When dinner needs to be easy, comforting, and guaranteed to please a hungry family, a simple casserole can be hard to beat. Dolly Parton’s 5-Ingredient Casserole has become a popular name for a wonderfully uncomplicated chicken bake made with shredded chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and buttery crackers.
The combination is wonderfully old-fashioned: creamy chicken underneath, melted cheese throughout, and a crisp, golden cracker topping. It requires very little preparation, making it especially useful for busy weeknights, potlucks, and those evenings when you want homemade comfort food without spending hours in the kitchen.
One note worth mentioning: although this casserole is widely associated with Dolly Parton's name online, the recipe's exact attribution is not always clearly documented. It's best to think of it as a Dolly Parton-inspired or popularly attributed casserole, rather than assuming Dolly herself personally published this exact recipe.
Why This Five-Ingredient Casserole Is So Appealing
There's a reason recipes like this become family favorites.
You get a satisfying dinner from just a handful of ingredients, and most of the work involves little more than mixing, layering, and baking.
Here's what makes it special:
- Only five main ingredients
- Excellent way to use cooked chicken
- Creamy and cheesy without complicated sauces
- Buttery cracker topping adds irresistible crunch
- Easy enough for beginner cooks
- Great for weeknight dinners and potlucks
- Easy to prepare ahead
Using rotisserie chicken makes the recipe particularly convenient because the chicken is already cooked and ready to shred.
Ingredients You'll Need
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 1 can (10.5 ounces) cream of chicken soup, undiluted
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 sleeve buttery round crackers, such as Ritz, crushed
That's it—the five ingredients that give this casserole its creamy, cheesy, crunchy personality.
Optional Seasonings
