luck with your WW journey.
Kind regards
Marianne
Diane says
I just made this chicken its in the oven it looks so good but my sauce was runny does it thicken as it cooks?
Wannetta says
Can this be converted to instant pot?