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.
Like our recipes?
Follow us on Pinterest!
I’ve loved all the recipes I’ve made of yours but won’t be making this one again. So much time for so little flavor. Hubby ate it but mine went into the garbage. Sorry.
Can you use brown rice instead of white?
Hi Rebecca, we haven’t tried it with brown rice but that may change the cooking time/water ratio!
Holly, I’m thinking that if you use flattened boneless, skinless chicken thighs and your super imagination that there’s a brilliant new lasagna hiding using these ingredients paired with your cultured culinary technique for excellence.
I like your idea Brenda; two totally different lasagna layers, one with chicken and mushrooms and one with rice cooked with the onion soup mix and some mirepoix. Mix it with Ricotta, Mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
If I add broccoli or carrots to this Chicken and Rice dish, would they be too mushy after 1.5 hours?
We haven’t tried adding broccoli or carrots Cathy, but other readers have with great success. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Made this meal for my family tonight. I came in from the park called island night and it was perfect. However, I did use chicken thighs instead of breasts and no change to cooking time. It came out great!
Easy and good on its own. I sauteed some fresh sliced mushrooms and served them atop the chicken; sauteed some fresh spinach with EVOO And garlic and served that as a side.
Fresh cracked pepper on the chicken breasts, but no need to add salt if using salted soups and powdered mixes.
Timing was perfect, chicken was tender (I was nervous about over an hour in the oven with skinless chicken breast), and the rice was perfectly done.
What oven temperature please
Hi Roberta, you can find this in step 1 “Preheat oven to 325°F.”. Enjoy!
I really want to try this one but I have onion haters! can you recommend a substitute for onion soup mix?
Others have had success with a packet of gravy mix. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out Linda!
This is great goes on though each step easy love it top marks
Can I use frozen chicken breasts for this recipe?
Hi Ilana, 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.
Can I use minute rice
Hi Bonnie, other readers have made it with minute rice and seem to have good results. I have not tried it with minute rice though and I worry that the rice will become overcooked and mushy before the chicken finishes cooking. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
I made this in the instant pot. Everyone loved it. :)
I’ve made this before and it was amazing! Right now all I have is ground beef, could I brown it up and put it in there instead of chicken?
I don’t see why not! That’s a yummy idea.
I have made this twice and both times the rice was still uncooked. what am I doing wrong? I followed directions exactly.
I’m sorry to hear that Ema. 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.
Dear Holly, Thankyou for responding to my note. I will make my own onion soup mix from your recipe. ( I have all the ingredients!) And try your recipe for chicken and rice again. Thankyou. Sincerely, Mary Lu Chase
Dear Holly, Thankyou for your recipes. I ve been trying new recipes since the pandemic. I made the chicken and rice casserole dish tonite.(4 ingredients) . I only had 2 chicken breasts , so… I used a casserole dish. Everything fit but my rice seemed salty to Steve and I. ( I checked my ingredients and amounts). Did I do something wrong. Please respond and Thankyou. Sincerely, Mary Lu chase
I don’t usually add additional salt to this recipe as we find it to be salty enough. If you find it too salty for your liking, I would suggest low sodium versions of the ingredients or you can try homemade onion soup mix with a low sodium bouillon or homemade condensed mushroom soup. I hope that helps!
This was so good! Perfect comfort food meal.
This was a hit!!! We loved it. Very easy!
I made this with modifications inspired by my moms chicken and green bean casserole. I subbed the rice for a box of uncle bens long grain and wild rice (had to top off with some plain white rice to get a full cup and I didn’t use the seasoning packet from the box in favor of the onion soup mix). I also added 1 can water chestnuts (drained) and fresh cut green beans. The chicken breast I had were a bit thick so I had to cook an additional 15 minutes (increasing temp to 375 for this last few minutes). Once chicken was at 165, I topped with french fried onions and set back in the oven uncovered for 5 min. What a delicious complete meal… even better than moms (shhhhh). Hubby and I loved it and I can’t wait for the leftovers!
I’ve made this with the white rice and loved it. We are trying to eat more healthy now and I’m wondering about how to change this recipe up to use brown rice instead any ideas? Also wondered about using riced cauliflower too. Anyone try that?
Thanks
Hi Moe, we haven’t tried it with brown rice but that may change the cooking time/water ratio! As for the cauliflower rice I haven’t tried using cauliflower rice either, but if you do I’d suggest eliminating most or all of the water. The rice soaks up the water and cauliflower may produce a little bit of liquid as well. I would think you may want to use approximately 3 cups of cauliflower rice. If you try either, please let us know how it works out for you!
This recipe is always Amazing. When I can’t use chicken breasts, I use chicken thighs and its still, soo good!! Thank you, for the recipe too.