The Scoop
Chicken-in-a-Biscuit Casserole features cheesy swirls for comforting, shareable gatherings.
It was the last moving day of my twenties, the fifth apartment in eight years. As I lugged boxes up three flights, a neighbor offered a friendly wave, balancing a kitten on one shoulder. Exhausted but too eager to ignore a friendly introduction, I invited her over for what would become my signature move—a spontaneous casserole from the odds and ends still clinging to my bare cupboards. Chicken was always my reliable go-to; no matter where I moved, there'd be a stash in the freezer. I checked: the usual pile of butter, onion, and garlic was waiting patiently for another culinary adventure.
By the time she arrived, I was knee-deep in bubbly broth and softening carrots. My secret touch, red peppers, sat ready to lend a surprising sweet heat to the dish. It's silly how rolling biscuit topping into a jelly roll can work magic, but trust me, it gives a lovely swirl of cheddar and peppers in each slice. If you flour your surface well before rolling the dough, it slides like a dream and keeps those layers proud and separate. My new friend didn’t just enjoy our shared meal; she applauded loudly. As we dug into the warm, comforting casserole, I realized it wasn’t just the tasty food sparking our budding friendship but the shared stories that naturally unfolded between bites. That evening taught me that sharing a meal often means more than sharing food; it’s about sharing pieces of our lives, layered like my biscuit crust with snippets of chatter, laughter, and new beginnings.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter, cubed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more, to taste, for dusting a work surface
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock
- 5 cups chicken, cooked, cut into cubes
- 3 cups biscuit/baking mix
- 3/4 cup 2% milk
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup roasted sweet red peppers, drained and chopped
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.
- In a 6-quart stockpot over medium-high heat, melt the butter.
- Add the onion, the celery, and the carrots to the butter and cook, while stirring, until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the veggie mixture and cook, while stirring, until it is fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir 1/2 cup of the flour, the salt, and the pepper into the veggie mixture until blended.
- Gradually whisk the broth into the veggie mixture.
- Bring the veggie mixture to a boil while stirring constantly.
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook the veggie mixture until it thickens, about 4-6 minutes.
- Add the chicken to the veggie mixture and stir to combine.
- Pour the chicken mixture in the prepared baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
- While the casserole is baking, in a large bowl, combine the biscuit mix and the milk until the mix is just moistened.
- Using the extra flour, lightly dust a work surface, turn the dough mixture onto the surface, and gently knead it, about eight times.
- Roll the dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle.
- Sprinkle the dough rectangle with the shredded cheese and the red peppers.
- Roll the dough up, jelly-roll-style, starting with a long side and then pinch the seam to seal.
- Cut the dough crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices.
- Place the dough slices on top of the hot chicken mixture.
- Bake the casserole, uncovered, until the biscuits are golden-brown, about 15-20 minutes.
- Serve.
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