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!
I loved the flavor of this recipe. The chicken and broccoli cooked perfectly. However, the rice was hard. Does that mean it was undercooked or overcooked? The chicken was perfect so I don’t know if I would overlook the chicken if I cooked it longer. I baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hr 40 min.
Perfect recipe. I used long grain white rice and put broccoli in. Delicious.
I really just think it could have used less liquid to begin with. Maybe 1/2 cup water and 1 cup milk vs 1 cup water & 2 cups milk. I followed the recipe exactly & had to cook it a lot longer than mentioned. Turned up the heat a bit at the end too. I live in western America, I don’t know if that makes a difference from where the original recipe comes from. But, yeah. Smells good, but taking FOREVER to cook.
I made this tonight and it was delicious for the most part. I followed the directions exactly, adding in broccoli florets with the rice mixture. Letting it rest definitely prevents it from being soupy as others claimed. Chicken breasts were much too dry, however. I’m going to chop up the remaining breasts and stir it into the rice mixture for tomorrow’s leftovers. Overall, best cheesy broccoli rice! Hands down!
Tried to make this in the instapot and it kept burning so I added back in thr extra water and milk and popped it in the oven, left out the extra “cream of” chicken soup, cooked for 1.5hrs, and it was delicious. I made no other changes. This will be on my regular rotation! Yum! Thank you!
When should you add the chicken if it is pre-cooked?
Made this tonight, used gluten free cream of chicken soup, and added broccoli, it was delish! My picky husband had 3 servings and loved it. Thank you!
I normally love your recipes, and they usually work great! However, this one DOES NOT work in the instant pot. It keeps burning. Then it never cooks because it keeps saying it’s burning. So, stick with the oven because the instant pot method DOES NOT WORK.
I had the same experience. I had to add back in the extra liquid and put it in the oven. Instapot was a no go.
Love this easy recipe! The rice mix was delicious snd chicken breasts were very tender.
What type of rice did you use ?
Added extra spices and garlic. I used one can of cream of chicken and one cream of mushroom. It took 1.5 hours and I definitely had to crank the temperature to 450 at the end, but it turned out amazing! Will make again!