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.
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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The flavor is great. I used chicken BTB instead of water and added a can of mushrooms. I cooked for 1 hour 15 minutes at 350 and the rice was still hard.
My son who hates onions and mushrooms ate his whole plate. Will definitely make this again! Maybe next time I will add some cheese on top. I cooked mine for 1 hr & 15 mins.
Can you use chicken thighs? How many to replace chicken breast?
I estimate 6oz per chicken breast so you’d want about 1.5lbs of boneless chicken thighs.
I made this last week and used chicken broth instead of water. I had the bright idea of thinking “hey this would be good with some bread crumbs on top” and sprinkled bread crumbs over after the soup mixture…which was a mistake LOL. The breadcrumbs soaked up all the sauceyness of the dish and I ended up with a weird bread crumb layer. If I decide to try bread crumbs again, I’ll have to add them after it’s cooked a little. The dish still tasted good and the chicken was so juicy! Rice was cooked more towards the center of the dish and I only noticed crunchy rice near the edge of the casserole pan so I think I will focus on spreading the rice more towards the center and making sure its covered in the soup mixture. Overall, this recipe is a keeper and I’m making it again tonight with some broccoli added in and condensed cheddar soup instead of mushroom then topping the chicken with cheese!
Try adding crushed ritz crackers over the top for 5 additional minutes after it’s done. Do not really the foil. You can also add Parmesan cheese at that time
I haven’t made yet as I was wondering what size onion soup mix to use. Single serve packet or a large packet enough for 4 servings? I see a few people hace commented that it seems salty and I’m wondering if the onion soup pacage size has something to do with it?
I use the “recipe mix” size, the packages are about 1 oz each. Hope that helps.
I mess up recipes A LOT (I don’t know how, it just happens). I was a little nervous after reading reviews about the rice not cooking but this recipe turned out perfectly at 1 hour 15 minutes covered with foil. The chicken was moist but just a little plain. Overall I will make again :)
I love this recipe! I do cut the chicken breasts up into bite sized pieces for easier serving. Made just as it is – perfect!
Love this recipe!!
Another Pinterest recipe from someone who did not adequately test the recipe. Took far longer for the rice to cook than suggested, chicken ended up being overcooked due to the extra time needed to not have hard rice. I should have known better, I followed directions to the tee. Flavor was good but certainly needs adjustments.
I’m surpised to hear that you’d think this recipe hasn’t been adequelty tested Lori. There are over 500 reviews with an average rating of 4.8. Most readers love this recipe, as do we. Thank you for trying it and I hope you find another recipe that works for you.
The rice has to be boiled for at least 5-10 minutes before putting on chicken . I think people like crunchy rice because it’s not going to boil in the oven !
This one was a bit of a bummer. Made the house smell amazing but I have no clue why the order of operations is what it is. The bits of sprinkled onion soup, while dissolved, were unpleasantly strong on taste, punches of pure saltiness that were too much even for this salt lover. I was curious if some magic would happen here with no mixing but…are you really just sprinkling it? No mixing? I would 1000% mix next time.
And yeah, got crusty hard rice on top. Would just add all of that with the liquid base first and place the chicken on top next time.
I tbough this would be great, given the reviews but it wasn’t. Some of the rice was just hard. Maybe the rice and soup should be mixed together first? Family was not happy.
Sorry to hear that Jackie. This is definitely a family favorite. Thank you for trying the recipe.
Can I use chicken tenderloins with this recipe? What changes would you recommend?
I have not made the recipe with tenderloins, but other readers have. Let us know if you try it Jerri!
Jackie, I’ve made a similar recipe for years. I do it slightly differently though. I spray my casserole dish with butter flavored Pam and then add the chicken (or pork chops). I mix all the other ingredients in a bowl and pour it all over the meat. Cover with foil and bake. Sometimes I’ll add in an extra can of cream of chicken soup as well. This is definitely a recipe you can play with. My family is obsessed with it.
I learned this recipe from my mom who has been making it for 50 years. We’ve always made it with 1 cup of rice, one cup of water, one can cream of mushroom soup and one can of french onion soup. Mix them together and pour in a greased pan, then add the chicken, cover and cook. Check rice for doneness halfway and add more liquid if needed. Hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing Christabel!
Could I use a pre-made rotisserie chicken instead of chicken breast for this recipe to cut back on time? What changes would I make
Hi Alechia, I think the rotisserie chicken would be way too dry if you put it in the casserole at the starting time, but I think it would work to add the chicken during the last 20 minutes or so of cooking time? Let us know how it turns out for you :)
Came out pretty tasty. I made a few modifications:
Used chicken thighs
Didn’t use the onion mix
Used a bag of uncle bens family size brown rice
Put spinach on top
Baked in a Dutch oven casserole
Baked at 350 for 1 hr and 10 min
Next time I’d use cream of chicken though since I think it would give it better flavor and more veggies-overall will definitely make again!!
I’ve made this dish but I used chicken thighs, way yummy!!
You really can’t go wrong with this recipe! Great as written, but sometimes add sauteed mushrooms or spinach before pouring the rice on. Very comforting dinner in these challenging times. Thanks!
Hi Holly I have a question about the recipe I would like to know if it’s at all possible you can add maybe a tablespoon or two of cream of chicken to creamy it up a little bit make it and will that help with the flavor thanks
I haven’t tried it that way but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
I added an entire extra can of cream of chicken. No harm done at all ad it’s delicious!
hello.. I am sooo wanting to make this recipe for my boyfriend on Thursday .. I have a question before I start to prep it all…. Is it possible to prepare it a couple hours in advance before putting it in the oven? HELP!?!?!
I haven’t tried making it ahead. Let us know how it works for you if you do make it ahead, Diana.
Yay!! Amazing!! It was a hit!! Prepared it all about an hour early.. covered and put in oven when ready… set oven to 350 as a couple people stated.. 1 hour and 15 minutes later , my boyfriend and I had the most amazing meal… chicken moist and tender and rice couldn’t have been better!! Thank you so much for this new addition to my recipe collection…
PS I even had left overs for him to take home to his mother, so she can believe that i can do more then just bake cookies :)
HIghly recommend this to anyone who loves chicken and rice :)
Can this chicken and rice recipe be made with cauliflower rice?
I do think it would work however you would need to reduce the liquid. If using uncooked cauliflower rice very little water (if using water at all) as the rice doesn’t absorb any. I can’t say for sure how much as I haven’t tried it.
I have been trying to reach you through comments.. so i thought i would try this way… Is this dish ok if i prep it to go in the oven a couple hours before its needed to be baked? My boyfriend wants to have it for dinner but his work schedule is well weird… please help!! Thanks in advance
and so sorry for piggy baking on someone elses post :)
Hi Diana, I haven’t tried making it ahead. Let us know how it works for you if you do make it ahead.
Same problem as many others. Cooked for 1.5 hours thus far and the rice isn’t cooked. Decided to place the contents in a foil pan, added some chicken broth to add more liquid, placed the chicken on top and its now back in the oven. Hopefully it’ll cook this time.
I make this recipe at least once a week and eat the leftovers. It’s great for meeting my protein/carb requirements for weightlifting.
It tastes amazing. I usually add 4oz (half a stick) of cream cheese in addition to what you have listed here.
Essentially fill the bottom with chicken, pour rice in the cracks between the chicken, add your chicken broth/water and cream of mushroom and stir. I use 1.5 cups of rice and 2 cups of water. After that top with chunks of cream cheese, pop it in the over for 1hr 15m and it comes out so perfect and creamy.
You can add Broccoli on top of everything else for some good veggies. If you add onions make sure to put them on the bottom, but I usually avoid because I don’t like the onions being crunchy. I’m trying mushrooms tonight, but I can assume that it will be delicious.
One essential thing is that I use a cast-iron dutch oven. This ensures everything is cooked evenly and completely.
The cast iron dutch oven is a great suggestion (as is the cream cheese!). Thank you for sharing your tips!
Way too salty. I would you half of the onion soup mix.