I should have known I was doomed when I made this meal on “national ugly failed recipe day”. I’m not even kidding, it IS a real day that I learned from a fellow blogger friend. But this recipe is NOT a failure, in fact, it’s amazing and comforting, and full of flavor… it’s not that pretty. Maybe even labeled just plain ugly. But don’t be fooled, this Whole30 cream of celery and mushroom baked chicken is DELICIOUS!
There’s a day for everything, I swear. Stub your toe? There’s a day for that. Want a waffle topped with anchovies? There’s a day for that. Are a blogger that loves Anthology candles, has a toddler, is addicted to plantain chips, and wears a ponytail everyday? There SHOULD be a day for that!
So of COURSE there is a day out of the 365 devoted to ugly recipes. Maybe I’m being to hard on this tasty dish, but this one was tough to spruce up!
My husband, God bless him. He’s always honest. Sometimes brutally honest. Anyone else have a hubby like that? He always says, “would you rather me LIE?!” and sometimes it’s like, yeah whatever – just tell me what I want to hear! Am I right or totally wrong? So when I texted him a photo of this meal, he said it looked like salisbury steak you get in your high school lunch cafeteria. Ummmm…..?
I guess I can’t really take him too seriously on this one. The poor man can barely boil a pot of water. He knows he’d starve without me (he’s said it himself). So whateves, this meal may look like something the lunch lady would make, but I’m no hair-netted lunch lady, and this is so far from some bland meal you’d find in your high school cafeteria.
This paleo, Whole30 compliant cream of celery and mushroom baked chicken takes the traditional ‘cream of condensed soup’ casserole dinner your momma used to make and totally transforms it into a healthy, fresh, and tasty dish you can feel good about eating. Made with all real-food ingredients, this dinner is an all out comfort food meal.
To start, sauté diced onion, mushrooms, and celery in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Combine the almond milk and almond flour then add to the broth. Once heated and well combined, pour into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Cut the chicken breasts into thirds or fourths (depending on the size) and place in the bottom of a large casserole or glass dish. Top with remaining diced celery, then pour the blender mixture on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. This dish makes quite a bit of leftover sauce, which is a perfect gravy to serve with mashed potatoes! You can even freeze the sauce and save for a later day. Garnish with fresh chives and then DEVOUR.
Time Saver Tip
Make the cream sauce beforehand and refrigerate until ready to pour on the chicken and bake. Double the recipe and freeze if desired for gravies or a cream sauce for future dishes.
PrintWhole30 Cream of Celery and Mushroom Baked Chicken
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 stalks celery, one sliced, one finely diced
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- chopped chives to garnish
- *Optional – 4 russet potatoes + almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Heat the olive oil on medium high in a large saucepan. Add the diced onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes
- Add the sliced mushrooms and one stalk sliced celery. Sauté an additional 3-4 minutes until mushrooms and celery are soft
- Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, then add the spices
- Combine the almond milk and almond flour, stirring well until combined
- Add the milk/flour mixture to the pan and stir well
- Pour the contents of the pan into a blender or food processor and blend until well combined
- Cut the chicken breasts into thirds or fourths (large strips), depending on the size of the breast
- Place the chicken into the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish and top with remaining diced celery
- Pour the blender mix on top of the chicken and celery then bake for one hour
- Serve excess sauce over mashed potatoes and garnish with chopped chives
- To make potatoes, poke or spear holes into 4 russet potatoes and place into the oven with the chicken. Let cook for an hour. Once potatoes are soft, cut them open and carefully (they will be hot) scoop out the insides into a large bowl. Discard the skin. Pour in roughly 1 cup of almond milk and using a hand or stand mixer, beat well until creamy – making mashed potatoes. Add more almond milk if needed.
Well i think it looks delicious!!! Praise the almond milk!
But I’m so sad I didn’t know about this day :/ I would have had tons to celebrate with 😉
Bahahahahaha high fives for that Rebecca! Next year….
It might not be bright and colorful, but it sure sounds delicious. Love that this comfort food meal is actually healthy!!
I feel like comfort meals are never really that colorful, are they? But that doesn’t mean that can’t be healthy!
I still think it looks and sounds delicious! haha how funny- my husband is the same way 🙂
Maybe it’s a guy thing?? Or maybe I sugar-coat things too much?
Looks delicious! I love seeing a healthier take on an old favorite.
Thanks so much Brittany!
It sounds delicious Chrissa! Sometimes I make those dishes where it’s not so pretty looking but it tastes amazing! So I get you girl! Also,my hubby is the same way, so honest I don’t even want him to tell me anything, just eat your food without a word, haha!
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Thanks Ros! And yes, just sit there, eat, and shut up! Right?! 😉
I love how crazy easy this is and it looks so good! Perfect for those nights when you want a healthy dinner but don’t want to put much effort into it.
YES, so true! Minimal effort is totally my thing. Without sacrificing flavor though! Thanks Jillian 🙂
I had to come just to see how you did your Whole30 compliant cream of celery 🙂 This looks so comforting!
I’m glad you stopped by Jamie. I have a few tricks 😉
Oh this sounds so yummy! I’ll save it for later in the week!!
Thanks so much Angela!
My mom used to make cream of mushroom baked chicken and I loved it! this is like a (healthier) ode to my childhood <3
SAME! It was always one of those home comfort food dinners I remember growing up!
Would definitely make this for my boyfriend! looks so delicious!!
Love it!
xo
Krista
I hope you both enjoy it Krista!
It sounds yummy! Sometimes the “ugly” foods are the ones that taste the best! Hope you have a great week!
This is true! Ugly is tasty (or so I like to believe). Thanks!
Is that really a “day”! This meal definitely went against the odds. It looks yummy!
Apparently?! Oh I’m so glad you don’t think it’s as ugly as I think it is!
Sounds like a comfort food meal to me! With the exception of the mushrooms for me;-)
You can totally omit the mushrooms. I would just then lessen the amount of liquid, since the mushrooms help thicken the sauce when blended 😉
This looks so delicious! I’ve been wanting to do Whole 30 forever but haven’t worked up the courage quite yet, lol. I’ll definitely be bookmarking this recipe!
xo Brie
http://www.sophistifunkblog.com
You can do it Brie!!!! Once you get the first week or two down, it starts to become like second nature. Plus I have lots of recipes to help 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
haha darn i didn’t know about the ugly recipe day! I’m not surprised though…like you said, there’s a day for everything! 🙂 I think it looks delicious!
You missed out! Jk you didn’t miss anything. At least ugly things can still taste good!
This meal looks really good and easy to make, Ill have to try it for myself
Enjoy Janella!
hahaha this post had me laughing. I’m in the same boat where the mister sometimes just says what he honestly thinks (but the only thing he can make himself is mac and cheese so he shuts up and eats what I put in front of him!)
Love a good casserole recipe, perfect for busy nights when I just want to throw something together and let it cook while I get some stuff done around the house! This looks like a real winner 🙂 Thanks Chrissa!
xxox
Laura @ http://www.cookwineandthinker.com
Our hubbies would get along great! Mine loves honesty and mac and cheese too – LOL! Thanks so much Laura! I hope you (and the hubs) love this!
This sounds super delicious! I am always looking for new ways to jazz up chicken breast. I love all the flavors in your recipe. Scrumptious! Thanks.
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Thanks Aarika! Sometimes chicken just needs that extra ‘oomph’ 😉
I came across this recipe as I am going dairy free. I actually made my first almond milk yesterday and had mushrooms and celery on hand. Sorry but mine looked like the dogs dinner!! Hubby said it looked ok as I served it with sweet potato mash and greens. Taste was delicious. Can’t wait to use the left over sauce. Thanks for a great recipe.
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Hahaha don’t be sorry Bec! I know, it’s not the prettiest of meals. But I’m so glad you thought it was tasty! Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me know you liked it! That sauce is pretty awesome and can be used with so many other dishes too!
Has anyone tried cutting up potatoes and baking them with chicken?
I haven’t, but that’s a great idea!
Hi, I just wanted to let you know I made this last week with some substitutions to accommodate for my son’s food sensitivities. Thought other people might want to know that no-nut substitutions work great in this recipe. I used unsweetened coconut beverage (like the refrigerated kind of coconut milk). I used chickpea flour in place of the almond flour, but made sure to mix that before I started everything else so the flour could hydrate (I’ve made things that tasted grainy before because I didn’t let the chickpea batter rest).
It was SO GOOD!!! The only thing I would change would be to half the lemon juice, but my husband said he liked it as is. There was no leftover sauce because us and our two kids ate it all up! I am going to use the sauce recipe to make green bean casserole on Thanksgiving! Thanks so much! I’m so glad I found this recipe just in time!
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WOW I love feedback like this! Thanks soooo much Trisha!