Chicken Bacon Caesar Casserole
With the bold flavors of garlic, parmesan, and bacon this easy keto casserole will please the most reluctant low carb eater. My Chicken Bacon Spinach Casserole is great when you are pressed for time. It is easy, flavorful, and can be made ahead. You can even make it in a crockpot. This easy keto casserole recipe is low carb, keto, gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
I’ve made this keto casserole so many times over the last few months it’s amazing my kids haven’t complained. But they still love it. This is the only way to get some of them, or all of them, to eat spinach. When I’m craving a little rich and creamy comfort food this is one of my go-to keto casserole recipes.
In this free 5-day email series learn all my tips for incorporating a low-carb lifestyle into the life of your family.
How to make a keto casserole
The simplest way to make any casserole keto-friendly is to leave out the starches. Most regular casseroles call for fillers like rice, pasta, or beans. In my low carb casseroles, I use proteins, vegetables, and fat. No starches.
How to make a casserole in a crockpot
It isn’t hard to convert this to a slow cooker recipe. There are just three steps to making a chicken casserole in a crockpot instead of your oven.
- Cook the chicken in the crockpot. It is very important not to OVERCOOK the chicken or you will have a dry casserole. Cook chicken breasts on low for 2.5 hours. Add a little chicken broth, butter or oil, and salt and pepper before cooking.
- DRAIN the cooking liquid. Cut up the chicken.
- Proceed with the rest of the casserole recipe. This time just cook it in the crockpot until it is hot.
The most important step is draining the cooking liquid. If you don’t do this you will end up with soup instead of a casserole.
What ingredients are in the sauce?
My typical sauce base for casseroles is cream cheese, mayo, and sour cream. This is how I can get a smooth and rich sauce without using any cans of condensed soup.
Chicken, chicken, and more chicken
We eat a lot of chicken. It is very budget friendly and easy to cook. You may remember me getting excited when my husband brought me home a two-pound bag of shrimp.
I was slightly less excited when he brought home 12 pounds of chicken breast because the freezer was packed after my Costco trip the day before. I managed to squeeze one pack in any way and we cooked the rest.
This casserole was invented about halfway through our chicken week when I just needed something that tasted less like chicken. So, in other words, it needed bacon. This Chicken Bacon Caesar Casserole has already gotten rave reviews from everyone who has tried it.
What else is in this keto chicken casserole?
This is very similar to my Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole. If you’ve tried that one and liked it there is high probability you will like this one too. Instead of dried herbs, there is parmesan cheese and roasted garlic powder. Instead of cheddar, there is mozzarella. But there is always bacon.
More keto casserole recipes:
Like what you see? Follow me on Facebook! Love this recipe? Leave a comment & 5-star rating right here! Make sure you don’t miss new recipes by getting email updates!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus get great new recipes from us every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Joy Filled Eats
Chicken Bacon Caesar Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 oz sour cream
- 4 oz mayo
- 2 tsp roasted garlic powder (this is worth the investment, the flavor is amazing!)
- 2 tsp dried minced onion
- 2-2.5 lb cooked chicken , cubed
- 12 oz bag frozen spinach , thawed and drained
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 slices crisp cooked bacon or 1/4 cup bacon crumbles
- 2 oz shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 if baking immediately. Or you can prep ahead and keep in the refrigerator for a day or two.
- Combine cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, and spices and mix thoroughly. I do this first in a big metal bowl.
- In the big bowl combine the cream cheese mixture you just made with the chicken, spinach, parmesan cheese, and 1/2 the bacon and mix well.
- Dump into a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle remaining cheese and bacon on top.
- Bake until hot about 35 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
Originally Published March 12, 2016. Revised and Republished January 18, 2020.
I am hoping that is 1-8oz package of cream cheese and not 18oz? I
Yes. One 8 oz package of cream cheese.
Thanks! I actually made it last night using 8oz. It was very good! Thanks again!
Thank you! I made it with one and it turned out great!!
Thank you. I was confused because it said “softened” by the 4 oz. sour cream instead of by the cream cheese.
I thought I fixed that about a year ago. Sorry!
for parsely and dill in this recipe do you mean fresh or dried?
I use dried
How about fresh spinach instead of frozen?
You can use fresh but it thins the sauce a little bit. Or you could lightly saute it first and then drain it.
Oh my lucky stars this casserole is fantastic! Not sure which is my favorite..this one or chicken bacon ranch!! The cordon bleu one will be next! Thank you so much for sharing!!
What could you use to substitute for cream cheese? Or could you take the cream cheese out?
I would use a little more sour cream and mayo.
could you freeze this before baking?
I have not tried yet but I think it would work. I’ve frozen individual servings after baking successfully.
Sounds delicious!
If I was to use cheddar instead, would that mess up the flavour at all? I’m out of mozzarella
It would change the flavor but it would still by yummy in my opinion 🙂
Thanks!
Am I reading this right? 18oz of cream cheese or is it “one” 8 oz package of cream cheese?
There’s a space between the 1 and the 8, so it’s 8oz of cream cheese
That’s what I figured but just wanted to make sure. Thank you! I made it the other night and it was delicious!! ?
This sounds amazing.. I have recently HAD to switch to a FODMAP diet. Does anyone out there know if I can roast the garlic then make my ‘garlic olive oil’? I am still learning.
Hi-Is this something you could
Freeze? If so, how do you recommend doing so? Thanks!
I have frozen lunch sized portions after baking. I haven’t tried freezing it beforehand.
I made this tonight and it was SOOOOOOO good!! I was hoping to have leftovers, but my family and I gobbled it all up! I will definitely make it again!
Thank you for sharing! What sides do you serve with this?
I serve it with green beans, broccoli, or a green salad.
How do you cook your chicken breast?
I normally put it in a 9×13 casserole dish, sprinkle with garlic salt, cover with foil and bake at 350 until 160 with a meat thermometer. The time will vary on the size of the chicken breasts. I start checking around the 30 min mark.
Could you use fresh spinach instead of frozen?
Yes, but I would recommend sauteeing for a few minutes to release some of the liquid first.
I really want to make this, but I cannot do mayo. Do you think double sour cream would work ok too?
Yes, or half sour cream, half plain yogurt.
How many servings does this make? Thanks!
6-8 depending on what you are serving with it, if it’s for kids or adults, etc.
My frozen spinach is 3 pounds, is that the right size?
No, use 12-16 oz. So only about 1/3 of that.
Second time making this, thanks for the recipe!
Made this last night. Unfortunately had run out of garlic so used garlic salt. Added about a tspn & 1/2 of Dijon mustard and it as delicious. Came home a little hungry this afternoon and had a few mouthfuls cold straight out of the fridge and that tasted great too. Thank you for the recipe. Will definitely make it regularly.
Have you tried adding artichokes and if so does it change the texture?
I haven’t added artichokes but I have readers who have and said it was great 🙂