Hawaiian Haystacks {From-Scratch Gravy}
This recipe for homemade Hawaiian Haystacks is truly the best. The creamy, from-scratch gravy is so easy to make and has great flavor!
A staple in my home growing up, Hawaiian Haystacks is a simple meal consisting of rice smothered in a delicious, creamy chicken gravy and topped with everything from chow mein noodles to mandarin oranges.
It sounds weird, but I promise: it is delicious!
From-Scratch Cream of Chicken Gravy
Hawaiian Haystack recipes notoriously use canned cream of chicken soup, milk and sour cream (or some such variation on this theme) for the creamy gravy.
Since I don’t normally keep cream of chicken soup on hand, this homemade recipe is perfect!
The from-scratch chicken gravy is super easy, and the flavor is fresh and delicious!
For this recipe, all you need to do is blend milk + flour + chicken broth together and stir it into the butter + onion + garlic mixture. It thickens beautifully and eliminates the stress of having to whisk out any lumps!
Once the gravy thickens, stir in cooked, cubed chicken (a rotisserie chicken or canned chicken works great here!).
But I also include a note in the recipe if you need/want to start with uncooked chicken.
The sauce is thick and creamy and flavorful and SO delicious!
Hawaiian Haystack Toppings
Serve the homemade Hawaiian Haystack chicken gravy over rice: brown or white. And then add toppings of your choice.
Some popular Hawaiian Haystack toppings are:
- shredded cheese
- tomatoes
- canned mandarin oranges or pineapple tidbits
- sliced olives
- green peas
- shredded coconut
- green onions or chives
What toppings am I missing? Any favorites that you serve with your Hawaiian Haystacks?
A Favorite Meal
We’ve been eating this version of Hawaiian Haystacks for over ten years, and it is still one of my kids’ favorite meals of all time.
The recipe has over 200 5-star reviews for good reason!
Pamela writes: What a game changer! These Hawaiian haystacks were so good. I am grateful to still be able make this recipe without using cream of chicken. A healthier version that is not only just as good but better. My family all gobbled it up. Thank you!!
Amy says: 100% recommend. I made this with gluten free flour and it was still so awesome. Definitely worth the difference in taste and it really wasn’t that much extra work.
Louise writes: This is so good! I’ve made it a bunch and everyone always loves it! So much better and almost as easy as the condensed soup version. Thanks Mel!
What to Serve With This:
Baked Brown Rice
The Best Drop Biscuits
Toppings of choice, such as olives, tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles
Hawaiian Haystacks {From-Scratch Gravy}
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic; finely minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 cup chicken broth (I use low sodium)
- 2 cups milk
- 3 to 4 cups cooked, cubed chicken (see note)
Instructions
- In a large skillet or saucepan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, 3-4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring, until fragrant.
- Combine the flour, broth, and milk in a blender (or use a handheld whisk and a bowl or liquid measuring cup) and blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture simmers and thickens, 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the cooked chicken, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
- Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve over rice with toppings such as: olives, tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Recipe originally posted February 2010; updated August 2022 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
222 Comments on “Hawaiian Haystacks {From-Scratch Gravy}”
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
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 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.
We lived in Hawaii for 14 years and no one ever knew about them either. Not Hawaiian. Just add oinaeapple, right!!
We made this last night and loved it! Thanks for sharing, it’s so much better than the condensed soup!!!
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!!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!!
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. 😛
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 🙂
I can’t remember if I’ve commented on this recipe before, but I’ve used it a lot! I just had a “The Legend of Johnny Lingo” movie activity with a bunch of Taiwanese young women and I made Hawaiian Haystacks, following your awesome sauce recipe and they devoured it. It went over really well. It was their first exposure to this good old standby.
I am excited about this. A family favorite that my parents fix every so often on “special occasions” is Captains Chicken found in the Joy of Cooking, it was actually the meal my grandmother fixed the first time my mom brought my dad over to meet the family. This seems like a less intensive alternative, but Captains Chicken will always be a favorite, check it out! My grandmother even had special condiment dishes she used when serving it, that my parents inherited. Ahhhhh traditions, thanks for a new one!
I have followed your blog for several years now, and want to say thank you for sharing your amazing recipes. I have made so many of your dishes and every single one has always been a win. These Hawaiian Haystacks were amazing. I literally licked my plate clean. I think you should consider coming up with your own cookbook. Thank you again.
LOVED this recipe. I will definitely add it to our rotation!
I noticed this recipe a couple months back, but when I asked my husband if he likes Hawaiian haystacks he was very emphatic that he DOES NOT like them. Well, I thought about it and decided that based on some other things he likes there was no way he wouldn’t like this recipe. So I made it last night and told him it was just chicken sauce and rice. Yeah, he loved it. I think he said “this is sooo good” at least three times, and he kept commenting on the smell while it was cooking. Score! I think he just doesn’t like the processed version he probably had at the school cafeteria, etc. as a kid. Thank you, thank you!
Just tried this recipe tonight. Very good! Although, I do recommend making it more of a clear broth thickened with cornstarch and seasoned with anything you would a chicken noodle soup. Green onion and parsley add nice bit of color. It tastes lighter and healthier. But my husband definitely was a fan of this thicker version.
Thank you so much! These are my favorite, but since my son cannot have dairy, I stopped making them. With your recipe I just substituted almond milk for the milk and he was able to enjoy them for the first time! He loved them : )
I made these Hawaiian Haystacks last weekend and they were a huge hit with my family. Added fresh pineapple and used whole grain white rice (I try to sneak the healthy stuff in there!). The chow mein noodles combined with fresh fruit and veggies gave these haystacks an amazing texture. Thanks again for another great recipe!
I made this tonight and it was so great! I put a little extra onion and garlic in it because we like strong flavors around here and it was awesome. I will always make it this way instead of the cream of chicken soup way. Oh and I also made the cornmeal rolls to go with our dinner and they were so good! I’m excited to have a dozen put away in our freezer for another night too. Thanks for all the awesome recipes. I think I’ve tried at least 25 of yours alone in the last few months. 🙂
Made this sauce instead of the one I usually make and everyone loved it! Hubby kept saying how good it was. Thanks. YUM.
I tried this in the crockpot on low for half the day and it was great! With it being in the crockpot i felt like i could have cut back on the butter maybe only 1 tablespoon. I love that there is no canned soup and it has way more flavor! Thanks
Great idea to use this in the slow cooker, Amanda!
I made this the other night and the whole family loved it. My hubby had never had Hawaiian hay stacks before! He had a deprived childhood 🙂 The sauce was so yummy and so simple, definitely adding this to the menu rotation for those busy nights!
Neat!
Hooray, for no more processed cream soups! I grew up eating this and instead of a creamy roux sauce we ate it with a slurry based sauce made out of chicken broth and corn starch. Thanks for you recipe, excited to try it.
I added a few shakes of worchestershire and a bit of oregano and it was AwEsOMe!! It was better {and healthier} than the traditional canned soup version. Thanks for your inspiration!
Ps: I’m pretty sure you would love my Oatmeal Cake recipe that’s on my blog!
Ditto to everyone else: thank you for sharing this! As I try to cook healthier, my husband and boys grumble incessantly any time I make unfamiliar healthy dishes, so re-inventing their favorites is definitely my best attack. I’ll be looking around your site for more ideas from now on. Thanks!
Thanks, Nikki!
Used your recipe for chicken sauce when we had HH earlier this week. It was a hit! Thanks for sharing a recipe that allows us to enjoy not only a good meal, but one that isn’t filled with processed foods.
Renee – glad you loved this one!
Serendipity!! All I wanted was the recipe for the chicken sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks (figuring that IF it was just canned soup and chicken, I could make my own, but I wanted to be sure)…and I found your ‘natural’ recipe AND your website! Thank you…I’ve now got meals/goodies (oh, the Sinless Tiramisu!) and ideas for the whole month!
I’ll be visiting again, but thank you!
Kathleen – I’m so glad you stumbled upon my site! I hope you find a lot of recipes worth trying (saw your comment on the zucchini dish – glad you loved it!).
actually it does not appear to be brown rice in the photo, at all. Looks yummy though!
Kate – you are right – I updated the photo a while back. The original photo had brown rice in it but when I made it this last time, I used white rice. I’ll have to edit the post!
My husband and his missionary companions used bugles for the crunch. So, we have bugles and chow mein noodles.
If you use the crock pot or like to make 2 meals out of one, here is another way to prepare chicken that is awesome:
Creamy Italian Chicken
Chicken/Turkey meat
block of cream cheese cubed
Cream of Chicken Soup
1 packet of Good Seasons Dry Italian dressing mix.
Mix it all together and cook until the sauce boils or throw it in the crockpot for 6 hours on low.
The day after I make this, I stir in another can of cream of chicken soup and we make Hawaiian haystacks.
i can’t wait to try this out! i love the idea that mirien left about using pureed garbanzo beans. as a vegetarian, i’m always having to figure out new twists for old flavors. and since my husband currently doesn’t like hawaiian haystacks, maybe this new sauce will convert him.
I’ve been trying to get away from processed foods a well. I just bought a can of Campbells cream of chicken soup and realized that it has MSG! What? So, I’m excited to try this and some of your other no-processed food recipes! I already know that I love everything I’ve tried from your site 🙂 Thanks Mel!
I have been making Hawaiian Haystacks for a long time and usually boil the chicken then make chicken gravy from the stock. I’m not big on the condensed soup gravies. To top it off, you really should try a couple of maraschino cherries….hence the name, Chicken Sundaes…Yum!!!
I had been wanting to make Hawaiian haystacks but didn’t because I didn’t have cream of chicken on hand (because I don’t like to spend the money on it, not necessarily because I’m opposed to it as a food). I used this recipe, and it’s one I’ll keep on hand for the future, but I found it to be a little too oniony for me. I think I’ll halve the amount of onions and garlic next time so the chicken taste can come through more and not be overpowered.
Vicky – I hope you can tailor this to fit your tastes!
this looks so delicious!
have a nice time!
Paula
I love love love your blog. This recipe is great! It even tastes amazing with brown rice flour substituted in for a gluten version.
V Roush – thank you!
Thank you for this post! I feel the same way about condensed soups and always ignore recipes that use them. Your recipe was a wonderful re-invention of a food that I really missed. Thank you for sharing it!
Thanks, Nicole – I’m glad you liked this throw-back reinvention!
I finally tried this and everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing it. I was going to make it sooner, but then I had Hawaiian Haystacks at my in laws house and wanted something different…
NaDell – I’m glad you liked this recipe once you tried it! Thanks for letting me know.
Along with haystacks, I used this sauce for Funeral potatoes, in place of the cream of chicken soups, and it tasted just fine. Healthier, too! Thank you!!
Erin – excellent idea – I’m glad the sauce recipe subbed well in the potato dish!
I had never made Hawaiian Haystacks for myself, although I have fond memories of them as a child, because of that cream of chicken sauce. However, your recipe totally inspired me to give them a try again and they were so much better that anything from a can. Thanks so much!
Felicia – I was like you – a tad bit hesitant to make these again based on childhood memories so I’m very glad that this recipe came through for you and you liked it!
We love these! Add pineapple and coconut to the list!
Jami – I’m glad that despite you not loving this meal it tasted pretty good anyway! Thanks for letting me know.
I’m not usually a fan of Hawaiian Haystacks, but I tried it for something different and this sauce is excellent! Thanks, I looove your recipes!
I have made a similar recipe but instead of using 1 cup broth I used 1/2 cup broth 1/2 cup pineapple juice. Some may think it sounds strange but at my abode we swear by it and it goes oh so well with the meat , veggies and the fruit. Thanks for your recipes they are fab!
Deanna – sorry you weren’t thrilled with the results of this sauce. You are right, this really is a white/chicken gravy and that’s how I intended it to be because I wanted to get away from the traditional taste of the cream of chicken soup. Sorry you all didn’t feel it paired well with the fruit. Bummer! I hope your attempt at other recipes here works out better.
I tried the recipe for Hawaiian Haystacks today. This is the first time I have tried your recipes. The “sauce” was good, but more like a white gravy complete with onion and garlic. Very good taste but I didn’t find it went well with pineapple, mandarin oranges, olives, etc. I had chopped green onions and some peas and those went best with the sauce. Talked to the men in my family and they all agreed this is a great sauce for over rice, pasta and potatoes but told me they did not like the fruit on the top. Oh well…I tried. I am anxious to try another of your recipes. Thanks for including pictures. Great web site.
Jessica – thanks for your comment! I’m thrilled to know that the menu planning tips have come in handy. I’m also really glad that you liked the Hawaiian haystacks meal. Thank you so much!
This was wonderful! It was great to have such a quick meal in the plan this week! This came together just in time for the rice to be done 🙂 my family really enjoyed this meal. I added pineapple and a dash of soy sauce. I love your blog 😀
Oh, and thanks for the tutorials you’ve been adding. This last month I used your idea of planning meals 2 weeks in advance. It has been a wonderful. Not having to go to the store as often, and not having to spend every Sunday night/Monday morning trying to come up with the meal plan has made my life so much simpler! Thanks for sharing you system and your wonderful recipes!