Make-Ahead or Make-It-Fast: Haystacks

Haystacks are one of our favorite meals. Whenever we are in a pinch, we can usually whip this up in no time, whether we are making it from scratch or whether we are using some already prepared ingredients from our freezer.

There are very few necessary ingredients. Most of these we keep stocked in our pantry since they can be used in so many different recipes:

Basic Ingredients:

1. Chicken Breast
2. Cream of Chicken Soup
3. Chicken Broth
4. Rice

Optional Ingredients:


1. Chow Mein Noodles
2. Shredded Cheese
3. Diced or Chunk Pineapple
4. Chopped Celery, Tomato, Green Onion
5. Coconut
6. Almonds
7. The sky is the limit!

Boil your chicken until cooked through. The amount of chicken will vary based on the number of people you are feeding. One chicken breast per person is usually plenty, and you can even use less chicken if you'd like. The more chicken you use, the thicker the gravy will be. If you prefer a thinner gravy, use less.

While the chicken is boiling, start cooking the rice. I recommend 1 cup of cooked rice per person.

After the chicken is cooked through, take it out of the pan and shred it using a fork or cube it. I prefer it shredded.


*I suggest turning this recipe into a "make-ahead" recipe by boiling double the amount of chicken and freezing half of it for your next meal.  After the chicken cools, I vacuum seal and freeze the rest of the shredded chicken.

You can also choose to make extra rice and freeze it for the next meal as well, although I prefer to make it fresh since it is so easily done in my rice cooker.

After your chicken is shredded, place it in a saucepan with 1 can of cream of chicken soup and 1/2 can of chicken broth, or as much broth as is needed to get your gravy to its desired consistency. Heat to a gentle boil.

When gravy is finished, serve over rice. Add any number of desired optional toppings. My favorites are shredded cheddar cheese, chow mein noodles, and chopped celery.  To make "Hawaiian Haystacks", add pineapple, coconut and almonds!

This is also a fast and cheap way to feed large numbers of people.  This is my go-to meal when I host birthday parties or other get-togethers, and it is always a HUGE hit!

This post is part of the Ultimate Recipe Swap, hosted by LifeasMOM.com


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