Deep South Eats: Poppy Seed Chicken...A Little on the Lighter Side

If you ask my husband on any given week what he would like for dinner that week, there is a 90% chance he will say "poppy seed chicken". While it is a true Southern favorite, this simple dish can pack some serious calories and fat. I am not making any claims that I have lightened the load significantly, but with small substitutions and reductions my recipe falls into the more balanced eating zone.

Check out that steam.

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts cooked and shredded (remember you can bake the frozen breasts straight from the freezer)
• 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 cans of reduced-fat, low-sodium cream of chicken soup (for testing purposes I used Campbell's Healthy Request)
• 2 stacks of reduced-fat Ritz crackers
• 1/4 cup of butter
• 1 Tablespoon of poppy seeds

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine sour cream and soup and mix well. Stir in chicken to combine.
• Pour chicken mixture into a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
• Crush Ritz crackers and place in a separate bowl along with the poppy seeds. Melt butter and pour over the cracker mixture. Stir to combine.
• Pour cracker mixture over the chicken mixture in the casserole dish and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly.

TIP: Some recipes will call for broth to be added to sour cream and soups. If using reduced fat versions, please do NOT add broth as you will have a very runny casserole.

Original Recipe from Heavenly Scents: The North Atlanta Church of Christ Cookbook.