Mary Berry's 'rather special' chicken casserole recipe is perfect for a weekday dinner

Mary Berry's one-pan chicken casserole recipe is perfect as a weekday dinner. Deciding what to make for dinner can be a challenge, but this delectable chicken dish is simple to prepare and bursting with flavour.

In her cookbook 'Love to Cook', Mary Berry shares her "rather special" chicken and herb casserole, explaining that this straightforward recipe is all made in one pan and is served with sage leaves crisped in butter.

She remarked: "An all-in-one dish to cook and serve. Sage was often used as a dried herb in recipes but now it is readily available fresh and is simple to grow. It comes with either green or purple leaves they both taste the same."

The dish features a creamy sauce with succulent chicken, bacon, tender vegetables, and herbs, making it a tasty yet wholesome dinner option.

It's an ideal recipe for a weeknight meal as it only requires 10 minutes of preparation on the stove before leaving it to cook slowly in the oven. Plus, since everything is cooked in one dish, it will save you time on washing up, reports the Express.

How to cook Mary Berry's chicken casserole.

Ingredients

• Eight chicken thighs

• Two large onions

• 250g of dry-cured bacon

• 200g of chestnut mushrooms

• 100g of full-fat creme fraiche

• 30g of plain flour

• 150ml of hot chicken stock

• 150ml of white wine

• Two tablespoons of olive oil

• Two thyme sprigs

• Two bay leaves

• Small bunch of parsley

• Small bunch of sage

• Knob of butter

• Salt and pepper

Kitchen equipment needed

• Ovenproof frying pan or casserole dish with a lid

Instructions

To start, preheat the oven to 160C (140 Fan or Gas Mark 3).

Then, get the ingredients ready. Warm up the chicken stock, chop the onions, and quarter the chestnut mushrooms, then put them aside for later.

Slice the bacon into small strips, place them in a pan or dish, and cook over medium heat on the stove. Allow the bacon to cook for a few minutes to render the fat before adding the onions.

Continue to cook the onions and bacon until the bacon is brown at the edges, then transfer both the onions and bacon to a plate and then set aside.

Then, pour the olive oil into the unwashed dish. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, pass to the dish and then brown on a high heat on each side, then transfer to the plate with the bacon and onions.

Scatter the plain flour into the dish and add a little more olive oil if needed, then slowly add in the hot chicken stock and continue to mix until it has thickened. Then, pour in the wine and add the bacon, onions and chicken back into the dish.

Stir in the thyme, sage and bay leaves into the dish, make sure the sauce has thickened, then bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper.

Cover the dish with a lid and then transfer to the oven to cook for 30 minutes.

Once the time is up, remove the dish from the oven, add the mushrooms and stir in the creme fraiche. Give the mixture a good stir, then place back in the oven and cook for 15 to 20 more minutes until the chicken is tender.

While the dish is cooking heat the butter in a small pan on a medium heat and fry the sage leaves until crisp.

When the dish is fully cooked, remove from the oven and remove the bay leaves, thyme and sage sprigs from the dish.

Stir in the parley, add the crisp sage leaves on top and your tasty chicken casserole is ready to serve.