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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This was dee-licious! The rice was a bit soggy and the bottom of the chicken needed to be fried for 2 minutes after baking, probably since is used bone-in chicken thighs. Next time I will use brown rice to allow for a longer cook time so the chicken has enough time to cook without breaking down the rice as would be the case with white rice.
Did you try it with the brown rice? If so, how did that work?
Does this recipe use bone in or boneless chicken breasts? I can’t find that detail in the list I’d ingredients or the directions for putting together and cooking. I’m sure makes a difference in the cook time.
This uses boneless chicken breasts Julie. You could also try bone-in chicken which takes a bit longer to cook.
I have been making this for decades and it is a regular go to. For some that complained about the rice being uncooked try mixing all the ingredients except chicken and pour in the bottom of a roasting pan then place chicken on top, cover and bake.
This was delicious and so easy. I will put this with my regular rotation. Yum
This is what my Mother called Chicken on Sunday. She would put it in the oven on 200 while we went to church (about 4 hours). When we got home she would turn it up to 350 for about 30 minutes. It was perfect every time. My question is can this be done in a crockpot and would I need to add anything extra?
We have never tried this recipe in the slow cooker. However, some readers have tried it in the slow cooker with great success. I’d think 8 hours should work. Let us know if you try it Lorie!
Can you use instant rice instead of the long grain rice.
I have made this recipe many, many times when my girls where growing up. They loved this recipe. They even make it for their kids.
I’m sure it would work but the ratios and cook time will vary.
Hi can you let me know about how many pounds of chicken you use for this recipe? If I go by the four chicken breasts that could be up to four pounds for me since that is how they are sliced at my grocery store.
I estimate 6oz per chicken breast so you’d want about 1.5lbs
Can you use instant rice in this recipe??
Hi Susan, we have only made this recipe with the rice listed in the recipe but other readers have used instant rice with success. I am not sure if they adjust the water ratio in the recipe though. If you give it a try please let us know how it turns out.
I like the recipes for chicken and look forward to see more of all foods.
I’m a pretty good cook and I would call this average. It took almost 1 3/4 hours to cook and I boosted the heat up to 375 after about an hour. It made quite a lot. I used basmati rice to make it.
By far the easiest and best recipe!! The only thing I would do next time is dice up the chicken but that’s a personal preference only. Chicken was so tender rice was perfectly cooked and tons of flavor. Used the packages onion soup mix. Thank you!
Easy and very tasty! I’ve made this a few times over the past couple of months, I’ve tried it with both bone-in chicken and de-boned chicken, de-boned chicken works better (and less mess while eating). And I’ll say this just because my younger self didn’t know it – rinse the rice until the rinse water is no longer cloudy first.
Disappointing! Stumbled across his recipe yesterday while looking for a new recipe for chicken breast. Super excited to see only 4 ingredients and I had everything needed in my pantry. Followed the recipe exactly. It took longer to cook at noted. This dish was not tasty at all. My husband (who eats just about anything) didn’t like it either. The dish wasn’t even visually appealing. Super disappointed. Different strokes for different folks. Just noting my humble opinion.
Sorry that you didn’t enjoy this casserole Regina.
I doubled this recipe and it worked out just fine. I added sautéed onion and mushrooms, but otherwise just followed the instructions and it was a hit. Tasted like comfort food. Will make again!
I’ve made this recipe four times with several different types of rice and it never turns out as amazing as it sounds. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious, however the rice is always underdone, and the chicken overdone. Tonight was the closest I’ve got. I added extra water at the start, half way through and when it was almost done. I probably added 2 extra cups of water total, and it still has same crunchy rice. I’m surprised other people haven’t said the same.
I love using broccoli and cheese soup instead of cream of mushroom! And broth instead of water. This really is a tasty dish, I just wish I would end up with properly cooked rice and chicken!
Perhaps par boiling separately the chicken and rice for a short period of time, perhaps 15 minutes would help. I do this when cooking casseroles with chicken.
This recipe worked out really well!! I think that maybe cream of chicken might’ve tasted better with this recipe but it still worked and tasted really good! I would recommend. :)
Try it out next time Aaliyah! So glad you enjoyed it!
Hello, thinking of making this tonight, can I sub canned cooked chicken? If so, how many ounces would be needed for appropriate meat to rice ratio? Thanks bunches
Canned chicken would work, you’ll want to be sure to be gentle with stirring so it doesn’t break up too much. You’d likely need 2 small cans for this recipe but can add a bit more to your liking.
Over all a pretty good recipe. I’ve modified by add in a package of mixed frozen vegetables plus additional water to 2 cups total. Cook for 1:10 min, remove from oven and set for additional 15 covered.
This was super yummy, but I had to cook it for darn near two hours for the rice to cook. Even after two hours of cooking, the chicken came out moist and the whole family ate it happily. I’ll definitely make it again with parboiled rice next time.
Has anyone doubled this recipe? Have several people coming for dinner.
I would worry that the rice wouldn’t cook if you doubled it.
Really good! I had to bump up my temperature to 375 and cook it an extra 20 minutes. I also used jasmine rice and vegetable broth vs water and did creme of chicken.