Creamy Chicken & Rice Casserole

An easy casserole recipe for creamy rice and fork-tender chicken that cooks in one dish. No need to precook the rice or brown the chicken first – just mix and bake!

JUMP TO RECIPE

If you’ve been with me very long you know how much I love rice. It is my verrrrrry favorite food of all time! Not plain rice, mind you (though I like it too), I mean savory dishes made with rice.

My baby boy – well, he’s 12 now so I guess he’s not a baby anymore except he is because he’ll always be my baby – asked me the other day what one food I would pick if I could only have one thing for the rest of my life.

I quickly answered that I would choose rice! He opened his mouth to tell me his answer (which was probably something like Milk Duds) then stopped and just looked at me for a minute…

Then he asked if he chose rice too would that include fried rice, the rice at our favorite Mexican restaurant and chicken bog (like, who am I? the hypothetical game rule maker??). I said sure, why not?! then he told me he wanted to change his answer to rice too.

That apple didn’t fall far from the tree, eh?

I have a few rice casserole dishes I make all the time (I’ll list them below) that include ground beef, pork chops or sausage but none that are made with chicken so this weekend I decided to make a new casserole recipe using chicken and rice!

I used chicken broth and cream of celery because I think chicken and celery just go together but also because – and this is weird – I really love cream of celery soup for cooking! They’ve come a looooooong way with canned creamed soups so I use them more than I once did but I especially like cooking with cream of celery. If it’s not your thing, feel free to use whichever variety you like best!

My fear about using cream of chicken in this was that I didn’t want the dish to be too “chickeny”… I wanted there to be some other flavor kicking around in the dish. And since Husband haaaaaates mushrooms, I didn’t use cream of mushroom. But again, use whichever you like best!

I’m sitting here typing this up, about to start with the actual recipe, and I got to thinking about something. I see beautiful chicken and rice casserole recipes online all the time but when I click over to look at them, most of them are made with instant rice and I HATE INSTANT RICE so I suck my teeth and move on.

So, I started wondering why?

What’s wrong with me that I hate instant rice so much? So, I googled it and learned a little about what the difference is. It’s not that I’m a rice snob (well, I kinda am because my part of the South is BIG on rice and we pride ourselves on our rice-making ability), it’s because it’s a stripped-down, processed version of regular rice!

Check out this article from The Watering Mouth that explains more about the process of how instant rice is produced. In summary, the writer, Cheri, says:

“This process removes virtually all nutrition that the rice could have contained along with most of the flavor and almost all of the texture. What you’re left with is a mushy, shell of a rice grain that has practically no redeeming qualities.”

Preach it, sister!!

PREACH IT!!

MORE MEALS FEATURING RICE

If you love main dishes with rice AND you especially like recipes that don't require you to precook the rice first, check out some of my other favorites!

HIBACHI CHICKEN & RICE - A one-pan skillet meal with hibachi chicken and rice that uses everyday ingredients and way less expensive than take-out! 

SAUSAGE & RICE CASSEROLE - a simple rice bake perfect for supper, side dishes, potlucks and Thanksgiving (sometimes called Rice Dressing). 

CABBAGE ROLL SKILLET MEAL - All the goodness of cabbage rolls without precooking the rice or parboiling the cabbage in this one-pan deconstructed cabbage roll skillet recipe.

PORK CHOP CASSEROLE - A family favorite pork chop bake made with rice and French onion soup. 

BAKED CHICKEN & RICE - A family-sized casserole with everyday ingredients for tender rice and rotisserie-seasoned chicken. 

JAILHOUSE RICE - A casserole recipe with rice, ground beef and sausage perfect for feeding a crowd. 

Recipe for Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Creamy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Yield: 6 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 H & 25 MTotal time: 1 H & 35 M

An easy casserole recipe for creamy rice and fork-tender chicken that cooks in one dish. No need to precook the rice or brown the chicken first – just mix and bake!

Ingredients

• 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 14.5-oz cans chicken broth
• 2 10.5-oz cans cream of celery soup
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoons paprika
• Additional salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 3-qt 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray (or rub with butter) then set aside.
2. Combine chicken broth, cream of celery soup, butter and rice in a bowl then stir to combine.
3. Mix pepper, salt, garlic and paprika separately then add HALF of the seasoning combination to the rice mixture and stir well. Pour rice mixture into prepared dish.
4. Cut each chicken breast in half then season each side with additional salt & pepper. Arrange chicken on top of rice mixture then sprinkle the remaining seasoning combination over entire dish.
5. Cover tightly with aluminum foil then bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove aluminum foil then continue baking for 10 additional minutes. Remove from oven then allow dish to rest 10-15 minutes before serving.

Notes

• It is imperative that the dish be covered tightly with aluminum foil – consider covering with two layers.
• If rice is not tender, remove chicken then return foil to dish and continue baking for 5-10 minutes or until rice is tender.
• You must use a 3-qt or larger baking dish for this recipe to prevent the dish from cooking over.
• Consider placing a cookie sheet under your dish to prevent any messes. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have sometimes, ya know?
• Feel free to use cream of chicken or mushroom soup instead of cream of celery.
• Cutting the chicken into two pieces is totally optional. Feel free to leave the chicken breasts whole.
• This recipe could easily be cut in half. If using a 13x9 dish, reduce initial cooking time to 1 hour. If using something smaller, cook per the instructions above.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2018/10/chicken-rice-casserole.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2018

casserole, chicken, rice, breasts, bake, creamy, chicken & rice, potluck, dump and bake, best, recipe, easy

supper, dinner

American

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