Recipe For Chicken Brown Rice Casserole

Casseroles are a comfort food dream. Over the years, we’ve created our fair share of casserole recipes, from sides to main courses to even desserts (hello, apple dumplings). That being said, when we’re searching for something hearty, filling, and completely classic, we turn to this chicken and rice version. It’s the type of recipe we turn to time and time again during the fall and winter (and all year-round tbh). The best part? Everything is ready at the same time in this recipe, so you can toss it all in the dish (yes,

Nope! This is a literal dump 'n bake recipe: You put the uncooked rice and onion, broth, and cream of mushroom soup into a casserole dish and then top with the chicken thighs. Like magic, everything is ready at the same time—no stovetop required. Plus, because everything cooks together, you'll also get the most flavorful rice without any stress of cooking it on the stove. 

This dish is completely customizable, and a great base for any substitutions or additions your heart desires. If you'd rather sub in chicken breasts, you totally can—we just love thighs for their flavor and crispy skin. Throw in some frozen veggies (broccoli is a delicious choice), or sprinkle on some cheddar towards the end of cooking to make this creamy casserole a cheesy dream. 

Skinny Mexican Chicken And Brown Rice Casserole

If you’d like to make this casserole ahead of time, prepare the dish without baking, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. When ready to eat, bake as directed and enjoy. Alternatively, you can freeze the covered, unbaked casserole for up to 3 months. 

Lena Abraham is a freelance contributor with , and was formerly Senior Food Editor, where she developed and styled recipes for video and photo, and also stayed on top of current food trends. She’s been working in the food industry for over 10 years, and will argue that the best fish tacos in the world are made in New York. Don’t @ her.This is a dump-and-bakeChicken Rice Casserole with broccoli that’smade from scratch. It’s creamy, cheesy, comforting and tastes like a risottobut so much easier to make! It’s the ultimate emergency meal –completely effortless but doesn’t sacrifice flavour for convenience.

And anyone who knows anything about cooking will (rightfully!) raise their eyebrows when they see how this emergency version of Chicken Rice Casserole is made:

Quick & Easy Chicken And Rice Casserole

And this is what comes out: a CREAMY Chicken Rice Casserole with PERFECTLY COOKED rice with JUICY SEASONED pieces of chicken! 🙌🏻

It truly tastes like everybody’s favourite risotto – except you haven’t been slaving over a hot stove for 20 minutes. The rice is coated with a creamy cheesy sauce that’s made with milk and flavoured with chicken broth/stock plus stock powder.

It’s nice and creamy rather than stodgy like many rice casseroles are, and comes out of the oven with a bubbly golden cheesy top.

The Best Chicken Rice Casserole Recipe

The broccoli is on the soft side, but most definitely not cooked into mushy oblivion. You could steam it separately and stir it through at the end, but I chose convenience for a relatively small compromise!

The key ingredient here that makes a real difference to the tastiness of this recipe isstock powder, also known as bouillon powder. I use this in lieu of salt in this recipe because it’s salt with flavour.

Use chicken or vegetable stock powder – my favourite is Vegeta which is a vegetable one, pictured below. Crumbled bouillon cube will work just great too – it’s the same thing, in cube form!

Chicken And Rice Casserole {one Pan!}

We need this extra flavour boost to compensate for skipping the usual flavour base step ofsautéing onion and garlic in butter and searing the chicken until golden brown like I do with my stovetop Chicken Rice Casserole!

I’m a huge fan of Vegeta, it’s my secret ingredient for great soup broths, such as for from-scratchHomemade Chicken Noodle Soup. It’s also my trick to make a really great QUICK clear soup broth for Chicken Rice Soupand faster Chicken Noodle Soup, and a really terrific creamy sauce for Chicken Pot Pie.

The world’s easiest chicken rice casserole is made with just chicken, rice and canned soup that is dumped in a pan and baked, and you will never see that recipe on my site.

Easy Chicken Thighs And Rice Casserole Recipe (video)

I do not judge (you’re talking to she whose parents would crack an egg over rice, add a drizzle of soy and call that dinner!) but using canned soup to make shortcut casseroles just isn’t the way I cook. 😇

But I do truly believe this to be the easiest Chicken Rice Casserole that’s made from scratch because we by-pass the usual roux making process whereby melted butter is mixed with flour and used to thicken milk to make a creamy sauce for loads of things from Mac and Cheese, the Béchamel Sauce for Lasagna to Chicken Pot Pie.

PS This is the rice version of the Ultra Lazy Chicken Broccoli PASTA Bakeand the baked version of this 30 minute stovetop Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, both of which are reader favourites!

One Pan Autumn Chicken And Wild Rice Casserole.

Recipe video above. Dump-and-bake creamy chicken rice casserole made FROM SCRATCH! Perfectly cooked rice, creamy cheesy sauce, juicy seasoned chicken. Unusually high liquid-to-rice ratio because 1) baked uncovered (brown chicken); and 2) creamy rice (rather than stodgy!). See Note 7 re: SCALING recipe!

1. Chicken - boneless thigh or tenderloin best for juiciest chicken with required cook time. Breast also works but not quite as juicy!

2. Stock powder (aka granulated bouillon / bouillon powder) - this is bouillon cubes in powder form. Any brand or type of chicken or vegetable works fine here, has more flavour than salt which is needed for this shortcut recipe. I like using Vegeta (blue can, vegetable stock powder, sold in herbs & spices aisle, also the secret ingredient Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, fab easy Chicken Rice Soup and Chicken Pot Pie).

Easy Chicken And Rice Casserole • Salt & Lavender

Crumbled bouillon cubes will work just fine too! They are essentially the same. The good ones crumble easily into powder. If it doesn't, dissolve in some of the hot liquid then add.

3. Rice - recipe works best with long grain white rice. Will also work with medium or short white rice grain, standard (unspecified) white rice, jasmine* or basmati rice*. Recipe as written won't work with: brown rice, wild rice, risotto, paella rice, quinoa.

* These types may take 10 minutes or longer during first bake to cook through, make sure to check before stirring rice!

Baked Chicken And Rice Casserole

4. Broccoli - use 2 big heads! About 4 - 5 heaped cups, 400g / 14 oz - it can even take more. Frozen broccoli can be used but thaw and drain off excess liquid first (don't put frozen in because it will bring down the temp of liquids = uneven rice cooking).

5. Heating liquid ensures rice cooks evenly and without going gluggy. Heat separately in microwave (I do this) or mix together in same saucepan & heat on stove. It doesn't matter which order they go into the baking pan , it's just easier to pour some liquid in first to dissolve flour, then the rest.

6. Ceramic or glass pan - this is what I always use for good control of heat. Heavy duty cast iron or similar will also work. Flimsy/thin metal pans won't provide even heating as well and may affect how evenly the rice cooks.

Best Chicken And Rice Casserole

7. Cooked rice - rice should be cooked at 40 minutes. But if not, cover with foil and stick it back in the oven. Make sure you check rice before stirring - even cooking of rice depends on remaining submerged under liquid.

8. Scaling recipe (slide scaler) - If you scale down to half, please use a smaller pan (say 8/20cm). If you scale UP, it should scale up ok by about 25% in the same pan, but any more and I'd recommend using a separate pan to ensure rice cooks evenly.

Calories: 617 cal (31%) Carbohydrates: 64 g (21%) Protein: 42 g (84%) Fat: 21 g (32%) Saturated Fat: 10 g (63%) Cholesterol: 112 mg (37%) Sodium: 1301 mg (57%) Potassium: 1042 mg (30%) Fiber: 3 g (13%) Sugar: 8 g (9%) Vitamin A: 1265 IU (25%) Vitamin C: 83 mg (101%) Calcium: 428 mg (43%) Iron: 2 mg (11%)

One Pot Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!Chicken and Rice Casserole proves that basic can be beautiful. Creamy sauce enveloping hearty rice, juicy bites of chicken, and vegetables, this timeless meal is a classic that’s too fantastic to fuss.

For more family-friendly healthy rice casserole recipes, don’t miss this vegetarian Broccoli Rice Casserole, Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole, and the Butternut Squash Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole in my cookbook.

Dried basil can be used for a rich, nutty, aromatic flavor. Italian Seasoning can also be used. I wouldn’t recommend using dried rosemary for this dish.

Chicken & Brown Rice Casserole Recipe

Up to 1 day in advance, cook and shred the chicken and cook the rice. Refrigerate both in separate airtight storage container or plastic-wrapped bowl until you’re ready to finish the recipe.

You can also fully assemble the unbaked casserole up