Southern Chicken Casserole–Instant Pot creamy chicken spaghetti casserole with Ritz cracker topping. An easy recipe that is comfort food to the max.
Southern Chicken Casserole
Today’s recipe is an adaptation from Georgia Girl Kitchen. It’s a simple chicken casserole recipe with creamy sauce, cheese, spaghetti and a ritz cracker topping. It’s one of those recipes that is perfect to make when you want to feed a crowd but don’t have a ton of time to prepare a meal. The Instant Pot brings everything together in just a few minutes! You’re going to love this comforting meal and might be sneaking bites right out of the pot like I did!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Spaghetti–I used whole wheat thin spaghetti
- Cooked, chopped chicken–I used this recipe. Or you can use rotisserie chicken.
- Cream of chicken soup–or healthy request cream of chicken soup or 4 ounces cream cheese
- Sour cream–or plain yogurt
- Shredded colby jack cheese–or cheddar
- Ritz crackers
- Butter
Steps
Pour broth into Instant Pot. Break the pasta in half and add it into the pot in a criss cross pattern. Dump the chicken and cream of chicken soup on top. Don’t stir.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove lid.
Stir in the sour cream…
And the cheese.
Sprinkle the Ritz crackers on top. Drizzle the Ritz crackers with melted butter. Use an air fry lid to brown up the top of the casserole (air fry for 3 minutes at 400 degrees).
Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with a green salad. A simple green salad with a light vinaigrette can provide a refreshing contrast to the richness of this creamy chicken casserole. Another idea is to serve with roasted vegetables. Roasted vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, or carrots can add a touch of color and a healthy element to the meal.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The Ritz cracker topping is best when this dish is served fresh so perhaps if you’re going to have a lot of leftovers only add the Ritz topping to each individual serving.
- You can use another type of pasta besides spaghetti. Some ideas are penne, rotini, rigatoni, linguine, fettuccine. Some pastas might need a different cooking time than spaghetti. I usually half the the cooking time on the back of the box and subtract 1-2 minutes.
- This recipe as it is written is very simple. You can build more flavor in this recipe by starting out by sauteing onions, celery and garlic. You can also add in other vegetables to your liking. Add in poultry seasoning, garlic powder and black pepper to taste.
- Other recipes you can make with Ritz crackers are Air Fryer Heavenly Chicken and Instant Pot Million Dollar Chicken Casserole.
- Recipe adapted from Georgia Girl Kitchen.
More Instant Pot Chicken Casseroles…
Everyday Casserole
Everyday Casserole–an easy Instant Pot recipe that is perfect for a busy weekday. It’s got chicken, pasta, vegetables and a creamy sauce all in one dish. Pin this recipe for later! Everyday Casserole My son said this dinner reminded him of chicken and dumplings! That is a compliment if you ask me because chicken and
Lazy Day Chicken Casserole
Instant Pot chicken, stuffing and vegetables in a creamy sauce. An easy dump-and-go recipe for a “don’t feel like cooking” day.
Henny Penny Chicken
Penne pasta and chicken in a creamy white sauce…better than alfredo!
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Southern Chicken Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot creamy chicken spaghetti casserole with Ritz cracker topping. An easy recipe that is comfort food to the max.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 2 heaping cups cooked, chopped chicken
- 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
- 1 sleeve Ritz crackers (about 30 crackers), crushed
- 1 Tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Break the pasta in half and add it into the pot in a criss cross pattern. Dump the chicken and cream of chicken soup on top. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove lid.
- Stir in the sour cream and the cheese.
- Sprinkle the Ritz crackers on top. Drizzle the Ritz crackers with melted butter. Use an air fry lid to brown up the top of the casserole (air fry for 3 minutes at 400 degrees).
- Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
This was so good and so easy! I used cream of chicken with herbs soup because that’s what I had, and I added garlic powder and poultry seasoning like you suggested and it turned out perfect! Thank you!
Cream of chicken with herbs is a great option if that’s what you have on hand, and those extra seasonings sound spot-on. So glad you enjoyed it!
can you do this in a slow cooker if so what would you change from the insta pot?
I haven’t tried this one in the slow cooker. You could certainly give it a shot. Add broth, pasta, chicken and cream of chicken soup into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. Stir in the sour cream and cheese. Sprinkle ritz cracker crumbs on each individual serving.
I 💙’d this Creamy Chicken Spaghetti 🍝 😋 recipe!
So delicious and had to add a few dashes of lemon 🍋 pepper and a squeeze of lemon to it. Along with parsley! So good! I highly recommend everyone to at least give this recipe a try. It will definitely become a weekly recipe. It doesn’t take long to cook at alot. Less than 30 mins and dinner is ready for serving. Thank you for sharing your favorite recipes with us. We truly enjoy them.
So glad to hear this Catherine! THANKS!!
may I have the slow cooker version please.
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I haven’t tried this one in the slow cooker. You could certainly give it a shot. Add broth, pasta, chicken and cream of chicken soup into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. Stir in the sour cream and cheese. Sprinkle ritz cracker crumbs on each individual serving.
can this be made in the oven? i don’t have a insta pot
Hey Barb! The original recipe was an oven recipe so I would follow along with that: https://georgiagirlkitchen.com/southern-chicken-casserole/
I don’t know how to reach you any other way, but in this comment… I would like to triple the recipe for Tuscan chicken. Do I triple the liquid contents as well as the solid contents?
I love your recipes and really appreciate what you were doing. You’ve made my husband very happy as well!
yes I would triple all ingredients and keep the cooking time the same.
I cooked the rotisserie chicken getting ready for this Southern chicken casserole. I didn’t read the part that says use the air fryer lid! Is there another way to make this recipe?
since the fryer lid is only used for Browning the crumbs , you could instead brown the crumbs in a frying pan with the butter. use low heat and stir constantly until golden brown.then sprinkle the crumbs over the casserole.
hopefully it worked out for you! You don’t really need the air fryer lid. You can just sprinkle the Ritz on top and don’t worry about browning them.