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Can you believe Thanksgiving week is already here? We are very excited to get our eating on! If you happen to be searching for an idea on what to do with the leftovers, this Cornbread and Chicken Bake can easily be adapted to include turkey. It is creamy, satisfying, AND has great macros.
The Recipe
I got the inspiration for the bake from this Taste of Home recipe. I was looking for ideas of what to use leftover cornbread with and thought this would be great for a post-Thanksgiving day meal. After all, you can just sub out the chicken for some roasted turkey breast and skip over prepping the chicken.
This meal was SO simple to put together. Seriously, all you do is take the prepared ingredients and mix them in a bowl. I think this is perfect for the day after Thanksgiving. After preparing for the big feast, I doubt anyone wants to spend THAT much time in the kitchen the following day.
Another reason this recipe stood out to me was that it included instructions for how to make this a freezer meal. If you find yourself with an abundance of leftovers, this might be a great way to use up your leftover turkey. Plus, it will help save time later since you already have a meal prepped and ready to go in the freezer! I haven’t personally frozen this meal, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be successful.
The Cornbread
To make the cornbread, I used a box of cornbread that Kodiak Cakes had sent to me. I have never tried their cornbread mix before, but I knew we would love it because we love all of the Kodiak products! I decided to sub a few ingredients on the back of the box:
- Eggs. Because of my egg allergy, I needed to omit the eggs and add in my favorite egg substitute (1 tsp oil + 2 T of water + 1 tsp of baking powder for each egg).
- Butter. To try to save some fat from the prepared content, I decided to sub out the butter with equal parts greek yogurt (170 g).
- Milk. I used 1% milk in the recipe to help save additional calories and fat.
These substitutions worked out great. The bread was still moist and delicious. As prepared with the ingredients above, the macros were rounded to 2F/30C/12P, 179 calories, and the portions also yielded a very generous slice of cornbread!
For the Bake
You’ll notice that there are a few substitutions from the original recipe below.
- Cornbread. We have spoken about this before, but I used Kodiak Cakes because of the additional protein content. I also opted not to add another type of bread, as I wanted the cornbread to be the star. This also helps save some carbs, too! The cornbread adds a hint of sweetness to this dish as well. I love a good sweet and savory combo!
- Chicken. I added more chicken to this recipe to make it higher in protein. If you have cooked chicken or turkey breast on hand, you can skip a step and just add those. Keep in mind the macros may change!
- Cream of Chicken Soup. To make it a bit lighter, I went with 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup. If you are not a fan of using cream of chicken soup from a can, you can find a recipe on how to make your own here.
- Chicken Stock. Because I used less overall cornbread, the recipe below calls for less chicken stock. I started with 1/4 cup of chicken stock and then added more as necessary to moisten the bread. I ended up using a 1/2 cup of chicken stock. You want it to be moist but not soaked.
The Macros
For 1/8 of this casserole, it ended up being rounded to 7F/31C/27P, or 300 calories. We like to serve ours with a big green salad to add more volume and nutrients. I think this casserole is a great way to use up some leftovers, or even for some comfort food on a weeknight!
Cornbread and Chicken Bake
Ingredients
For the Cornbread
- 1 box Kodiak Cakes cornbread mix
- 2 eggs (or 2 tsp oil + 4 tablespoons of water + 2 tsp of baking powder to replace eggs)
- 170 g Non-Fat Greek yogurt (2/3 cup)
- 420 ml 1% milk (1 and 3/4 cups)
For the Bake
- 1 and 1/2 lbs chicken breast, raw (about 670 g OR 18 ounces of cooked chicken breast OR turkey breast. May change macros slightly if using cooked turkey or chicken breast.)
- 6 servings prepared Kodiak Cakes Cornbread, cubed into 1 inch pieces (1/2 of the prepared cornbread, around 487 g, or about 5 cups)
- 1 onion, diced (250 g. I used red onion in these photos, but any kind of onion will due.)
- 2 10.5 oz cans cream of chicken soup, 98% fat-free
- 1/4-1/2 cup chicken stock (I used chicken bouillon granules)
- 2 T butter, melted (28 g)
- 2 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- fresh herbs, for garnish, if desired
Instructions
To Prepare the Cornbread
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X9 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Mix the above ingredients in a bowl until combined. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For the Cornbread and Chicken Bake
- Cook raw chicken breast until cooked through and no pink remains. I placed my chicken the slow cooker with a cup of chicken stock on high for 3 hours to cook. Once cooked through, dice the chicken into cubes. Note: If you are using pre-cooked chicken or turkey, skip this step.
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X 13 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine cooked meat, cubed cornbread, diced onion, cream of chicken soup, melted butter and seasonings in a large mixing bowl. Mix together until evenly combined. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock at a time until all of the bread is moistened.
- Pour the prepared mixture into the baking pan and bake in the preheat oven for about 45 minutes, or until heated through and the top of the casserole begins to brown.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, garnish with fresh herbs if desired, and then serve! We like to serve ours with a big green salad!
