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.
Any idea how to convert this recipe to for an Instant Pot?
Here is the Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe!
Hi! I’m going to try this tonight , but I’m trying it without meat added . Just the rice and everything else. Do you think it will work?
For sure it will work! Enjoy!
Couldn’t be easier. I wanted to make my own soup mix but didn’t have dried onions, so I used onions I cooked and added the other ingredients. Such a small amount of effort for big flavor. I will make this again. I will be adding to this recipe as it is very versatile. I served with fresh asparagus and had a complete delicious meal. BRAVO Holly.
I’m so glad you loved it Peggy!
This is soooooo easy. It’s also so delicious, my 2 year old is eating it and saying “yummy” after every bite!
Can you cook and then freeze and then reheat?
If yes…how long and what temp do you suggest for reheating (once it has thawed)?
Thinking of bringing this to a family in need of easy to prep meals.
Thanks
I haven’t tried freezing this recipe however rice casseroles generally tend to take about an additional 40-50 minutes. I usually cook them covered to keep them from drying out.
Can I suggest putting the 1 1/2 cup water in the list of ingredients? We made this recipe without adding the water. Ummmm, didn’t turn out. It’s our fault that we didn’t read the directions clearly, but might help if it was added to the ingredients.
Great suggestion, thank you Dawn. I’ve updated the recipe.
This was amazing. I used long grain brown rice and cream of chicken instead of mushroom. I will definitely make this again, but I think I’ll add 1/4 cup more of water and cook a tad longer to make sure the rice is completely cooked. Otherwise…Great recipe! Thanks!
I hated it. I made a mistake of useing dark meat when I do not like dark meat and the rice was dry. somehow i di dnot have enough liquid. Too mee it was too much if that muschroom/onion soup mix flavor. I proably would have liked it if I used chicken soup. I make a neural star review for not liking it is half my fault
I wanted to make something tonight that was quick and I that I already had all the ingredients at home. So, I stumble across your recipe. My family loves chicken and rice. I noticed people asking about the type of rice to use; however, I guess I am the only one that has tried it with minute rice. So, just fyi, Minute Rice comes out perfectly! I also used chicken thighs. It was juicy and delicious! I served this with a side of sauteed zucchini.
I am so glad you enjoyed this easy recipe!
i have been scrolling through all the comments looking to see if anyone had tried this with minute rice as it’s what I have on hand. I was on my way to giving up and seen this! Thank you so much for mentioning this Felicia! I hope it turns out for me as it sounds like it was a hit for you! Also wondering Holly, I have bone in chicken thighs….would I have to change anything in this recipe if I’m using them? Tia
Chicken thighs have worked well for other readers. Sounds like there is no need to change anything. Enjoy, Vanessa!
Wow….this was DELICIOUS. I did everything except I used cream of chicken soup as we don’t like mushrooms at all. I used white rice (it was the long grain white Premium that cooks in 5 minutes) and I checked it at one hour. It was perfect. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!!!!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Thank you so much for this perfect recipe! I searched many and decided on this one and I am so happy I did!! I am now a follower and am excited to try your other recipes. I followed the recipe exactly as submitted! Delicious! It would not allow me to mark the 5th star for this 5 star recipe.
I’m so glad you loved it Tammy! :) Thank you for the review (and for letting me know, I’ll have my tech person look at it to see if we can figure out why you couldn’t get all of the stars in),
Was really good but next time I won’t pour the rice over the chicken because some did not cook. I used dark meat and was delicious!
I am not sure what I did or didn’t do. I made this for dinner and it turned out awful. I had to throw it away. It was like it didn’t have enough liquid. The rice was crunchy and had dry spots in the casserole. I love easy casseroles, just wanted to see if this happened to anyone else or suggestions to make it work.
How disappointing! I’ve made this so many times and it always turns out great. Did you add the 1½ cups of water? What type of rice did you use?
When I saw this recipe I thought way to easy! But made it and oh such a great tasting meal!!!
I dusted the chicken liberally with a low salt Cajun seasoning, too, it was yummy……..
I used brown rice, had to give it an extra 20 minutes for the rice to fluff up. It was still hard at 1:15:00
If you use cauliflower rice how much should you use. Would the seasonings be the same? Could you give options for the cauliflower version in your other recipes please?
I haven’t tried it 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 use cauliflower rice, please let us know how it works out for you!
This is so so good. I used cream of chicken soup the first time I made this and it was great. Even picky son like it. Have also made it using cream of mushroom soup and the beefy onion soup mix and it was also good. I do use only brown rice though and it was done to perfection with the amount of water and time recommended to bake it. Thanks for this recipe, it will be a staple for us now.
How much would I need for 25 people
This recipe is for 4 servings. You’d need 6 recipes plus one extra chicken breast. Enjoy Lisa!
I made this for the first time and it was absolutely wonderful. I will definitely make it again
I’m so glad you loved it Lori!