Chook Me!

I'm making a chicken casserole, Do I need to pre-cook the chicken?

I'm making a chicken casserole but I'm unclear in whether to precook the chicken breast or just cook it with the rest of the casserole ingredients. Can it cook with the rest of the ingredients? Makes sense to put it all together if it's more than 40 minutes... I guess I'll have to precook it. Recipe calls for 20 minutes.

Public Comments

1. It is important to pre cook the chicken. If you don't the other ingredients will burn while the chicken is still being cooked.
2. Not if it's going to be in the oven for more than 40 minutes.
3. It's best to put it in raw and then the flavours while mingle with the vegetables while cooking. If you use it cooked it could turn tough through overcooking.
4. i think you should cook it first.
5. It really depends on the recipe but most chicken casseroles call for chopped cooked chicken. There are some casseroles that call for you to brown the chicken but not cook it all the way through. This gives you the lovely browned flavor but the chicken remains juicy.
6. Boil the chicken for about 20 min. This will precook it enough so that your casserole won't over cook and the chicken will finish cooking with the other ingredients. So it will take on any flavors and add its own. Make sure that your water is boiling before you add the chicken.
7. You can bake it, grill it, broil it or broil it beforehand. You could even get away with under-cooking it a little bit because you'll be finishing it off in the oven with the casserole.
8. Yes, you should definintly precook the chicken. What most people do is boil it, but I find the taste is much better if I salt and pepper it , rub it with some olive oil and bake it at 350 for 20-30 minutes...delicious!!!!
9. Better & safer to pre-cook first, at least to brown the outside. You can then cut up the chicken to make sure it cooks through.