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4 Comments If you’ve ever made a sweet cobbler, you’ll know just how comforting that buttery topping is. But have you ever tried it as a savory dinner? I hadn’t either until Eva and I decided to experiment during one of our cooking days in France. Safe to say: this chicken cobbler immediately became a new favorite!
Imagine a creamy filling packed with chicken, mushrooms and plenty of vegetables, topped with fluffy cheesy biscuits that turn beautifully golden in the oven. It’s the ultimate comfort food, but thanks to all the vegetables it’s also a complete meal that you can happily put on the dinner table any day of the week.
What can you find in this post?
Creamy and Delicious!
This is the perfect recipe for using up leftover cooked chicken. Rotisserie chicken, leftover roast chicken or even cooked chicken breast all work beautifully. You can also swap the vegetables depending on what you have in the fridge, making it a great “clean out the vegetable drawer” recipe.
Recipe Ingredients
For the creamy filling you’ll need:
- Cooked chicken – shredded chicken works best. Perfect for leftovers or a rotisserie chicken.
- Mushrooms – I use regular chestnut mushrooms, but any mushrooms will work.
- Broccoli – adds colour, texture and extra vegetables.
- Carrot – for a little sweetness and bite.
- Onion and garlic – the flavour base of the sauce.
- Chicken stock – gives the filling lots of savoury flavour.
- Flour – thickens the creamy sauce.
- Crème fraîche – makes the filling wonderfully rich and creamy.
- Fresh parsley and chives – for freshness.
For the cheesy cobbler topping
- Salt and pepper
- Self-rising flour or substitute with all-purpose flour and baking powder.
- Butter
- Buttermilk
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Fresh thyme
- A pinch of sugar
Possible Substitutions
This recipe is very easy to adapt.
- Fresh herbs can be replaced with dried herbs if that’s what you have on hand.
- Replace the broccoli with green beans, peas, cauliflower or mixed vegetables.
- Frozen vegetables work perfectly and make this recipe even quicker.
- Parmesan can replace the cheddar, although cheddar (or Gouda) gives the nicest golden crust.
- Additional flavoring; while it is delicious as it is, you can add extra onion powder, garlic powder or chili powder to the dough
What Exactly is a Cobbler?
A cobbler is traditionally a dessert with fruit on the bottom and pieces of dough baked on top. Think of it as a pie turned upside down, there’s no pastry base, only a delicious topping.
For this savory version, the fruit makes way for a creamy chicken and vegetable filling, while the cheesy biscuit topping turns beautifully crisp and golden in the oven.
How to Make Chicken Cobbler with Mushrooms
Step 1: Make the filling
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Melt the butter in a large frying pan and gently cook the onion until soft. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released their moisture.
Meanwhile, cook the broccoli and carrots until just tender. Drain them well before adding them later.
Stir the flour into the mushroom mixture and cook for about two minutes. Gradually pour in the chicken stock while stirring continuously until you have a smooth, thick sauce.
Stir in the crème fraîche, shredded chicken, cooked vegetables, parsley and chives. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Transfer everything to a baking dish.
Step 2: Make the cobbler topping
Mix the self-rising flour with the sugar.
In another bowl combine the melted butter with the buttermilk, then stir this into the flour until you have a sticky dough.
Fold through the grated cheese and thyme leaves.
Using an ice cream scoop, divide the dough over the filling. Leave a little space between each scoop as they will expand while baking.
Try not to leave the dish standing for too long before baking, otherwise the dough can sink slightly into the sauce.
Step 3: Bake
Bake the chicken cobbler for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the topping is beautifully golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges.
If you love cheese as much as I do, sprinkle a little extra grated cheese over the top before baking.
Variations
One of the things I love most about this recipe is how flexible it is.
Add frozen peas, green beans or spinach to the filling for even more vegetables. Leftover roast vegetables also work surprisingly well.
You can even swap the chicken for leftover turkey after Christmas, making this a fantastic way to use up leftovers.
Storage
- Refrigerator: Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- Freezer: Freeze the filling (or the fully baked cobbler) for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven until piping hot.
The leftovers are actually even tastier the next day as all the flavors have had time to develop. The topping will be less crunchy but still taste very good!
FAQ Chicken Cobbler with Mushrooms
Because the filling is already fully cooked, you only need to bake the topping until it’s golden brown. The filling should also be bubbling around the edges.
One theory is that the biscuit topping looks like old-fashioned cobblestones once baked, which is where the name comes from.
Make sure the filling is thick enough before assembling the dish and don’t leave it sitting on the counter for too long before baking. The biscuit topping will naturally soften a little once stored overnight.
Yes. You can prepare the filling a day in advance. Add the topping just before baking for the best texture.
Absolutely. Frozen broccoli, peas or mixed vegetables are perfect for this recipe and save even more time.
Serve with
This chicken cobbler is a complete meal on its own, but if you want to add something fresh, it’s delicious with a big green salad (like this cobb salad or a nappa cabbage salad) or some steamed green vegetables, like these green beans with garlic. It’s also delicious served with a chilled glass of wine or a alcohol free cider. I also love adding a bit of cranberry compote to the dish which is maybe not everyone’s taste but I love it.
More Easy Casseroles
My favorite sauerkraut casserole recipe with ground beef
Chicken cobbler with mushrooms
Ingredients
Baking ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 250 grams mushrooms sliced
- 1 carrot diced
- 200 g broccoli florets
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 40 g flour
- 500 ml stock
- 150 gr creme fraiche
- 300 gr chicken cooked and shredded
- 3 tbsp chives chopped
- 3 tbsp parsley chopped
Topping
- 150 grams self-rising flour
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 150 ml buttermilk
- 60 g butter melted
- 3 sprigs thyme leaves to use only
- Salt and pepper
- 100 gr cheese grated
Equipment
- 1 Baking dish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200˚C. (400˚F)
- Take a large frying pan and melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for a while.
- Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to a boil and cook the broccoli and carrots until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Add the flour to the pan with the onion and garlic and stir well. Saute for about 2 minutes.
- Add the broth and bring to a boil. Simmer gently until thickened. Add creme fraiche, fresh herbs, cooked chicken and cooked vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- To make the topping
- Mix the self-rising flour with the sugar. Mix the buttermilk and melted butter in another bowl and stir into the self-rising flour mixture. Add the chopped thyme and grated cheese and stir until you have a sticky dough.
- Transfer your chicken and vegetable mixture to a baking dish. Using an ice cream scoop, make balls of your dough and place them on top of your chicken mixture. Leave a little space between the balls. They will still expand.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Made this tonight, absolutely beautiful, I used finely diced Leek instead of onion in the chicken part and normal milk in the dumplings instead of butter milk as I didn’t have any. Also put finely diced Leek leaves,(the green part) in the dumplings and dried thyme as it much more flavoursome than fresh thyme.
Will made this again
Thanks so much Daniel! Glad to hear you liked it!
We will be making this again. Delicious loved the topping
Ah thanks Eddie! it is one of my favorites too!