Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This is one of my favorite dishes. It is easy and tastes great.  I have to admit it is the first recipe I go to when I need to take dinner in to someone.  It also freezes well.  I don't know if my family was just really hungry this time, but we ate it all for dinner. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole 

16 oz. frozen hashbrowns (1/2 of a normal sized bag.)

3-4 chicken breasts cooked and diced

1/2 lb ham

1 -8 oz. cream cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups shredded swiss cheese

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup milk

Place hashbrowns on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.

Layer chicken and then ham over hashbrowns.

Sprinkle with 1 cup of the shredded swiss cheese.  Combine soup, cream cheese, milk and pepper.  *I found it easiest to melt the cream cheese a little in the microwave then mix everything together.   Now for the tricky part.  Drop the soup mixture on top and spread.  I find it best to treat it like you are frosting a cake. 

Sprinkle the top with the rest of the cheese.  If you are freezing it, wrap it up at this point and put in the freezer.

I like to prepare it ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge unbaked. (I like to leave it approximately 24 hours).  It allows the flavors to mix a little bit better. 

Bake at 350 degrees covered for 50 minutes. Remove cover and bake 10 more minutes, until bubbly.

*I have mixed it all together and put it in the crockpot before.  It turns out all right.  I prefer the casserole dish baking method better. 

*You can use ham lunch meat.  It is really good with leftover ham.

This recipe is linked to Temp My Tummy Tuesdays.