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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Wondering if I could try this with wild rice?
I would suggest this recipe for chicken and wild rice as the cooking time is different.
I tried your casserole recipe. I gave 5 stars all the way! I did cook the full amount of time. I cooked the casserole for 1 hour and 15 minutes plus the additional 25 minutes. Nice recipe Holly!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
I used success rice will it still work
For this recipe we recommend using long grain white rice instead of an instant rice so I don’t think Success Rice would be a good substitute.
My boyfriend hates chicken and rice but, He LOVED this recipe!!
Thanks for trying our recipe, Ronda! I am glad it worked so well for you and was so loved!
Did not cook. Rice was hard and chicken was worse.
I’m sorry to hear that Brig. Thanks for trying our recipe.
Can you make this with instant white rice?
Hi Taylor, for this recipe we make long grain white rice not instant rice. Enjoy!
This recipe was delicious!! I made a couple modifications (posting for those who are not a fan of bouillon cubes or seasoning packets).
For the onion soup mix packet mixture:
1/4C dried onion flakes
1/4t onion powder
1/4 t parsley flakes
1/8 t celery seed
1/8 t paprika
This seasoning recipe makes a little more than one packet of seasoning (1 packet = 2T) – I dumped it all in, then used chicken broth instead of water to make up for the bouillon cubes I skipped.
Thanks for sharing, Heidi. I am glad you enjoyed it!
I had everything to make this tonight but used my IP. I adjusted the amount of water due to my rice. I layered it in the pot with water, chicken, dry onion soup mix, rice, and cream of mushroom soup. I did add a can of mushrooms. I set it for 20 minutes and it came out great. When the weather gets colder I will bake it in the oven.
This was a very good with a few changes so my rice would be cooked. I cubed my chicken breast and I mixed the chicken, the soup, chicken broth and the rice in a bowl then added to the casserole covered it and baked 1 1/2 hour. Perfection! I will be making this again.
Made this last night. Very delicious! I used the onion mushroom dried soup packet and also added fresh sliced cooked mushrooms at the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Can you use frozen chicken and increase the time to cook
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.
Single, retired want easy healthy meals. Thank you for your recipes
So glad you are enjoying our recipes, Rebecca!
I made this recipe last night and I followed all the ingredients. It was delicious! I will definitely make this again, maybe try it with pork chops next. Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Patty!
Can you use a different cream of X? We dont like mushrooms. Or can we use a broth instead? Planning to make for dinner tonight.
Absolutely, any cream of soup will work in this recipe.
Hi. I add raw carrot pieces with the rice and soup – nothing too big or they won’t cook. Adds nice taste and colour.
Should I cook the chicken first?
No, the chicken is cooked in the dish with the rest of the ingredients.
Has anyone tried making this dish with brown rice? Curious what the ratios and time differences would be. Thanks!
I would not recommend making this recipe with brown rice. If you do use brown rice, I would suggest precooking it partially or completely.
can I substitute chicken broth instead of water
I haven’t tried but that should work well!
I used low sodium chicken broth and it was delicious!! I had an open container of it that I used for a different recipe so I figured “why not”?. Good and easy. Will definitely make this again!
Amazing flavors and easy!
Hi, Does this freeze well?
I haven’t tried it but I do think this would freeze perfectly once cooked.
I only have chicken tenders on hand. Do you think they would work in this recipe?
I have not made the recipe with breast tenders, but other readers have. Let us know if you try it Amanda!
Hello! Will this recipe work with chicken tenderloins?
I have never tried this recipe with chicken tenderloins but other readers have with good results. I would love to hear how it turns out for you!