Hawaiian Haystacks, if you are unfamiliar, is a meal where you start with rice as your base, then you add your chicken and your choice of toppings. The entire meal is served buffet style letting everyone custom design their dinner to their own liking.
I also love that almost all of this can be prepared before hand. Pulling dinner together is so easy. You can even assign some of the "toppings" to anyone who asks what they can bring!
There are several ways to prepare the chicken, and I will give you some suggestions to get you started.
The recipe below is for about 8 servings.
You can adjust the quantities to meet your needs.
Printable Copy
Hawaiian Haystacks:
8 servings
Rice:
4 cups cooked rice
Meat:
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
Choices: Pull apart a store bought rotisserie chicken (fast and easy!)
Prepare ahead of time my Chicken Master Mix
Cook and shred boneless,skinless chicken breasts. Enough to make 2 cups
Sauce for meat:
1 can cream of chicken soup OR 2 1/2 cups chicken gravy
1 cup chicken broth
Toppings Suggestion:
1 (9 oz) can chow mein noodles
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium green pepper diced
1 medium onion diced
1 (15 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup slivered almonds or cashews
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Directions:
- In saucepan or crock pot mix together Soup or gravy, and chicken broth. Stir to blend. Add in shredded chicken. In saucepan simmer 8 - 10 minutes till heated through, in crockpot keep on warm till heated through.
- Heat up rice
- Lay all ingredients out in serving bowls on buffet table. Let guests build their own dinner.
