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
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.
What did you cover with?
I covered it with foil.
I just got out on my own and am (at best) a remedial cook here so I have a few questions.
1. I don’t particularly care for mushrooms, are there any good substitutes for the cream of mushroom soup?
2. How large of a package of onion soup mix?
3. What’s a good way to tell when it’s done? Should I buy a food thermometer?
4. I was thinking of paring this with some grain muffins, but I only have one oven (two racks in the oven though) and the muffins cook at 350F, would it be possible to raise the temperature for the last 10 minutes, or could I do the muffins at 325F (they are a box mix I got for free when the school cafeteria was cleaning their stuff out)?
5. I enjoy spicy food, would chili powder be a good addition to make this spicy?
6. Cover with foil, right?
Thanks in advance! Working to expand my cooking abilities.
1. Cream of “anything” should work just fine in this recipe.
2. I use a 2oz packet.
3. You can certainly purchase a food thermometer if you’d like however boneless chicken breast should be plenty cooked in the time given. You’ll want to ensure the chicken is white (and not pink) throughout.
4. Yes, this should work ok if you alter the temperature for the last few minutes. You could also remove it from the oven and leave it covered while you bake your muffins.
5. I think chili flakes would be a great addition or you could add a little bit of hot sauce once served.
6. Yes, cover tightly with foil.
7. ENJOY!! :)
Do you think I can freeze this for a few days before using?
Yes, it can be frozen!
This was delicious!! I used the thinner chicken breasts and I cooked it at 375 for about 45 min. Turned out perfect!!!
The chicken and rice casserole looks delicious, but what’s the ingredient you put on top of the rice, before adding the mushroom soup? It is cashews? Whatever it is, it’s not mentioned in the printed version.
I made this recipe in the 1960’s/70’s and my family always loved it. It was originally developed by Campbell’s soups.
However, there is a major difference between your recipe and Campbell’s: their recipe called for the rice to be mixed with the mushroom soup and water, and spread on the bottom of the pan. The chicken was placed on top and the onion soup mix sprinkled over it. I modified the recipe to mix both soups and water together, reserving some to pour over the chicken. Most of the soups/water mixture was mixed into the rice first, I think the rice needs to be on the bottom if you want to ensure that the rice gets fully done. This way, how tightly it is covered is less important.
Also, I cannot imagine that adding 2 more pieces of chicken would add anything more to the cooking time in a standard oven. Go for it!
I grew up with the onion soup mix sprinkled over the top of everything else. Try it sometime.
Could i add some frozen broccoli florets to this?
That would be a delicious addition!
Can you use creamy potato with bacon& cheese soup in this recipe
Hi Denise, I have only prepared this recipe as written, but your idea sounds delicious. Let me know how it turns out.
I have been wanting to make this for a while finally made it .This recipe is delicious rice came out fully cooked the chicken breast was very moist the onion soup seasoning with the cream of mushroom soup gave the whole dish an amazing flavor was a hit with my kids will definitely be making this again
I am so glad you liked the recipe Michelle!
Could you use brown rice in this instead of white rice?
I just made the rice and chicken. I used to make this with my children were little. The only thing I have done different than a few things I added a small can of mushrooms drained and mixed everything together including half a package of onion soup. Put the chicken on top of the mixture and sprinkle with the rest of the onion soup covered it with tinfoil it in the oven can’t wait to see how it comes out
Me and my brother share a household and we thoroughly enjoyed this recipe. It was so easy to prep and took almost no effort. Although it tasted like I spent all day on it. Only slight change was I used the broccoli cream of mushroom. Thank you very much for the recipe!
I am so glad you and your brother enjoyed the recipe. Crea of broccoli soup sounds like a great substitution!!
For chicken Rice Casserole can i use brown rice?
Hi Tina,
You can!
I used what I had in my stock. I substituted chicken thighs for the chicken breast. I used Uncle Bens Long Grain Rice, Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic, Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Recipe came out awesome. Not to mention very easy to make.
Does the chicken have to be thawed or can it be frozen?
I have only cooked this with thawed chicken.
I am not a fan of chicken breast because they seem to dry out in a lot of the recipes that I have tried. Could this be made with boneless thighs?
Hi Tony,
A reader commented earlier that she used thighs and it was great!
Recipe says cover- Cover with foil?
Good Afternoon!
This sounds delicious! Wondering if I can do chicken thighs?
You didn’t specify, boneless or bone-in chicken? Which is better?
I prefer boneless pieces, but either should work.
Hi! Do you use aluminum foil to cover this recipe? Making it tonight! Thanks!
Yes, aluminum foil is perfect!
Are you suppose to cook your chicken first?
This recipe uses uncooked chicken breasts Nancy. Enjoy!
Is there anything you could replace the onion soup mix for? My family really doesn’t care for onions! Thank you!
I have a friend who is in the same situation as you! She still uses the onion soup mix, however she omits the onion flakes by pouring the onion soup mix packet through a sieve first. This still adds the flavour without the actual onions. Let me know if this works for your family.
I didn’t have gravy or onion soup mix on hand so i sprinkled the chicken with some cheesy potato soup base.