Chicken Rice Casserole makes for a crowd-pleasing dinner that comes together in under 5 minutes of prep time.
Made with only 4 ingredients, this dish has juicy chicken breasts and tender rice in a deliciously creamy sauce. This is a casserole that meal packs a lot of flavor in a filling one dish dinner and a meal that everyone will love!
Enjoy!
There is nothing like Chicken Rice Casserole for dinner. This dish is deliciously easy, creamy and totally satisfying and you’ll never believe it needs just 4 ingredients!
This is a special dish because the recipe comes from my BFF, Penny and she’s been making this for years. It’s her go-to, must have, favorite easy weeknight meal that I just had to try.
I have to admit, when I first made it I knew it would be tasty but… I had NO idea what I was in for and it’d definitely become a regular in our rotation!
This easy dish comes together in under 5 minutes, it’s one of the quickest dinner preps on my whole site (along with One Pot Pizza Tortellini Bake).
This dish is belly warming and comforting while being simple and easy to make, it’s like serving a nice warm hug from your Mom!
The chicken comes out incredibly tender and juicy, the rice is perfectly cooked in a rich and creamy sauce and the whole thing is loaded with flavor!
This easy Chicken Rice Casserole takes about an hour to bake (depending on your oven, you may need a few extra minutes but for me it’s about an hour), but that is one of the things that make it kind of the perfect dish.
We’ve made this just as written over and over but I’ve also added a little bit of onion to the bottom of the pan or a couple of handfuls of fresh mushrooms.
With very little minimal prep time, you can slide this casserole into the oven and relax, or maybe help with homework without feeling the usual dinner time rush!
5 minutes of work, and then perhaps a glass of wine or read your book for an hour? I feel like that’s a good idea for ALL weeknights!
I use homemade onion soup mix in this recipe, but you can use the kind in the envelope if you haven’t had a chance to mix up a batch yet. The flavor will be amazing either way!
My friend Penny also said she sometimes replaces the onion soup mix with a packet of gravy mix depending on what she has on hand!
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, this makes for a delicious lunch the following day.
4 Ingredient Chicken & Rice Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 ounce dry onion soup mix 1 packet or use homemade
- 10.5 ounces condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 can
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish or glass baking pan with cooking spray (the rice doesn't cook well in a metal pan). Add chicken breasts and season with salt & pepper.
- Pour uncooked rice over chicken. Sprinkle with onion soup mix.
- Combine mushrooms soup and 1 ½ cups of water. Pour over chicken.
- Cover and bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Main Course
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Super easy dinner! We love this for a no fuss dinner. I add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables before I pour the soup mixture over the top. Comes out perfect every time. Thank you!
Very easy but a tad salty for my taste. I also used cream of chicken instead of mushroom so that might have had an effect. I also noticed that my packet of onion soup (says it serves 4) was 55kg which is about 2 oz so might be worth a double check that your packet is 1 oz only. Next time I would try to add a can of green beans or broil with some shredded cheese on top after cooking.
Thought I defrosted chicken but it was pork chops. Followed the recipe completely but used cream of mushroom and a packet of pork gravy. Came out perfectly. All loved it. Wouldn’t salt the pork chops. A little to salty
Thought I was defrosting chicken but it was pork chops. Followed the recipe exactly except used a pork gravy packet and cream of mushroom soup. Turned out perfect. Rice done at 1 and a half hours. Little salty. Won’t season pork with salt next but was very good!
Wonderful for low-energy meal prepping, partially for how adaptable it is. I’ve started adding in some greenbeans and extra mushrooms, which is amazing, though worthwhile to throw in another half cup of rice and acan of soup to balance things out. Even better with a sprinkle of shredded cheddar or a few slices of muenster cheese under the broiler. It’s so hearty and comforting, without the obscene amounts of butter in many other comfort foods. Definitely a staple in my work lunches!
Easy to make, but too salty, and tastes awful. thumbs down for sire
Oh, and could I also swap the water for chicken broth? Thank you! Can’t wait to make this!
You definitely can, but I would use a low-sodium chicken broth.
Hello! I only have two very large chicken breasts, about 2 lb of chicken. Could I cut them in half and then still bake this in a 9×13 pan with a normal amount of the other ingredients? Thank you!
Hi Rochelle, that should work. I would slice them in half horizontally (butterflying them) so you end up with four thinner cutlets rather than four thick pieces. Happy cooking!
I had this dish at my in-laws years ago yet never had the recipe. So I used this one. I added onion/garlic/ white wine sautéed mushrooms, lots of thyme and seared the chicken pieces. My guests loved it. So thanks & cheers from Canada.
Read the other reviews and added a little extra seasonings. I used salt free mushroom soup, and then added my own smaller amount of seasoning, salt, garlic, and parsley. Next time I would double the rice my family loved it.
my family wasn’t to excited about this recipe. if it make it again, I’ll add some serious seasoning.
can I freeze this? how do I reheat it?
Yes, this can be frozen. I would suggest thawing in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave or oven until heated through (time will vary depending on how much you have left).
I’ve been making this recipe for decades. It’s pretty similar. This one is good and it definitely works in a metal pan so that can work as well. It cooks perfectly. I always use as disposable metal pan and always comes out. Perfect everything cooked too perfection.
Its so easy and I was skeptical about the taste. I followed the recipe except used cream of chicken soup. I wanted to mix the rice, soup and water but didn’t. I wanted to follow the recipe as is. It was good! Thank you!
You’re very welcome Laurie!
This was very good. I doubled the recipe. I used a bag of Tyson frozen grilled chicken breast bites 2 cups of rice, a can of cream of celery and a can of cream of chicken soup 3 1/2 cups of water and one packet of the onion soup mix it baked at 325 for one and a half hours came out perfect
baked it as instructed, chicken was still completely raw and rice was uncooked even after over an hour. never again.
If the chicken was raw and rice uncooked, it still needed to cook longer. I suggest that you check your oven’s temperature using an oven thermometer.
I deboned the chicken and threw the bones and cartilage into the crockpot. After it cooked overnight I drained it through a strainer, put it in the fridge, and skimmed the fat off. I used it in place of the water. It turned out fabulous
can’t wait to try a couple of recipes. I’m a disabled veteran with a limited income. By making the casserole or salads that’ll feed me for a week or more. that’ll help me out with food for the month. thanks for sharing your recipes.