Homemade Hawaiian Haystacks

Sharing my favorite Hawaiian Haystacks recipe today!  Perfect crock pot recipe the whole family loves! Homemade chicken gravy and lots of toppings! 

Hawaiian Haystacks

Has everyone heard of Hawaiian Haystacks?! I had a friend over for dinner last week and she had never heard of or had Hawaiian Haystacks! I couldn’t believe it. We had this dinner all the time in Arizona, lol! Maybe it’s just an Arizona thing.

If you haven’t had this kind of dinner before you are in for a treat. It’s basically rice layered with a creamy chicken soup like gravy and topped with all kinds of fun toppings as you can see. It’s great to serve when you’ve got a lot of people over so everyone can make their own style.

Try my Crock Pot Chicken Broccoli Over Rice recipe too!  Follow Picky Palate on Instagram for daily recipe inspiration!

Hawaiian Haystacks Toppingshawaiian haystacks recipe

You can pretty much use whatever veggies you like with chicken. We love these baby heirlooms!

hawaiian haystacks

Green onions 🙂

hawaiian haystacks

These dried cranberries are really good as a topping.

hawaiian haystacks

Mmmmm almonds!

hawaiian haystacks

Crispy Chow Mein noodles. Adds the perfect crunch!

hawaiian haystacks

Some pineapple and sliced black olives.

hawaiian haystacks

Lots of cheese please 🙂

hawaiian haystacks

Alright, here we go, let’s start adding to this!

hawaiian haystacks

Add your chicken gravy and some green onions.

hawaiian haystacks

Some cranberries and olives.

hawaiian haystacks

Pineapple chunks and tomatoes!

hawaiian haystacks

LOVE these crispy noodles!

hawaiian haystacks

Don’t forget the cheese…..then grab your fork and go to town!

hawaiian haystacks

Tips For Serving

  1. It’s nice serving this meal family style.  I like to put all of the toppings in little dishes so everyone can choose their favorites for their own plate.
  2. Keep the chicken gravy in a crock pot so that it stays warm all night
  3. A nice chopped salad goes great with this dinner.
  4. Hawaiian Haystacks are perfect for Sunday Dinner serving a crowd!

Homemade Hawaiian Haystacks

Put a Hawaiian twist on your next chicken dinner with these Homemade Hawaiian Haystacks!
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 237kcal
Author: Jenny
Print Pin

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons (1 sticunsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 32 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons of dry Ranch Dressing seasoning packet
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
  • Steamed rice enough for your family
  • Toppings
  • Chow Mein Crispy Noodles
  • sliced green onions
  • black olives
  • pineapple
  • cranberries
  • almonds
  • tomatoes
  • shredded cheese

Instructions

  • Place butter into a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to melt. Slowly whisk in flour, salt and pepper until smooth and thick, for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Increase heat to high whisking until thick, about 2 minutes. Add sour cream, Ranch seasoning, garlic salt, and cooked chicken breast. Stir and season accordingly. You may prefer additional, salt, pepper and garlic salt. I transferred this to my crock pot and kept it on low all day until dinner. You can either serve it immediately or crock pot it until you are ready.
  • Place rice on serving plates and top with chicken gravy. Have toppings at the table and top with whatever you like! Have fun!

Nutrition

Calories: 237kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 648mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 455IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg
Keywords: chicken dinner ideas, easy dinner ideas, hawaiian haystacks

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107 Responses
  1. Maureen

    I love this recipe! It’s our family favourite. I do have one family member who is gluten free. Would you recommend using a cornstarch slurry to thicken or gluten free flour?

  2. Lisa

    We make the “Mexican” version…There is also an Israeli version, Egyptian, Greek…Well, you get the picture! I love that you can customize this dish per your family and taste preferences. Then there’s always the good ‘ol “kitchen sink” version ; )

  3. Cami

    I made this for my family and they LOVED IT! Thank you so much for sharing, this was so delicious and I will never go back to making it with Cream of ??? Ha!

  4. capturing joy with kristen duke

    One of my faves, never had it with dried cranberries and I love them! Will have to try it asap!

  5. Danna

    We eat Hawaiian haystacks twice a month or so and have always used cream of chicken for the gravy. We tried this recipe last time we made it and will never go back! Love, love, love your gravy recipe! Thank you times a million!

  6. Liz

    I made this tonight as I was intrigued (hadn’t heard of them before). I didn’t really care for the combination of flavors….I actually wondered if this was an April Fools joke as it was published on 4/1. I googled and found many similar recipes not published on 4/1 ;). My east coast taste buds just don’t know what to think of this dish. Loved the images, though!

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  8. Ashley

    I just ordered your cookbook. And headed to the superstore tonight to get post-it flags so I’m prepared for it’s arrival! 😉 just one question, do you think this would taste good w/ a plain marinara sauce instead of the gravy? If not marinara can you suggest another sauce. My hubby is extremely picky & doesn’t like gravy (weird I know) haha.

      1. Ashley

        Thanks! Just spent the afternoon “flagging” your cookbook & realized I was flagging pretty much every.single.page. I cam tell this may be my most used favorite cookbook soon. Now I’m ready for your next one! 🙂

  9. Grace @ Sweetlandia

    hmm! I’ve never heard of it. Maybe because Indiana is more east. Looks yummy!

  10. Sherry

    My family loves this! I always just made it with cream of chicken soup, but this is SO much better! Thanks for the great recipe

  11. Melissa @ Bless this Mess

    I’m convinced that these are a Western Mormon tradition… I’m Mormon but grew up in Indiana. I never had a Hawaiian Haystack until a RS activity at BYU! But people LOVE them out here. I’ve never made them because I hate cream-of’s so now I have no excuse and I live in UT now too, so it’s time I correctly indoctrinate my kids too right?! LOL. If you aren’t Mormon then you surely grew up in a predominantly LDS area in AZ…

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