Stick with me during this complete recipe throwback to the 80′s.
After seeing the title of this post, I’m betting about 50% of you are nodding your head and saying, “Yep, had ‘em” and the other 50% have no idea what I am talking about.
A staple in my home growing up, this is a simple meal consisting of rice smothered in some type of chicken sauce and topped with anything from chow mein noodles to mandarin oranges. Our favorite toppings of choice include: olives, tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles…but seriously, people, you can let your imagination go wild and top these with anything that sound good to you and yours.
What I really want to focus on is the chicken sauce. Hawaiian Haystacks are notoriously made with a gravy concocted from cream of chicken soup, milk and sour cream (or some such variation on this theme). In my quest to eliminate many processed foods from our diet, I have long since stopped cooking with condensed soups, but I happen to love this meal and wanted to recreate a from-scratch chicken sauce to make an average Hawaiian Haystack become out of this world (wait, then would it be called a Galactical Haystack??).
Enter my reinvented chicken sauce. Simple and quick to make, this saucy mixture is light, creamy and packed with flavor, thanks to the fresh garlic and onions. I was thrilled with the outcome and have a feeling Hawaiian Haystacks will be making a major comeback in our house, thanks to the gravy reinvention.
Two Years Ago: Classic Buttermilk Waffles
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks (or leftover cooked chicken, cubed)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ onion (about ½ cup), finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic; finely minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
Directions
- In a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat and add the onion and raw chicken (if using leftover cooked chicken, don’t add it to the skillet now, you’ll add it later). Saute the onion and chicken, if using, until the onions are soft and translucent and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring, until fragrant.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onions and chicken and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for one minute – this helps get rid of the starchy, flour taste. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, and bring the sauce to a simmer over medium to medium-high heat. Add the salt and pepper. If you are using leftover cooked chicken, add it now. Continue simmering, stirring the sauce frequently, until the sauce has thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
- Serve the chicken sauce over rice with your toppings of choice, such as olives, tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles.
Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe
Thanks for this recipe! I have about 25 people coming over for a family thing tonight, crazy! Anyway, I read all the posts and didn’t see mention of cool whip. Sounds disgusting? Yes, it does doesn’t it? But I wouldn’t have a chinese sundae without it. It’s a staple for these, as gross as it sounds
Thank you for that yummy recipe!! It was a big hit with my family and much better than the broth concoction I came up with myself to replace condensed chicken soup.
Made these tonight. I loved these as a kid. They were a hit! I don’t think I added enough S&P and garlic, though, as the sauce itself was a little bland, needed a little more zip. It took a little time but was really easy to throw together!! Great way to use up leftover chicken!!
Melanie…I just had to stop by and tell you how much we loved this sauce! We love Hawaiian Haystacks, partially because everyone in the family will eat them! But, like you I didn’t want to make them with the condensed soups. But, we tried this and loved loved loved it! I have another recipe that calls for cream of chicken soup that I’m gonna try this with too. Thanks for yet another great recipe!
I know this is really late, but oh my gosh! Thank you for your sauce recipe! We have Hawaiian Haystacks ALL the time, and I always feed them to the missionaries, but I am trying to stay away from cream of anything soups, so this is an awesome idea! I’ll have to try this in a week or two, we just had Haystacks the other day otherwise I’d make it tonight!
Hi Mel! Just wanted to say that I am making a variation of these tonight with the addition of coconut milk and some curry powder. I’ve never heard of them in my life but I have always loved baked chicken with cream of chicken soup and rice and this sounds kind of similar. I can’t quite rap my mind around how it’s going to taste but it sounds strange enough to be good.
We will see how my pregnant self responds to it. My husband is not big on mixing fruit and savory stuff so his reaction should be interesting.
[...] recipe from step 1. here, substitute cheddar for the parmesan, and pour it over penne.) Wednesday: Hawaiian Haystacks without a can, topped with celery, pineapple, peppers, tomato, olives and mushrooms. Thursday: Catfish grilled [...]
Almost 2 years later and I just found this. I’ve had Hawaiian Haystacks, but I hate the processed gravy. So I’m so happy to stumble upon this! I’ll be making this tonight!!! Thanks!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It is awesome. I love that I don’t need any of the canned stuff. It makes it healthier and more affordable:) Keep up the good work!!
We made this last night and loved it! Thanks for sharing, it’s so much better than the condensed soup!!!
I am laughing bc I am from Hawai’i (3 generations) and I’m the “other 50% have no idea what I am talking about.”
Reminds me of Hawaiian Pizza (ham and pineapple) which no one from Hawai’i ever eats.
I made this for my large family this last weekend. I doubled the recipe, but only added 3 cups of milk b/c I was afraid it would be too runny. The consistency was perfect. The taste however was a little bland. I thought it needed more salt and pepper. Overall it was received very well by everyone. Thanks for a great recipe!
I got a variation. I do my Hawaiian haystacks with ground turkey and then instead of a chicken gravy I thicken pineapple juice with corn starch (I like to add some Orange juice to the pineapple juice) so simple and it adds a nice citrus flavor
[...] We hosted dinner for our small group last week and I made Hawaiian Haystacks from this recipe. I also added a green pepper and pineapple wedges to the toppings. They were delicious and [...]
I must admit to never commenting on a recipe but just can’t help chiming in. I made a recipe like this called Javan Sundae in the 80′s and 90′s usually when we had company. We used a rice or chow mein noodle base, grated sharp cheddar, chopped celery and green onion, chicken cubes, spicey gravy followed by the “sundae” part consisting of coconut, pineapple and a maraschino cherry. Surprisingly delicious as your dish sounds! Thanks for reminding me of it and making a homemade gravy! I, too, have not used the condenses soups for years now. LOVE YOUR SITE!! THANK YOU!!
Hey Mel, I had to let you know, that once again I have shared one of your recipes on my blog, this time it was this recipe. Thanks for sharing! I have seriously been making this for a while now. http://brittsapron.blogspot.com/2012/08/hawaiian-haystacks-w-homemade-chicken.html
[...] Tuesday: hawaiian haystacks [...]
Hi…love that this can be substituted for cream of chicken soup in this dish. Out of curiosity, have you tried to use this sauce in other dishes that call for cream of chicken? I love love love casseroles and they’re in just about every casserole recipe I have (we’re in the deep south!).
Love your blog…look forward to reading it every week when I’m at work.
Ashley – I use a variation of this creamy sauce in recipes that I want to sub out the cream of chicken soup. Usually I just make a flour roux (like in this recipe) with onions or garlic or whatever other spices might compliment and use chicken broth and/or milk to help thicken it up. I’m working on actually getting the amounts down pat so I can post how to sub it in but for now, I just vary it for each recipe and it usually works great.
Hawaiian hay stacks
I bet you haven’t heard these called “Javonese Montains”. Have a printed recipe that goes back 30+ years. I also wanted to make for a group gathering, but just would not consider using canned cream of mushroom soup! I googled “Javonese Mountains” to no avail, but while pinning another recipe from your site stumbled onto your Hawaiian Haystacks.
Thanks for sharing this new take and I will make a trial run this week.
Sometimes to add a bit of depth to the flavor of the gravy I add a dash or two of soy sauce. It gives it a bit more savory flavor. I may try adding some pineapple juice as others suggested. My kids love this standby and it’s fun for company if you don’t know if they are picky. I love meals where everyone can add or leave out what they want.
[...] Chicken Haystacks [...]
[...] week’s recipe, I tried a new chicken sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks. I got my recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, and we loved it! We love Hawaiian Haystacks because they feel so light and fresh! I try to [...]
Thank you so much for this! I haven’t made these in years because I didn’t want to make the cream of chicken gravy. This was a fantastic alternative!!
[...] hanging with Marquis’s crew. They pulled out a recipe that I have posted on this blog before, this one. Marquis made the sauce and that boy can’t follow a recipe to save his life, but what he did [...]
[...] without thought, but now I just can’t even touch. I found a great recipe for the real thing here that I can’t wait to try, [...]
[...] of chicken soup with milk added to it, but this tastes better, we think. Again I found this on a Mel’s Kitchen Cafe Blog I like to read to get great ideas from for delicious food. They were trying to figure out a good [...]