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.
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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:
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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.
Pardon me if this was already asked and I just missed it, but could you use fat-free plain yogurt and low-fat cream cheese to cut out some of the fat? 70% daily value of saturated fat is a lot.
You can use low fat cream cheese but I’m afraid yogurt might separate. I do use cottage cheese in some of my other casseroles. I think that would be better than yogurt.
That’s bc it’s Keto..keto calls for high fat instead of carbs..
I tried this and the chicken was so tender it shredded. I wasn’t a fan of the texture so the next time, I cubed chicken breasts raw and made it and threw it in the oven till the top was golden (took 45 minutes or so. I liked it much better, which is to say I LOVED it and it is now a regular rotation (and sometimes spur of the moment) make ahead meal. If using raw chicken, I wouldn’t let it sit before baking. This freezes well after being cooked and separated out into individual servings or as a casserole for a family dinner. Thank you for a great recipe.
So you cubed the raw chicken and mixed it with the other ingredients to bake, not pre cooking the chicken at all?
I imagine cooking the whole batch for 45 minutes would cook the raw chicken. I myself would pre-cook the chicken. Much safer.
Love your blog.
My favorite recipe. We keep this on a regular rotation. I follow your recipe exactly. Perfect with a salad!
OMWord. I’ve been batch cooking all day long and I want this NOW!! It looks fabulous. Thank you so much for what I know will be a great recipe.
Can you make this ahead and freeze it?
Yes, I’ve done that successfully.
Tried it this past weekend and loved it, kids loved it, wife loved it. My wife and I are on Atkins. We actually used romaine lettuce and ate it sort of like tacos. Thank you for the recipe.
Just found your blog. Love it. You should be proud of your work.
Is it Tablespoons or Teaspoons?
A capital T or tbsp is tablespoons.
A lower case t or tsp is teaspoons.
Just finished eating this. Yummy. Tasty. Thank you so much for this. More please of the like.
Do you think this casserole could be made ahead, frozen, and then baked? Looking for some quick recipes with that option. Thank you!
Yes, I’ve had readers do that successfully.
How do you adapt the cooking time if it’s frozen?
I bake it first and then microwave individual portions. If you are heating the whole thing at once in the oven you will need to just add about 10-15 minutes to the baking time.
How many ounces of spinach?
Thank you
What size bag of spinach?
Thank you
I used one 12 oz bag. I’ve had readers double the spinach successfully.
Does it matter if it’s frozen or fresh spinach?
If you are using fresh you might want to cook it down a little first. Spinach releases so much liquid. I don’t want you to end up with a runny casserole.
thank you, I was wondering this myself. I have all the ingredients for this and am planning to make it tonight.
Can someone tell me if it tastes like Caesar at all? The only spice is garlic so im not sure. I guess i was picturing a Caesar dressing type flavor but either way it looks delicious!
It gets flavor from the cheese too 🙂 I serve this to company all the time and everyone loves it.
I’m recently retired and have been cooking a lot. Made this for my wife and I and it was a “OMG! This is amazing!” I had to agree with her. Thanks for the great recipe.
Reminds me of artichoke spinach dip… I bet marinated artichokes would be awesome in this for a Tang! Going to add this to my list of recipes to try… thanks!
Your video turned out terrific. I’ve made this. Oh yum!
Thank you!
Made this today and it’s amazing! My toddler loves it and I’ve been having trouble making her eat veggies lately. I will recommend this recipe to everyone and definitely try your other ones. Thank you!
what can I use in place of the spinach ? thanks
Any vegetable you enjoy. Broccoli or cauliflower work well.
what size frozen bag spinach … equals how much fresh spinach? I don’t buy frozen and do not know if it comes in different sizes.
thanks, sounds so yummy for me to take to pot lucks where everyone else brings carb laden dishes!
From http://www.tasteofhome.com/cooking-tips/vegetables/how-much-spinach
“When a recipe calls for cooked fresh spinach, 1 pound of fresh spinach will yield 10-12 cups of torn leaves, which will cook down to about 1 cup. One package (10 ounces) of frozen spinach leaves yields about 1-1/2 cups after cooking.”
Omg amazeballs! We love this. My fam’s (6 of us) new Crack Chicken. None left and they keep raving. Made it exactly like you said. Thanks!!