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 timing and temp was good for long grain white rice and the chicken was tender which was what was most important to me because I was really in the mood for a easy chicken, rice and veg casserole. I don’t cook with canned or packet soups normally so for mine I used a can that I happen to have of cream of chicken. For the liquid I used low sodium broth. I added chopped garlic, onions and baby carrots. I added some
Celery seed to my broth. It came out really good! Will make my version of this again for sure , probably with just all broth no canned soup next time and want to try brown rice or a mix of white and brown …Thanks for the inspiration and structure!
Thanks for sharing your tips, Liz! Your version sounds so delicious.
This was great, tasty and very easy to make….I actually diced up a red bell pepper and sautéed it with sliced mushroom because I only used two breasts in the dish and had the extra room for the veggies. The long grain rice was perfectly cooked in the hour that I gave the dish to bake (gas oven so things cook a bit hotter for me and quicker). Used the onion mix but placed it on top after pouring in the soup mix. Might use chicken stock next time, but I too look out for the sodium. Making it again tonight for the son who didn’t get any last week!
It was quite tasty, however the rice was hard and crunchy. What did I do wrong?
Sorry to hear that Nancy. Did you use long-grain white rice? We have made this recipe many many times and it should be cooked after the time indicated, and if not, you may want to bake a little longer. Ovens can vary in their heat, so that could be another reason.
Mine was too!!!
Planning on making this tonight! Do you think it is OK to substitute basmati rice? Should I alter the recipe at all?
We have not tried this recipe with basmati rice but other readers have good results. Basmati rice may require a bit more liquid though, you will have to let us know how it turns out!
One of my faves. I did it first exactly how you said to do it the first time. Since then I have used cream of chicken instead of mushroom, beefy onion soup mix instead of onion soup mix to darken up the gravy, brown basmati rice (you just have to cook the additional 25 minutes and make sure the foil is on tight and be slightly generous when you add water-also rice needs to be in the liquid not on top the chicken for that one). The chicken I use is frozen and always comes out done. This ones a keeper! One of our faves.
Those substitutions sound delicious, Ashley. So glad you are enjoying this recipe.
I made this using a fully cooked turkey breast (got to get rid of leftovers!) diced, brown rice, and some seasonings instead of onion soup mix. Doubled the water to make sure the brown rice cooked through. Seasonings included onion and garlic powders, basil, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper. Baked covered for an hour, stirred, then uncovered for the last 15 minutes.
Love it I use my own spice mixture and cut the chicken into bite sized pieces but it’s a big hit in my house my only advice make sure to grease the sides or you will end up with a pain in the arse mess y to clean
Can I do this stovetop? If I cook the chicken separately it might be good stovetop?
Hi Christine, that should work well. Let us know how it turns out!
Sounds tasty & super easy, so I’d like to try this. My DH won’t eat chicken breasts, so I’d like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs, which he loves. Since dark chicken meat usually takes a bit longer to cook, do I need to adjust anything….like the amount of water, so that the rice won’t come out dry or overdone? Pleeez advise.
Chicken thighs have worked well for other readers. Sounds like there is no need to change anything. Enjoy, Angelina!
Made this tonight and it turned out good. I omitted the onion mix (too much sodium) so I added spices of my choice and used chicken broth in place of the water. Time and oven temperature worked for me and I loved how easy it was to throw together and cook itself. I used the long grain rice like the recipe calls for and it was perfect at 70 minutes. After moving from Colorado to the east coast recently, maybe the people that had trouble with the rice not being done live at altitude?? It makes a big difference when baking anything. Hubby loved this dish and I will make it again.
So happy you enjoyed this dish, Karen!
Took more than 2 hours and rice is not done. 325 is too low. Do not add salt… the soup mix is mostly salt.
We are very sorry to hear that Mark. Did you use long-grain white rice? We have made this recipe many many times and it should definitely be cooked after 2 hours. You can omit the salt if you prefer.
Followed the directions exactly and this turned out horrible. Rice was hard and dish was very soupy. My mom used to make this dish but it must have been a much different recipe because this one is no where close to hers. Pinterest fail. Will not be making again, do not recommend.
We are very sorry to hear that Sheila. Did you use long-grain white rice? We have made this recipe many many times and it always turns out perfectly for us.
We were so happy with this recipe! I have celiac disease, so we left out the condensed soup and used sour cream, mayo, and extra spices. Can this be frozen uncooked? Thank you so much for the recipe!
So happy to hear that Sara! I haven’t tried it but I do think this would freeze perfectly once cooked.
Thank you!
I will be making this today. Can we add fresh broccoli?
Hi Jose, we haven’t tried add broccoli before baking but you could definitely add it after you have baked the casserole.
It’s a great easy recipe but my rice came out mushy, why is that?
Hi Nellie, make sure to use uncooked long-grain white rice in this recipe and cook only until rice is tender and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Hope that helps!
Tasted good , but really watery, can I add 2 cups of rice?
The recipe as written works perfectly for us Kiley. If your rice turns out a bit watery, you could try adding a little more rice. Enjoy the recipe!
Made as directed, but doubled it in a deep dish. Used heart healthy version of cream of mushroom and chicken breast tenders. Started watching at the 1:15 mark. Added a 3rd can of condensed cream of mushroom and frozen peas after baking. Husband said add this to the rotation! Thank you!!
I am planning to try your 4 ingredient Chicken & Rice Casserole…. I have a question on the size of the breasts.. Are these the full breasts or 1/2 breasts which is frequently a serving size..
Thank you!
These are half breasts, but both would work. Enjoy Nancy!
How do you know how long to bake it? When the rice is soft or when the chicken reaches a certain internal temperature?
Hi Jean, You definitely want to make sure your chicken reaches a safe internal temperature (165°F), but we found cooking for 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until the rice is tender) gave us the best results. Tender rice and deliciously cooked chicken.
Can you use brown rice instead of white rice?
Hi Jean, for the best results we recommend using long-grain white rice.
Sorry. Honest review. Ended up watching my wife dump this in the trash. Made Exactly per this recipe and the rice was just as hard as when we started. Tasted when the time was done and not good, Gave it an extra 10 minutes and nope. the rice just did not cook. Flavor was good but just did not cook the rice. Maybe cook the rice before you make this? Don’t know. As I watched my wife dump this in the trash I will not try it again.
We are very sorry to hear that Steve! Did you use long-grain white rice? You could always try cooking the rice before baking but we haven’t found that necessary for us.
I’ve used this same recipe for many years. Definitely a keeper. However I learned like Steve’s wife in comment above, so I mix the rice and soup and water together and lay the chicken on top.
SUCCESS!
That is great, PJR. Glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
The only rice that’s going to be cooked and soft after 60 minutes at 325 degrees is “minute” or instant rice. Plain white rice, long-grain or otherwise, will still be hard and crunchy. I’ve made this recipe twice, and variations of it several more. Pre-cooking is a must for non-“minute” rice.
Thanks for the feedback, JC! We hope you enjoyed this casserole.