You will LOVE this slow cooker (crockpot) chicken casserole!
An easy midweek dinner, perfect comfort food. The addition of pearl barley is optional, but delicious.
A few simple ingredients are all you need.
Not everyone likes pearl barley (pearled barley), but we love it because it adds another texture to the dish. Plus, it's good for you! 😉
What is pearl barley?
Pearl barley is the whole kernels of the barley grain which have been hulled (outer bran husk removed) and then polished. The polishing makes it easier to cook and digest.
How do you cook pearl barley?
As with most grains, it is a good idea to rinse pearl barley before cooking with it, particularly if adding it straight to a soup or a stew.
For this slow cooker casserole, you must cook the pearl barley in boiling water for 10 minutes to give it a head start. If you don't, it will thicken the casserole too much.
Slow cooker (Crockpot)
You will need a slow cooker. I love the Morphy Richards Easy Time Slow Cooker; you select the time, and it selects the heat setting for you.
Although you can, of course, set it manually if you prefer. But the big difference is that it has a medium setting as well as the usual low and high.
Once cooking has finished, it auto goes to keep warm.
The removable aluminium hob-proof pot can be placed directly onto the stove top to sear and sauté any ingredients first, which means less washing up!
With the ever-rising costs of energy, slow cookers are brilliant as they use so little electricity to cook a meal. Batch cooking is the way to go - cook more than you need and freeze the rest.
Ingredients in this recipe
- rapeseed or vegetable oil
- skinless chicken breast fillets
- onion
- carrots
- celery sticks
- leek
- chestnut (brown) mushrooms
- pearl (pearled) barley
- 1 x 295g can Campbell's cream of chicken condensed soup
- white pepper
- frozen peas
You'll find the full recipe in the printable recipe card below.
Can you freeze this?
Yes, but I would leave out the peas and cook fresh peas and add them before reheating. Otherwise they will lose their lovely colour.
Best reheated in a microwave, stiring now and then and heat until piping hot.
Okay, let's cook!
In a large frying pan, add a little oil and fry the vegetables for a few minutes.
Add the veg to the cooking pot.
Wipe the pan with a kitchen paper towel and add a little bit more oil. Once heated, add the chicken and fry for a minute whilst stirring to seal it.
Then add that to the cooking pot along with a good pinch of white pepper.
Now add the pearl barley and the soup along with the gravy mix (see the recipe card below).
Fear not that it looks far too thick - trust me, during cooking in a slow cooker, the leeks and onions will have released water, and your casserole will be just fine. 😉
Mix well and put the lid on. Set to cook on your chosen temperature setting: Low, Medium or High.
At 5 minutes before the end of cooking, stir in the cooked peas. You can put them in before, but they will lose their bright green colour.
Serve with mashed potatoes. 😋
You might also like this even easier dump-and-leave chicken casserole!
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!
Chicken Casserole with Campbell's Soup
Easy slow cooker chicken casserole recipe; the pearl barley is an optional addition to the easy and filling midweek dinner.
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons rapeseed or vegetable oil
- 2-3 large skinless chicken breast fillets - cubed
- 1 large onion - chopped
- 2 large carrots - peeled and sliced
- 2 celery sticks - stringy bits removed and thinly sliced
- 1 large leek - cleaned and sliced
- 6 or so chestnut (brown) mushrooms - cleaned and sliced
- 4 tablespoons pearl (pearled) barley - rinsed, boiled for 20 minutes and then drained well
- 1 x 295g can Campbell's cream of chicken condensed soup
- 250ml water
- a big pinch of white pepper
- Bisto Best chicken gravy
- ½ a teacup of frozen peas
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, carrots, celery and leek for a few minutes. Now add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes, then add them to your slow cooker along with the prepared pearl barley.
- Wipe the frying pan and add a little oil. Once heated, add the chicken and fry it for a minute or so to seal. Then add it to the slow cooker pot along with a good pinch of white pepper.
- Now, add the can of Campbell's condensed soup and using the empty can, fill it just ½ the can with water, and pour that in as well.
- In a jug, mix 4 heaped tablespoons of Best Bisto chicken granules with just 250ml of boiling water to form a thickish gravy and add that too.
- Stir well and put the lid on. *Fear not that the mixture looks far too thick! Trust me, it won't be when it has finished cooking, as the leeks and onions release water.
- Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours, on Medium for 5 hours, or on High for 4-6 hours.
- Meanwhile, cook the peas in boiling salted water, then run them under cold water and drain them well. Cover with cling film and set aside. We'll add those 5 minutes before the end of cooking.
- Back to the casserole: Have a taste to check the seasoning. If you need to add a little more Bisto, take half a cup of the liquid from the slow cooker and mix the Bisto before adding it to the cooker, as that will enable it to mix into the casserole without lumps.
- You shouldn't need salt as Bisto already contains salt, so taste before adding any.
- At 5 minutes before the end of cooking, stir in the cooked peas. Serve with mashed potatoes.
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