Dinner doesn't get easier or more delicious than this cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole, made in just one pan, with a few simple ingredients.
Here's what a nerd I am when it comes to cooking: for my 14th birthday a friend gave me a cookbook, and it was one of my favorite gifts! It was a compilation of favorite recipes from close friends, and one of the recipes was this cheesy chicken and rice casserole.
What I love about Chicken and Rice Casserole:
- One pan: throw everything together in a casserole dish and bake. This makes for low prep and easy clean-up! I love recipes where the oven does all of the work. Check out my other one-pan recipes!
- Kid friendly: The end result is another kid-friendly recipe that's delicious and flavorful. The perfect comfort food for a fast weeknight meal or Sunday dinner that requires hardly any prep.
- Adaptable: Like most casserole dishes, there are plenty of variations you can make to this recipe. See more ideas below in the post.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Casserole:
1. Prep rice mixture: Add rice, cream of soups, milk, water and onion soup seasoning to a bowl and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the shredded cheddar cheese.
2. Add chicken: nestle chicken breasts into the rice mixture.
3. Bake: Cover the dish with aluminum foil (the pan will be very full!) and bake for 1 hour 30 min to 2 hours , or until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through. (Mine usually bakes in 1.5 hours, but time may vary depending on oven, altitude and other variables).
4. Top with cheese and serve. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before serving. Serve with fresh roasted veggies or a green salad.
Recipe Variations:
Cheese: leave it out, or substitute Colby jack, mozzarella or Swiss.
Rice: Minute rice will not work with this recipe. Brown rice would require additional liquid (at least ½ cup) and longer cooking time, so if using brown rice, I suggest using chicken thighs, instead of breasts, so the chicken doesn't overcook/dry out.
Herbs: if you'd like to add additional flavor, consider adding fresh thyme, parsley, freshly minced garlic or garnish with fresh basil.
Broccoli Chicken and Rice: add 2 cups chopped broccoli florets to the casserole before baking.
Veggies: Feel free to add chopped mushrooms, onions, green peppers, green beans, broccoli, etc.
Cream of soup: My homemade version is so easy and delicious but you can use any type of cream of soup for this recipes including chicken, mushroom, or celery.
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice: Reduce water to ½ cup and milk to 1 cup. Only use 1 can of cream of soup. Cook on high pressure/manual setting for 8-10 minutes (depending on thickness of the chicken breasts). Allow to naturally release for 10 minutes.
Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To make ahead: This is a great make-ahead recipe. Prepare the dish but do not bake. Cover it well and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before baking.
To freeze: Prepare the dish but do not bake. Cover it well with plastic wrap and tinfoil and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking, uncovered.
Consider trying these popular one-pan meals:
- One pan baked salmon and vegetables
- One pan creamy lemon chicken tortellini
- One pan chicken fajita pasta
- One pan skillet lasagna
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Recipe
Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom soup (or homemade)
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups milk
- 1 batch homemade onion soup mix , or one envelope Lipton onion soup mix
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese , divided
- 3 thick boneless skinless chicken breasts , or thighs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13'' pan (or similar size casserole dish) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add rice, cream of soups, milk, water and onion soup seasoning to a bowl and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the shredded cheddar cheese.
- Nestle chicken breasts into the rice mixture. Cover the dish with aluminum foil (the pan will be very full!) and bake for 1 hour 30 min to 2 hours , or until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through. (Mine usually bakes in 1.5 hours, but time may vary depending on oven, altitude and other variables).
- Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.
- Serve with fresh steamed veggies or a green salad.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe March 2017. Updated September 2020.
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My family loves this recipe! I cook the rice first in chicken broth and cut the chicken up then mix everything with cheese on top It’s perfection
I cut up the chicken as well but I feel like when I cooked this it was so bland and I had to cook it for over 2 hrs but that’s probably because my oven isn’t very good.
What rice ? The article said don’t use Instant white rice . I may have said their name wrong .
In this recipe, it calls for long-grain white rice.
This was a wonderful recipe for a Chicken and Rice casserole. No, it was a fantastic recipe!
Ok, I made this recipe last night after reading all the reviews. I followed it exactly, used one cream of chicken and one cream of mushroom,reduced sodium soup. Stirred it at 45 minutes and cooked for 50 minutes more. I had one really large breast to I cut it into 6 large chunks. Turned off oven and put the remaining cheese on top and let it sit in the oven for about 10 minutes. It was delicious. The rice was cooked perfectly, the chicken moist and tender. I don’t understand the complaints, people must not read the recipe correctly, or try to change things. Will definitely make again.
This recipe was so good and it was so easy to make I added frenchy’s crispy fried onions to it also and it was so good!!!
disappointing… the taste is good, although it’s entirely too salty and i didn’t even add salt anywhere. don’t bother trying in an instant pot. i checked out the comments ahead of time and used 1 cup broth + 1 cup milk and two cans of cream of chicken soup. burn. i scraped off the bottom of the pot and got the burnt bits off and added another cup of water. burn. it ended up in the oven. i’ve never had a problem with rice in the IP before.
It’s actually not bad. I ended up turning it into a soup. My family loves it! Thank you!
This recipe is a disaster waiting to happen! I cooked my rice in the rice cooker now I’m putting a bunch of liquid into it whaaattt????
Don’t cook the rice before
You don’t cook the rice before hand. You add the rice with all the other ingredients, uncooked.
I ran into the same problem as others with the instapot option. burned rice on the bottom. I thought adding more liquid would help. It did not. We had to finish it off in the oven. We also added cottage cheese and a few more spices. My husband and I talked about it and we agree with one of the other posts that putting the chicken in first may fix the problem. we will probably not try this one again though. love the easy idea but it ended up being more work with multiple dishes to clean.
I tried this in the instant pot with the recommended changes….it wouldn’t finish the cycle because the rice mixture kept sticking to the bottom and registering as “burn”. I finished it in the over….overall, this recipe is absolutely delicious as is. I might try it in the instant pot again but I’d put the chicken on the bottom and put the rice mixture on top to see if it works better. The only reason I opted for the instant pot was for the shorter cooking time.
I should have read the comments first, but glad to see it was not just me who got a “burn” message on my IP. I have been cooking your recipes for my family five nights a week for five weeks straight—it is our first fail! That said, love your site and thank you for making my life easier with your meal plans and delicious recipes.
Followed the recipe exactly (except 1/2 the amt of cheese) and it was the perfect fall comfort meal! Def stir halfway through and let sit for 15 minutes to allow rice to soak up extra juices. We cooked for 90 minutes and it was perfectly done. This was sooo easy and will definitely be a go-to dinner on nights where I don’t want to spend all night cooking.
The results of this recipe are great but DO NOT FOLLOW THE INSTANT POT DIRECTIONS! I tried the IP and only managed to burn the rice on the bottom after getting “burn” alerts. It may need more liquid, I don’t know. But, as written, the IP recipe note directions will NOT work. It’s still a great recipe. I added chopped green beans, asparagus, peppers- pretty much anything and it only got better. This has been added to my cookbook.