Our spicy chicken casserole recipe is super tasty. Flavoured with BBQ sauce and a kick of heat from chilli flakes, this easy midweek dinner will be a total family favourite in no time!
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Spicy chicken casserole is just so great for weeknight dinner during the winter. It’s super easy to make and tastes delicious, this is a family meal the kids ask for time and time again.
Tender, delicious chicken breast pieces, simmered in a smoky BBQ tomato sauce with added vegetables.
It’s bursting with flavour and goes super well with lots of different side dishes – rice, mashed potatoes or fries for an easy dinner idea. It’s one of my favourite recipe ideas to cook!
Equipment Needed
- Chopping board
- Sharp knife
- Tablespoon
- Teaspoon
- Oven proof pan with a lid (or use a saucepan to start the casserole off on the hob, then tip into a casserole dish, with a lid, for the oven cooking)
- Wooden spoon – or other cooking spoon
- Measuring jug
Spicy Chicken Casserole Ingredients
You’ll just need a handful of tasty casserole ingredients to throw together this delicious, warming meal.
- 150g smoked pancetta cubes – I buy these because they’re already chopped up into little cubes so I don’t need to bother doing it – but feel free to just use a 2-3 rashers of smoked bacon instead simply snipped into pieces.
- Red onion – you can use brown if you prefer or that’s what you’ve got in .
- 400g chicken breast – cut into bitesized pieces, you can use chicken mini fillets for this recipe if you prefer.
- Red pepper – deseeded and diced. Again feel free to swap this for green, orange or yellow pepper.
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 150g BBQ sauce – don’t bother weighing this out, just do two really big squeezes of the bottle and it’ll be around the right weight. I use HP Classic BBQ sauce as this is the one we usually have in for sausage barmcakes!
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes – if you don’t like spice, skip these or sprinkle them on after serving – just for the people that like the heat.
- Salt and pepper
- 150ml water
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How To Make Spicy Chicken Casserole
You are just going to love how simple this easy spicy chicken stew is to make and once it’s in the oven it just takes care of itself.
I make this spicy chicken dish in a hob to oven shallow casserole dish with a lid.
If you don’t have this type of casserole dish then simply do the hob parts of the recipe in a frying pan and then tip into a casserole dish with a lid for the oven cooking.
Okay – to make our casserole recipe, just follow the simple steps below.
Step One – preheat the oven
- First up preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4
Step Two – start the spicy chicken casserole off on the hob
- Next add the olive oil to the pan and fry the onions and pancetta (or bacon if you’re using that) over a low to medium heat for around 5 minutes.
- Then add the diced chicken breast and continue to fry in the olive oil until the chicken meat turns a white colour on the outside. This should only take around 5 minutes – keep stirring as it cooks.
- Then add the tinned chopped tomatoes, the BBQ sauce, the diced peppers and the smoked paprika, oregano and pinch of chilli flakes.
Step Three – cook the spicy chicken stew in the oven
- Pour in the water and give everything a mix together. Then cook in the oven, with the lid on for 1 hour.
- After an hour remove the spicy chicken casserole from the oven. Check the chicken is cooked though properly and that the vegetables are tender.
I use this meat thermometer to check the chicken temperature to make sure it’s heated through
- It doesn’t usually, BUT – if the spicy chicken stew needs thickening you can do this by adding a couple of tsp of cornflour to a drop of cold water and mixing into a paste. Then just stir this through the casserole and cook for a minute or two to thicken up the sauce.
I usually sprinkle a handful of chopped coriander over the BBQ chicken casserole to serve.
Get more chicken mini fillets recipes and meal ideas here
What To Serve With Chicken Casserole
Our spicy chicken casserole has a lovely smoky BBQ flavour with a kick of heat from the chilli flakes so it’s perfect served with fluffy rice and a sprinkling of Cheddar cheese.
Maybe even a handful of nachos for scooping it all up with. It’s also delicious served with…
- Couscous
- Oven chips
- Air Fryer Wedges – with peri peri seasoning
We’ve got loads more easy family meals and recipe ideas right here!
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Can I Freeze Chicken Casserole?
You can freeze our spicy chicken casserole. When I freeze this, I do it the day I make it. I Just cool thoroughly then put into a freezer container or freezer bag and pop it in the freezer.
I use it within 1 month of freezing. When using the chicken casserole be sure to defrost it properly and reheat it properly.
Love spicy chicken dishes? Try our Firecracker Chicken here!
How To Use Up Leftover Chicken Casserole?
Our spicy chicken casserole is delicious served next day wrapped in soft flour tortillas with rice and Cheddar cheese.
You could also use the leftover casserole to make little spicy chicken pasties or stir through pasta.
loads more ways to use up chicken casserole here
Need Some Family Meal Ideas?
Check out our meal planning here – it’s filled with recipes, meal planning tips and pre-filled printable meal plans weekly or seasonally. We’ve got hundreds of the BEST family recipes and Dinner Ideas For Family your whole family will LOVE!
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Love Your Leftovers!
If you’ve got leftover stew, casserole or curry then grab our BRILLIANT leftover recipe ideas here – How To Use Up Leftover Stew and turn it into something new!
More Easy Chicken Casserole Recipes You’ll just LOVE!
- Chicken and Chorizo Stew – a warming, wintery chicken casserole with chickpeas and spinach, super easy and super flavoursome.
- Slow Cooker Spanish Chicken Stew – an easy midweek dinner, flavoursome chicken and potatoes in a paprika tomato sauce. Delicious one pot meal.
- Honey and Mustard Chicken – an easy mini chicken fillet recipe in a sweet and savoury tasty sauce. Great alongside oven fries or baked potatoes.
- Turkey mince chilli – try out our healthier chilli con carne recipe, a flavoursome chilli but much lower on the fat content..
- Garlic Chicken Pasta – a super easy pasta dish, succulent chicken breast tossed with freshly cooked pasta in a rich creamy, garlicky sauce.
Get loads more easy casserole recipes here!
Spicy Chicken Casserole
A tasty spicy chicken and pepper casserole recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 150g smoked pancetta
- 1 red onion - diced
- 400g chicken breast - diced
- 1 red pepper
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 150g BBQ sauce
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper
- 150ml water
Instructions
- Firstly preheat the oven to 180C
- Next add the olive oil to the pan and fry the onions and pancetta (or bacon if you’re using that) over a low to medium heat for around 5 minutes.
- Then add the diced chicken breast and continue to fry in the olive oil until the chicken meat turns a white colour on the outside. This should only take around 5 minutes – keep stirring as it cooks.
- Next add the tinned chopped tomatoes, the BBQ sauce, the diced peppers and the smoked paprika, oregano and pinch of chilli flakes.
- Pour in the water and give everything a mix together. Then cook in the oven with the lid on for 1 hour.
- After an hour remove the spicy chicken casserole from the oven. Check the chicken is cooked though properly and that the vegetables are tender.
Notes
It doesn’t usually, BUT – if the spicy chicken stew needs thickening you can do this by adding a couple of tsp of cornflour to a drop of cold water and mixing into a paste. Then just stir this through the casserole and cook for a minute or two to thicken up the sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 495Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 515mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 3gSugar: 18gProtein: 37g
Nutritional content will vary depending on the exact ingredients you use and how careful you are with measuring - this nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate - you should always calculate your own nutritional information especially if you have specific dietary requirements.
Get our best chicken recipes here – perfect for weeknight dinner
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Love spicy chicken? Try out our Cajun Chicken Pasta Bake recipe here – lovely comfort food meal idea!
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