Cherished Cottage

Baked chicken and zucchini casserole is low-carb, extra creamy, and full of good veggies.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter; divided
• 2 pounds of boneless chicken breasts; cut into 1 inch strips
• 2 large zucchini; cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 large red bell pepper; chopped
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 3 ounces low-fat cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese; divided
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Crunchy/ fried onions optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°

• Using a large skillet on medium/high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add chicken to melted butter and cook until well browned on both sides (about 8 minutes). Once cooked, set chicken aside in a medium-sized bowl.
• Add zucchini and bell pepper to skillet, stir occasionally so they don’t burn. Cook vegetables until they are soft; about 4 minutes. Once the vegetables are softened transfer to bowl with chicken.
• Add last 2 tablespoons of butter to skillet and melt. Add flour, stirring constantly until it started to brown; about 1 minute.
• Add chicken broth & milk to skillet and bring to a boil; whisk mixture often to prevent flour from clumping or burning.
• Once the flour mixture starts to boil, remove from heat and add cream cheese and 3/4 cup of mozzarella. Stir until melted.
• Drain any liquid from the chicken & veggies then add to skillet and add salt and pepper. Stir everything together until well-combined.
• Transfer to a prepared 9×13 casserole dish & sprinkle remaing 1/2 cup of cheese over top.
• Add crunchy onions to top of casserole
• Bake 20-25 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!