Chicken and Pierogi Bake

Yesterday was another long work day. After making my Cheesy Spaghetti Squash bake, I quickly whipped up the next dish which was for dinner. I think Dan has eaten pierogies once, and I've eaten them hundreds of times. I like to make them by boiling them for about 5 minutes then frying them up in some garlic and oil. MMM!

So, I took pierogies (potato and cheese ones) and jazzed them up with things that Dan and I both like, which are as follows:

- cheesy goodness
- bacon
- corn
- chicken
- garlic
- other stuff that brings it all together

This recipe is pretty easy. Well, actually, it was made easier by the fact that I had a whole pre-cooked chicken. You can prepare your chicken ahead of time, use packaged pre-cooked chicken or used canned chicken (sad face, ew). Go for freshly cooked or roasted chicken (maybe even a rotisserie). It came together in about 30-35 minutes total.

Chicken and Pierogi Bake
adapted from Dash Recipes

4 slices of bacon, chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half & half
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
8-oz shredded Italian cheese blend (I didn't measure, I just handfulled it..that's a word now)
5-oz shredded Parmesan cheese (also not measured when I made it)
 8-oz pre-cooked chicken, diced (not measured, just used whatever white meat was left, it was just over 2 cups of diced chicken)
2 cups frozen corn
 16-oz box frozen cheese pierogies


1. Preheat oven to 400. Greased a large casserole dish lightly.
2. In a medium saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to some paper towels to drain. Leave the bacon grease in the pan.
3. Add the butter and flour to the pan and whisk until smooth.
4. Add the broth, half & half and seasoning and stir.
5. Add half the cheeses, corn and chicken. Combine. Bring to a bubble for about 3 minutes.
6. Lay the pierogies in the casserole dish and cover with the cheesy mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top.
7. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbly and pierogies are cooked through. Top with bacon and eat.