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 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 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.
Have you ever used condensed cream of chicken soup in place of cream of mushroom? I am trying to work with what I got so I’m gonna give it a shot.
Cream of chicken would work just fine in this recipe.
Can I use boneless, skinless thighs instead of breasts?
Absolutely, Amanda!
Would it change the baking time?
This dish is absolutely delicious, not to mention easy-peasy on those days after work and my back is thumping!
Thanks again, Holly for another winner!!
I’ve been making this for years. Only primary difference is I mix the soup mix, the rice, the mushroom soup, and the water together first. I layer the pan with bacon, and then I put the chicken on top. And for the rice soup mixture over the top of it that ensures all the rice gets cooked thoroughly, and the spices are spread throughout.
That sounds delicious, thanks for sharing, Gemini!
“I mix the soup mix, the rice, the mushroom soup, and the water together first.” What a good idea. I’ve been reading all these comments and feel as it the type of rice used is fairly important. I think I will try using Jasmine rice (15 min) and try this dish in a slow cooker. (4 hours?)
I also might saute some onion and portabello mushrooms in a bit of olive oil and put that in about an hour before the chicken is done. I’ll get back to y’ll about how it works out!
This has been in our rotation for months! My husband loves it. My version: exactly the same. Except, I heat up some chopped onion & minced garlic in a pan and put it in the bottom of the dish first. Then, I coat the chicken in Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning & a bit of creole. Adds a bit of a kick but still so delicious!
excellent recipes
Good dish, has anyone tried this with rice pilaf?
The flavor is there. Yet the chicken is overcooked and the rice is undercooked.
You are simple and talented.
I plan to use your sprouts plan.
It seems to need more flavoring. The rice should go on before the chicken so the rice is tender when the chicken is done. What is the green that is sprinkled on the dish after it’s removed from the oven?
I add a bit of parsley for garnish.
we enjoyed the flavor but must have messed something up. with pouring the rice on the chicken some never got touched by the liquid so some of the rice was uncooked. If I were to make it again I’d add the chicken to the pan last and bury it into the rice/soup mixture
Yep, made the same mistake, even though I added additional liquid to cover it all.
This was horrible. Rice was crunchy after cooking for 1 hour and 30 min. Put it back in the oven for another 15 min and it was still crunchy. Chicken became dry because it was overcooked. I checked with a meat probe and the chicken breasts were 180 degrees. No bueno.
No good, indeed! We appreciate you trying our recipe, I am sorry it didn’t work as expected for you.
Fast and easy! Kids loved it too!! I will make again ! Thank you
Can I make this with frozen chicken breasts?
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.
Great recipe. I cook it at 350 or 375 and add things like butter on top and always use organic mushroom soup. Making her homeade onion soup mix adds a special touch.
I like basmati rice from India to use
could I double the recipe and still use a 13×9 pan?
If doubling this recipe I would recommend preparing in two separate dishes to ensure it fully cooks.
I tried this recipe and needed twice the amount of water and it took over 2 hours to cook. The flavor is OK but I added garlic salt and a little bit of heat with cayenne pepper. I recommend using precooked rice so that the recipe cook faster and actually cooks the rice evenly.
This recipe is flawed. It requires more liquid and I didn’t cook the whole hour and 15.
This is delicious and easy! I only had chicken tenderloins (1.5 pounds) and brown rice and it turned out great! I mixed everything up and then poured over the chicken. Can’t go wrong with this recipe!
Can this 4 ingredient chicken and rice casserole recipe be used with 6 breasts instead of 4 and use same amount of other ingredients?
We have only made this recipe as listed, Theresa. But I would be concerned that there wouldn’t be enough liquid for 6 chicken breasts, resulting in dry chicken breasts.