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 chicken breasts
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 package onion soup mix or use homemade
- 10 ounces cream of mushroom soup condensed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray. 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
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Hi do you recommend bone in or boneless chicken breasts? Thank you
I use boneless chicken breasts in this recipe.
Not good. Too salty. Disproportionate amount of rice to number of chicken breasts- not enough rice. Chicken was bland rice too salty. Disappointing.
It definitely needed the extra time indicated at the end. 25 minutes or more. I can’t believe it took that long for rice to cook. But worth the wait. Great taste!
Have you ever tried the recipe with bone-in chicken breasts? I usually have a freezer full and this sounds like a great way to use them. I’m wondering how much of a time adjustment to make.
I haven’t tried it however some readers have successfully made this with bone-in breasts. You may need to increase the cooking time slightly, you’ll want to ensure that the chicken reaches 165°F.
So good. I used Roasted Garlic Cream of Mushroom soup and boneless thighs and I added a little chicken better than bouillon to the soup /water mixture. Seasoned the chicken with kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme and paprika. Then topped with Frenches Fried Onion at the end and broiled it for a few minutes.
My mother called this dish Company Chicken, because she could easily double the recipe, put it in the oven, and spend time visiting before dinner was served. Her recipe called for a whole, cut up chicken and orange juice instead of water, though she made it both ways depending on what was in the fridge. I’ve been making it for 50 years and my kids and grandkids still enjoy it. Today you’d call it comfort food. Back in the day, it was simply ‘affordable’. It’s good to see it’s still around. Thanks for passing it on.
My husband and I tried this and love it! It’s fabulous!! But to be honest with this comment, we love several dishes from you we have tried. And used time after time! Keep giving us more we love your meals.
Can you prepare in the morning and refrigerate and cook later
Thank you
Hi Jean, I haven’t tried making it ahead but other readers have had success. We would love to hear how it works for you if you do make it ahead!
I put the cream of whatever-I-have-on-hand soup into a 4 cup measuring cup and add enough liquid to make 2 1/4 cups. I remember Gran making it this way and she never had an issue with it coming out soupy. I also use any chicken pieces I happen to have on hand.
Can chicken thighs be used instead of chicken breasts?.
Hi Mary, chicken thighs have worked well for other readers. Sounds like there is no need to change anything.
OMG, DELICIOSO!!
Am watching my sodium so skipped salting the chick but used plenty of pepper. Used liquid drained from a small can of mushroom slices toward the 1 1/2 C water and stirred slices into soup/water mix (♥️ shrooms). Absolutely delicious with a side of light seasoned and sauteed stir fry veggies. GREAT RECIPE!
I am allergic to mushroom could i use a different condensed soup ?
Any condensed soup should work just fine!
This is a yummy little quick fix! I added a tad more liquid (used organic chicken broth instead of water) because we used instant brown rice instead and it was good! Super easy for a weeknight meal. We also used tenders instead of breasts and it cooked in an hour. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your substitutions, Tayler! That sounds delicious.
Could frozen chicken be used?
We recommend using thawed or fresh chicken breasts but other readers have used frozen. I would plan for additional cooking time to ensure the chicken is fully cooked before serving.
SO… This looks AHHHHMAZING… I used Chicken Gravy powder Mix as I didn’t have French Onion Soup mix nor did I want to make any… I also used Cream of Chicken soup bc its what I had on hand… I also used Chicken Beoth instead of water… DELICIOUS!!!
Why do the ingredients say a cup and a half, buy you only mix a half cup to the soup. Where does the other cup of water go to in this recipe?
The full 1 1/2 cups of water is added in step 4. Hope that helps Marcia, enjoy the casserole!
Can you substitute with pork chops and use instant rice instead?
Hi Cris, You could try pork chops but their texture is completely different, so it would require a different amount of cooking time. For rice, we have only made this recipe with the rice listed in the recipe but other readers have used instant rice with success. We would love to hear how this recipe turns out for you with your substitutions!
If I shred the chicken first would it still need to be baked at the same amount of time?
We have never tried with shredded chicken, so can’t say for sure Keri.
Can jasmine rice be used?
We haven’t tried this recipe with Jasmine rice but other readers have with good results.
I have been afraid to try this kind of recipe because I got super sick after trying rice with ground meat. I figured I would hate this but wanted to try and it turned out so freaking good! I pounded out the chicken so it would all cook evenly but that made it cook faster so it’s a little overcooked. Now I know! I make meals after work for lunch tomorrow and I tried it tonight and I love it. The flavor is so good. I was nervous because I used off brand cream of mushroom but it’s still amazing. This is definitely getting added to my shopping list. If anyone is wondering, I used basmati rice because it’s all I have and love and it is the perfect texture. Thank you so much!!!
Just curious if you think brown rice would work instead of white?
Hi Amanda, we haven’t tried it with brown rice but that may change the cooking time/water ratio!