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.
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.
Nutrition
Originally Published March 12, 2016. Revised and Republished January 18, 2020.
Can you leave out the spinach for the picky eaters? Could you substitute store bought Caesar dressing?
Yes to leaving out the spinach. I do not recommend using bottled dressing. The flavor won’t be nearly as good!
Could you use fresh spinach?
Yes, but it may make the casserole watery if you don’t saute it first.
Do you recommend sautéing the spinach first or just thawing and draining as the recipe calls for?
For frozen spinach, you can just thaw it and drain it. For fresh spinach, it is best to saute first.
How much is 1 serving?
1/8th of the casserole.
My family really likes this recipe. I doubled it for our family of 10 (3 are children at this stage). I added a little extra sour cream to make it creamer. Delicious!
This turned out really great! I didn’t have as much chicken as the recipe called for, and had other veggies I needed to use before they went bad, so I added 3 large portabella mushrooms and some leftover broccoli to round it out and it was fabulous! I’ll definitely be making this again!
This is soooooooo good! I will be making this once if not twice a week.
Does this come out watery when cooked? So many keto casseroles are always so watery.
Not at all. You are using cooked chicken and drained spinach so there is no where for excess liquid to come from. Casseroles that use raw meat and/or veggies can be watery. That’s why I prefer to precook both. Just drain your spinach thoroughly.
Question the parmesan cheese is that the jar stuff you sprinkle on pasta or fresh parmesan?
You can use either in this. I’ve used both types successfully.
we make this at least twice a month! sometimes more because my fiancé requests it frequently. this is hands down our favorite keto recipe!
I just made this and its fantastic! It was very easy too. I served it over cauliflower rice cooked in chicken stock. Perfect combo.
This was good, but very rich for a dinner item. It reminded me a lot of spinach artichoke dip. It seemed like it needed some other veggie to fill it out and give it more body. I don’t know that I’ll make it for dinner again without tweaking it with the addition of a chunky vegetable, like maybe cauliflower? But thank you for the recipe!
Sure, go ahead and add cauliflower! We like the richness. Many casseroles are. And just serve it with a big portion of veggies on the side.
Asparagus! 🙂
How much is a serving like in cups
I’m sorry, I don’t have that information. You could weigh your casserole dish empty and after cooking to figure out the exact oz per serving.
I had a tiny bite of this today at work and immediately asked for the recipe…its whats for dinner tonight. Delicious and smells amazing.
I use Blog recipes as a “jumping-off point” for my own creations (and yours are SPECTACULAR for that!) Prefer to use all fresh ingredients whenever possible…not judging you–I know frozen & prepared ingredients can be lifesavers for parents of young children and people that are just plain busy. (I currently view 3 hours in the kitchen chopping//dicing//browning as my “therapy”:) I de-deboned & cubed fresh chicken thighs…fried them in bacon drippings. Sauted onions, fresh minced garlic, fresh bag of baby spinach in same drippings…added to cream cheese block (mixed with mayo, 2 oz sour cream & 2 oz Marzetti’s Ranch Dressing. Added way more bacon & cheese (smoked mozz & American Grana Parmesan + a handfiul of sharp cheddar shreds) Baked for 35 mins @ 350,+ topped with leftover bacon, cheese & some french-fried onions for another 10 mins.
OMG and the family says this A “KEEPER”! THANK YOU!
Spending time in the kitchen is my therapy too when my kids are at school or grandma’s. lol. I’m glad you liked it!
Is all of that Keto friendly? I thought that was a keto blog?
Not all of my readers are keto. Some just like a good creamy casserole. With the exception of the canned fried onions the rest of these suggestions are keto friendly.
I made this last night! It was amazing! I waited to put the cheese on top till the last 5 minutes of cooking, waited till it was slightly golden then when out of the oven I added the bacon on top. I liked it like that! I make another dish similar to this but with fresh broccoli instead of spinach. It’s a favorite at our house.