No Food Waste: Rustic Chicken Casserole

Last updated on March 4th, 2024 at 08:14 pm

It’s no secret the world is a wasteful place when it comes to food waste. We do it everyday without thinking about it. Some are more cautious about it than others. Food waste is at an all time high and at a time we need to save more and waste less. I am loving how many brands are jumping on to support “no food waste” campaign this year. 

I grew up in the country and my momma was amazing at growing things in the garden. I don’t remember her ever wasting any food either. She was always making some kind of amazing dish out of leftovers or creating something from the excess ingredients she used in her recipes. If there were parts we couldn’t eat like the stems, leaves, rinds of anything they got chopped up and put back in the soil. I have to admit I am not as green thumbed parent as she was and still is. But I do try my best.     

A person holding a casserole dish with a Rustic Chicken Casserole in it. The are wearing an apron with gnomes on them and a blue and white striped jumper.

The Power Of Frozen

I am teaming up with Iceland Foods for their Power of Frozen campaign to help encourage others to waste less and realize they can cook delicious family meals straight from frozen while cutting down on food waste. This recipe was not only quick and so easy to  make but it had nothing but the plastic bags to recycle leftover, nothing was wasted. Hooray! 

Rustic Chicken Casserole Cooked From Frozen

I have to say it is a great recipe if you have a family of four or more or guests over for dinner. It gives you less time chopping, preparing, wasting, and easy baking in the oven and more time entertaining and talking to the family at the table. These are all bonuses to a recipe in my eyes as a busy working mother, I don’t want to be in the kitchen cooking while Daddy and the kids are in the dining room away from me catching up. Dinners are my favorite time of the day when we can all sit together and share our daily stories. 

A white casserole dish with chicken and mixed vegetables in it. There is a dish of garlic bread on the outskirts of the photo.

Rustic Chicken Casserole

a quick and easy, rustic family chicken casserole
Author Let’s Talk Mommy

Ingredients

  • 1 bag Iceland frozen Potato Wedges
  • 1 package Iceland frozen Chicken Thighs
  • 1 bag Iceland frozen Mixed Vegetables
  • 1 bag Iceland frozen Cut Peppers
  • 1 can Chopped tomatoes in tomato sauce
  • 1 sachet rustic chicken spice
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius
  2. Pour entire can of chopped tomatoes in bottom of large casserole dish
  3. Layer potato wedges on top of tomatoes
  4. Place vegetables and peppers on next layer
  5. Stir ingredients in casserole dish until coated with tomato sauce
  6. In large clear bag shake chicken thighs and rustic spices until chicken is coated
  7. Add chicken thighs on top of casserole layers
  8. Cover with foil
  9. Bake for 35-40 minutes until chicken is golden brown

Recipe Notes

Serve with salad and garlic bread

A plate with Rustic Chicken Casserole, mixed venetables, garlic bread and a leaf salad. Next to it is a large white dish where the meal came out of.
A large dish containing chicken and mixed vegetables, and a separate place with garlic bread.
A plate with Rustic Chicken Casserole, mixed vegetables, garlic bread and a leaf salad.
A plate with Chicken, mixed vegetables, garlic bread and a leaf salad.

Tips For Reducing Your Food Waste

1. Use a Meal Planner – Schedule all recipes needing fresh ingredients first and frozen or canned later. This ensures if things do start to change up in your week you aren’t worried about that food spoiling before you get a chance to use it. 

2. Plan only 2/3 days ahead – If you plan too far ahead fresh vegetables and fruit will go off. Sometimes you might not end up making the planned meal you choose a week ago due to schedule changes or things coming up and the ingredient than get left unused and end up in the bin later. 

3. Use frozen ingredients –  You can buy frozen, pre-cut and ready to cook: chicken, beef, vegetables, fruit, and breads. This makes it easy to plan ahead but have room to change up the menu if you don’t feel like a certain dish, one evening. It also it great for cutting down on food waste and time cooking. The prep and trimmings have been done for you, like I did in this recipe.

Iceland Foods #PowerofFrozen Rustic Chicken Casserole Recipe

4. Freeze bulk meals – Remember less isn’t more here. Make your recipes double the size and freeze the leftovers to eat next week. Recipes like chillis, soups, and casseroles are great for freezing and thawing at a later date when you are in a rush to find something delicious for dinner. 

5. Use extra or about to go off ingredients – Using ingredient that will be tossed away or about to go off in a something creative saves on waste and provides an unplanned treat. For example, I put brown bananas in the freezer so that when I want to make banana cookies or banana bread I can thaw them and they are full of flavor. You can always use brown bananas right when they go brown too. Skip saving them in the freezer and make banana muffins as they go brown. Don’t throw them out. I do this with zucchini/courgettes too! They make great Oatmeal Courgette Cookies like I did here.

It only takes a little preparation and a little creative thinking to stop food waste and be more mindful about what you are throwing out. Think…. can you make something else out of this before you toss it! Sometimes you end up creating really fun and delicious new recipes by accident. Half my recipes come from whatever ingredients I have left in my fridge and cupboards at the end of the week and see what I can make up from it all. I never go grocery shopping until my cupboard are almost completely empty minus picking up the odd thing like more milk or bread. 

I don’t even have to tell you how much more money you save when you aren’t wasting food too. Who doesn’t want to save money on food? I know, I do. 

A plate with Rustic Chicken Casserole, mixed vegetables, garlic bread and a leaf salad.
Iceland Foods #PowerofFrozen Rustic Chicken Casserole Recipe

See how easy this recipe is to make, watch it here: 

*Collaboration with Iceland but all opinions are my own. 

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