This Creamy Chicken & Zucchini Casserole will become your new comfort food go-to. Antioxidant-rich zucchini and juicy protein-packed chicken are enrobed in a peppery, garlicky cheese sauce made with briny Pecorino Romano and ooey-gooey mozzarella. Cream cheese adds a silky creaminess to finish off the texture in style. Keep reading for our expert tips, including ingredient substitutions.

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• Cooking flour helps remove any raw flour taste and also coats the starch granules with fat to achieve a smooth sauce.
• For a more complex-tasting sauce that doesn’t separate in the oven, we build the sauce with milk and stock. We also include cream cheese for a richer texture with added tang.
• Let the sauce thicken before you add the cheese. You’ll know it’s thick enough when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
• Feel free to substitute summer squash for zucchini, or mix both for a colorful variation.

Nutrition Notes

• Zucchini may seem like a humble vegetable, but it’s the star of this dish with its antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. The squash also adds a healthy dose of fiber, which your gut will love. The nutrients in zucchini are great for your skin, heart and eyes. 
• Chicken breast is an excellent tasty source of lean protein and brings lasting, satiating power to this casserole. It also adds essential micronutrients, including choline and vitamin B12, which benefit your nervous system.
• Cheese adds additional protein and is a good source of bone-building calcium. It also adds some probiotics, beneficial gut bacteria which will nosh on the fiber in the zucchini—win-win! In this casserole, you get both mozzarella and Romano. While Romano is among the saltier cheeses, mozzarella gets kudos for being one of the lower-sodium varieties. 
• Chicken broth doesn’t add much nutrition other than fluids for hydration. The thing to watch out for with any broth is the sodium content. That’s why we recommend choosing unsalted broth if possible. This allows you to control the taste and sodium levels.