Creamy Chicken Noodle Casserole

Disclaimer: This recipe is in no way especially unique, fancy or healthy...but it's pretty darn tasty!


Another cold day, another round of comfort food. I was trying to find a recipe that would be relatively easy to throw together and would leave me with leftovers through the weekend. After searching and comparing many chicken casserole recipes, I pulled bits and pieces from several and came up with my own. And a bit to my surprise, it turned out pretty good! 


Thought I'd share a recipe that's easy to make, easy to serve and good if you have to feed a group of people or want leftovers for a few days.


Ingredients
3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 white onion
3 cloves garlic
8 oz. egg noodles
2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed Cream of Chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
7 0z. freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 sleeve Ritz crackers (or any other butter cracker)
Olive oil
Garlic & onion powder
Salt & pepper


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add egg noodles. Boil for 4-6 minutes (they cook really quickly!) Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside in a medium bowl.

3. Season uncooked chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add the chicken breasts. Cook the chicken breasts for 7-10 minutes on each side until browned and cooked through. (Once the chicken is in the skillet, I add a little garlic and onion powder to jazz up the flavor of the chicken itself).
4. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from heat and set aside on a cutting board for 10 minutes so the juices can redistribute (this will help the chicken to stay moist and the juices won't run out all over when you cut it).

5. Dice the onion and mince the garlic cloves. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes.
6. Remove skillet from heat and add the three cans of soup to the skillet (this will prevent lumps from forming in the soup, as the skillet will still be hot). Thoroughly incorporate the onion, garlic and soup.

7. Add the soup mixture to the bowl with the egg noodles. Add the sour cream and grated cheese and mix together.
8. Dice the chicken breasts into small-medium pieces and mix into the noodle mixture.
9. Pour into a 9"x13" casserole dish.
10. Crush one sleeve of Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top of the casserole.
11. Bake for 30 minutes or until cracker topping has browned and cheese is bubbling.
12. Let sit for 10 minutes and serve.