For this recipe, you will need fully cooked chicken. If you have a rotisserie chicken, you can chop or shred the meat. Or, you can poach chicken meat and then shred it. I chose to sauté chicken breasts to use in this recipe. I cut 1.5 pounds of chicken breast cut into small bite-sized pieces and lightly seasoned them with salt and pepper. Then, I browned the pieces in a combination of olive oil and butter until they were fully cooked.

Chop the celery, dice the onion, and slice the carrot thinly. Slice the mushrooms as well. You can use white button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms.

Assemble the other ingredients, and allow the cream cheese to soften at room temperature.

Sauté the mushrooms in a small pat of unsalted butter over medium-low heat. Fry the mushrooms until their liquid is released, and they brown nicely. We want to concentrate the umami here! 😋 This will take about 8 minutes. This picture shows the mushrooms at the beginning of the frying process. By the end, they will be reduced in size and browned (I forgot to snap a picture of the end result!)

In 2 teaspoons of olive oil plus a small part of unsalted butter, sauté the onions, celery, and carrots over medium-low heat until they are softened. (~8 to 10 minutes)

Transfer the onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and chicken to a large pot. Add the chicken broth, garlic powder, and thyme, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.

Cook the egg noodles according to package directions for casseroles. The noodles that I bought needed to be boiled for 8 minutes when used in casseroles.

While the noodles cook and the chicken mixture simmers, make the topping. Melt 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter. Set 2 Tablespoons aside for later. Combine 2 Tablespoons of melted butter with the breadcrumbs and salt in a bowl. Stir well until the breadcrumbs are completely coated.

Line a 9x13” pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with baking spray (e.g. Pam).

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Add the Parmesan cheese and cream cheese to the chicken mixture. Stir well until the cheeses melt. Let the mixture simmer for another 3 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour on top of the mixture, and stir, continuing to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture should start to thicken slightly.

Drain the cooked noodles, and transfer them to the pot. Stir gently until the noodles are well distributed.

Transfer the mixture to the greased 9 x 13“ pan. Then, sprinkle the topping over it. Drizzle the topping with the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

Bake at 350°F in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned.