This Creamy and Cheesy Chicken and Rice is the ULTIMATE comfort food recipe. Wholesome brown rice, cooked chicken, and lots of cheese all swimming in a decadent, yet healthier sauce. This chicken and rice casserole is one recipe that everyone loves.
I start this recipe with shredded leftover homemade rotisserie chicken and homemade chicken stock, but feel free to speed this meal up with store bought stock and rotisserie chicken.
Do you have a favorite family recipe?
My family’s all time favorite is Creamy and Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole. This chicken and rice casserole is easy, tastes extremely indulgent, and appeals to just about every palate–including children!!
Creamy Cheesy Chicken and Rice
I have to be honest, when I hear Chicken and Rice Casserole, I don’t get overly excited. This recipe is nothing exotic or spicy or fancy.
BUT every single time I make it my family grins ear to ear, and I have NEVER served this chicken and rice bake to ANYONE that didn’t love it.
That is why I am ALWAYS making a double batch and stashing one in the freezer–it cooks up perfectly from the freezer.
And trust me when I tell you Cheesy Chicken and Rice is the meal you should make for anyone who is craving comfort. It always delivers!
How to Make Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Prepare Casserole dish by lightly buttering.
- Melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour, chopped thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute to cook off raw flour taste.
- Slowly whisk in dry white wine (if using) and chicken stock, whisking continuously.
- Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in cheese until melted.
- Stir in cooked rice and chicken.
- Transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Top with additional cheddar cheese, if desired.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.
Gluten Free Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Instead of making a rue with flour and butter, combine 2 Tablespoons cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of the chicken broth together.
- Melt butter in saucepan.
- Add the remaining chicken stock to the melted butter and bring to a simmer.
- Whisk in the cornstarch mixture into the chicken stock.
- Then bring to a boil and simmer until thickened.
- Follow remaining steps as stated.
Tips for Homemade Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Make this casserole faster by stocking your freezer with homemade chicken stock, cooked chicken and even cooked rice. But feel free to use what you have: store-bought chicken stock, leftover rotisserie chicken, or chicken boiled and shredded.
- If you don’t have fresh thyme–do not worry!! It adds an extra layer of flavor that I enjoy, but is completely not necessary. 1 tsp of dried thyme works as well.
- White wine adds a rich depth of flavor to this chicken and rice casserole, but is not necessary, just replace with an additional 1/4 cup of chicken stock.
- If you would like to make Cheesy Chicken and Rice with Broccoli, simply add in 2 cups of chopped steamed broccoli to the casserole before baking.
- The recipe’s nutrition was calculated with the full amount of cheese (3 1/2 cups). I leave the cheese off the top often and it is still delicious. You can even reduce the butter by half and have the wonderful flavor real butter adds to a dish still. If you are dieting and need to watch your fat, save a few calories here and there by following those tips, but this is REAL food.
More Chicken and Rice Recipes
- Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken and Rice
- Mediterranean Chicken and Rice Skillet
- Cheesy Buffalo Chicken and Rice
- Easy 30 Minute Orange Chicken with Rice
Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe
Creamy and Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4 Tbs butter
- 2 Tbs fresh minced garlic
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
- 4 cups steamed brown rice 4 cups AFTER cooking This is 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 1/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup white wine or additional chicken stock
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Top with 1 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese optional
- 1 Tbs fresh chopped thyme optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2 quart or 9x13 baking sheet.
- Melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour, chopped thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute to cook off raw flour taste.
- Slowly pour in wine and chicken broth whisking continuously. Whisk until thick and nearly boiling.
- Stir in cheese until melted then stir in cooked rice and chicken.
- Transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with additional cheddar cheese, if desired, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.
I made this last night. YUMM!!! I served veggies on the side, but my hubby combined them with the dish. Do you think it’d work to mix in veggies with the chicken and rice and bake it?
I had this last night as well 🙂 I had made a large batch awhile ago and pulled a tray from my freezer. After a long day, it was the perfect comforting meal that could just be reheated. LOVE that!!!
We love your recipe and I’ve made it a few times since finding it on pinterest. It is husband and toddler approved. So its a HUGE win in our house. How much additional time did you add when heating it up from the freezer? I would love to make extra for that!
YAY!! Lindsay, I am so glad that you enjoy this so much.
I freeze this all the time. If I take directly from the freezer to oven, I bake covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees and then an additional 30 minutes uncovered.
If I defrost it in the fridge overnight, I typically bake it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, since it is cold.
Thank you for the directions for the frozen tray! This is absolutely delicious! Do you think adding broccoli would work? Or would it get too mushy when re-heated? We made this for 2 of us and split it in a small 2 qt baking dish and the rest in another dish. I kept it in the freezer and popped it in the oven 2 weeks later and it was still delicous! I used chicken breasts in the pressure cooker when I originally made it. So tasty and cuts down on the prep time.
Hi Dave! So glad you enjoyed this! So, as long as you cook your brocolli briefly before adding, you should be able to freeze and reheat. If you don’t first cook the broccoli, it will give off excess moisture to the dish.
The broccoli will NOT be as crisp tender after being reheated, but it should still be tasty!
Hey. I am super excited to try this! Can I use cauliflower rice instead/or mix it in with the brown?
Yay!! Megan, yes absolutely you can use cauliflower rice or half and half
And yes, mixed veggies in it is delicious–that is what I do as well. My kids like it separate, but I like the combined taste. I also do that when I make mac and cheese 🙂
You should try wrapping this cheese chicken rice mixture un ham slices and baking it with cheese on top soooooo good
Oh my does that sound so good Megan!
Yes. I choose green peas & carrots; mixed veggies; classic veggie medley; etc. whatever is your favorite. Serve a salad on the side or not.
I make this all the time. But I just use cream of chicken soup instead of making cream sauce!
Tarah, I hope you try it out without the cream of chicken sometime–it really dosen’t add that much time and tastes a lot better! Let me know what you think!
I agree with the homemade sauce. So much less sodium this way.
I use the cream of chicken soup too!
Would this taste as good with white rice instead?
Julie, this would taste just as good with white rice 🙂 Enjoy!!
I made this tonight! It was amazing, and I used whit rice:) I added a few onions and about 2 TBS of fresh lemon juice and it was so yummy! While family loved it!!
Thanks for sharing Dana! I love when a meal is enjoyed by the entire family! Have a great day!
I tweeked this a little. I used quinoa instead of rice and I added broccoli as well as the chicken and cheese called for, Husband loved it.
Yea!! So glad you liked it and I think quinoa and broccoli are genius in this dish!
THANK YOU!!! I was trying to think what I could use instead of rice. And quinoa is something I can eat. Yea and thanks again.
Oh you bet!! Enjoy!
Do you think you can use coconut oil instead of butter? Would it mess with the fast too much?
Danielle, I love cooking with coconut oil. And while it would work with this recipe, you may be left with a bit of a coconut flavor at the end. If you want to avoid butter, you can use olive oil for the same effect and no flavor change.
Does this freeze well? I want to make one for a family that is going through some rough times but might not be able to get to it rigt away
You bet it does. In fact I have included it on a post where I share the perfect meals to take to those in need: https://amindfullmom.com/3-easy-and-healthy-freezer-friendly-meals/ It has freezer instructions as well!
Oh my lord…I accidently added 1 tbsp of dried thyme instead of fresh! It smells so strong! Hopefully I didn’t ruin it too bad!
Oh dear Lynda–well, dried herbs are MUCH more potent. I hope it turned out okay for you!
I accidentally did this as well! I didn’t do a full tbsp however … I tasted a little beforehand it went in the oven and it was definitely flavorful – not TOO bad , but I plan on adding some veggies at the end to hopefully fill it down a bit ! Haha!
So sorry Kelley–BUT veggies will tame it down a bit 😉
Help!!!! It’s not thick enough should ibadd more flour or will it thicken up!?!?
Brittany, the sauce will thicken more as well when it bakes. Best of luck. If that doesn’t work, in the future, you may need to let the sauce simmer a bit longer to thicken up and be sure your rice is not watery when added to sauce. Hope it works out.
Hi, this looks great. If I add broccoli, would I cook it first? Or mix it into the chicken and rice raw?
Thanks!
I would cook it first-if you put it in the casserole frozen, it may water down the sauce. Enjoy!
I added one cup of butternut squash to this. My family loved it, including my toddler who hates veggies. Thanks for the great recipe that will for sure be a regular in my house.
Carol, this makes me SO happy! I am so glad you loved it. And I am totally going to try adding squash to mine next time as well–great idea 🙂
Quick question do u cook the rice first then put it in the butter flour chicken broth mixture?
Yes. It is 4 cups cooked rice.
How much uncooked rice do I start with?
I use 1 cup dry brown rice and cook in 2 cups water or chicken stock. If using white rice, you may need to start with slightly more rice–1 1/3 cups rice to 2 2/3 cups water.
For the rice, is it 4 cups after cooking it or 4 cups before cooking?
Kelti–it is 4 cups after cooking! Enjoy!
I accidentally cooked it with four cups of uncooked rice. It was a lot of rice… 🙁 You should include that in your tutorial…be sure it’s four cups after cooking, not before!
Lindsey, I am sorry you misunderstood the directions. The recipe calls for “4 cups cooked rice” but I will state it clearly in the directions as well.
Cheesy chicken is so tasty, yum yum.
Thanks Sophia.
Hi I’d like to try this but how much cheese (weight) do you use before it’s shredded ☺️ Here in the Netherlands cheddar is not that common. What kind of cheddar do you use e.g. Mature or some other type?
Petra, I use 16 ounces, which would be about 450 grams of mature, sharp cheddar. Enjoy!
I’m in NL as well and use grated or shredded oudkaas. It has a similar strong flavor. If you have access to MACRO market, they do have block cheddar cheese. Only place I’ve found it 🙂
Thanks so much Kate for helping Petra out!
I literarily just made this for dinner for my mom and I and had some sweet corn on the side and it’s so good! Thanks for the recipe! I’ve been wanting to trying this out for a while now and finally did and turned out so well! Will definitely make it again in the future! Best part is the left overs 🙂
YEA!!! I am so happy you loved it and will be making it again. (And great left-over!!)
Do you cook the chicken first?
Yes!
Making this tonight. I’m so excited! I’m adding sautéed broccoli and a little bit of sautéed onions! I’m super excited to try it after reading all the reviews????
Thank you so much Marissa. I hope you love it!! I love to serve it with a side of broccoli and mix it into the dish myself (my kids like it on the side)
If I use wine, do I reduce the amount of Chicken broth by 1/4 ?
Yes. I hope you enjoy…and using the wine adds so much flavor
I made this last night! I did add some heavy cream, and used less flour. VERY rich, but very good. I also added uncooked broccoli, and it was the perfect texture once it baked and soaked in all the flavors. I think without the broccoli added, I would need a veggie on the side.
Jenn, so glad you liked it. I can imagine with the heavy cream it was very rich, but tasty!! And I always serve lots of veggies on the side 🙂
It looks so good. The kids will love this. Going to make this tomorrow nights supper.
I hope you and your children enjoy this Sandra!
Do you cook and mix everything such as butter, salt/pepper and broth into the man before putting it into the casserole dish????
Sorry I mean pan not man
Yes Briana, as stated in directions. Melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in flour, chopped thyme, salt and pepper then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously. Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in cheese until melted. Stir in rice and chicken and then transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. That allows the sauce to thicken up and coat the rice and chicken well. Enjoy!
Do you think you could add a can of hotel for some extra spice?
Jennie, a can of rotel sounds like a great idea. I may omit 1/4 cup of the chicken stock just to keep the dish from getting too liquidy. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.
Possibly a dumb question but everytime I cook rice I seem to mess it up and it takes 10x longer to cook. So my question is do you cook the rice before adding it with the chicken or does it cook when you bake it in the casserole?
Abby, NEVER a dumb question.
Rice is a very tricky thing to cook right. I start off with 1 cup rice to 1 3/4 cup water. I bring the water to a boil and then mix in the rice. Turn to a medium simmer and then cook for 20-25 minutes for white rice and 45-50 for brown rice.
For this recipe, the rice is pre-cooked. But it can be a little under and turn out okay!
Thank you! I think the time must have been my problem I swear the box always says a lot less time than 45-50 mins.
Happy to help 🙂
Hi!! Can I use minute rice? And if so, should I cook it first? I feel like it would get mushy.
Hi Ashley! Yes, I would still cook the minute rice. I just would cook it maybe more like 4 minutes than 5.
Is there any way this can be adjusted in order to use raw chicken and uncooked rice?
Hmm, Ashley–I have never tried that–but I need to experiment with it for sure. If you want to give it a go, I would suggest, adding an extra cup of chicken stock to the dish (for the rice to absorb) and to lay the chicken on top of the rice mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes at 350. Remove foil and cook additional 10-15 minutes. I am not sure how this will work out, but that is where I would start. Let me know if you give it a try and I will try it too sometime
I was wondering the same thing…..putting in dry rice and raw chicken. I also thought about putting it in the crockpot to cook.
Hi Tammi! I haven’t tried cooking this in the crockpot with raw chicken and dry rice. I think I should experiment with that myself 😉 Because I use brown rice and not instant white rice, I don’t think it would have enough time to cook properly in the oven. I do think there is a chance in the slow cooker-but I have to experiment with that and see if the roux would burn up. As far as raw chicken, go for it! Just be sure to cook chicken until 165 degrees
Can you call this a cream sauce whenthere is no cream in it?
I call it “creamy” because the roux, chicken stock, and cheese make it feel very creamy on your mouth. Feel free to add 1/2 cup cream in place of 1/2 cup chicken stock.
Just made this tonight using the gluten free method. It was great.
Jen, that makes me so happy!! Thank you for sharing!
This is creative!
Thanks Megan.
This looks like comfort food central! Perfect for the chilly days I hope are headed our way soon.
Johanna, This is comfort food! And yes, bring on chilly days!
Wow Kristen this looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it, love rice.
You will LOVE this Rosemary!
How do you cook the chicken? Bake it?
You can bake it, poach it or use leftover Rotisserie chicken. I typically use my roasted chicken recipe https://amindfullmom.com/cooking-basics-roasting-chicken/
I cut it up into cubes and put it in a medium pan on the stove to brown it in some herbs, then I used the same pan for the sauce, extra flavor to the sauce is great! You could bake it though, maybe even left over crock pot chicken….
That sounds incredible. Yes, you can use leftover chicken or baked chicken as well!
Made this exactly as written for the first time tonight and it’s delicious! We do the Feingold diet (no artificial food dyes, preservatives, flavors, etc) and it fit well with my ingredients! My family of four ate almost the entire 9×13 pan. It’s now going into the meal rotation. Thanks for a good wholesome, flavorful meal.
I love hearing that Jennifer. And we eat just like you, so you should be able to find plenty of tasty recipes on my site to include in your diet.
I made this tonight and I think I did something wrong… the sauce turned out too dark and the flavor sort of overpowered the chicken and cheese. Do you have any suggestions? It looks and sounds great, and was super easy to make, so I’m hoping I can try again and get it right!
I am so sorry that this did not work for you Dani. My guess is that you cooked the butter and flour mixture too long–which would make it dark like the roux for like a Gumbo–which you don’t want. Try melting the butter over medium heat, whisking in the flour, and then adding the sauce after 30 seonds. Lowering the heat may help. And cook the liquid just until it comes to a boil. And be sure to use high quality clear chicken stock. Hope those tips help–this is one of our favorite meals.
Tried this again tonight and it was much better! I think my stove is old and gets pretty hot so I kept the heat between medium and low. Thanks for the tips!
All I have is dried garlic. Do you know about how many cloves of garlic equals 2 Tbs?
Natasha, for dried garlic–use one teaspoon. It is much more potent than fres (which fresh would be about 2 cloves)
I’m assuming that you cover this with aluminum foil. Correct?
Actually, no I don’t unless I cook it longer than 30 minutes 🙂
I’ve made this recipe about five times now and I absolutely love it! I love that it uses brown rice instead of white and if you have your chicken and rice prepped ahead of time you can have dinner on the table really fast. I love the fact that there is no cream of “anything” soup in it, and I should also add that I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old who LOVE this and gobble it up. It’s also on my list of meals to freeze as well as to bring to anyone with a new baby who needs a delicious and healthy meal.
I’m an experienced home cook and often change recipes, however, I follow this one very closely. If you wanted to add peas, onion, mushrooms or carrots to this they would probably work really well, but I usually just add frozen peas before baking because I like to keep this as a simple hassle free meal. Otherwise, the measurements are spot on!
On that note when I made it tonight I didn’t have enough cheddar and substituted about half the cheese for shredded fontina and it was really good!
Amanda,
This absolutely made my day! I am so happy you love this recipe so much and have had great success with it. You definitely can add in frozen peas or carrots–but my family prefers their veggies on the side 😉 And fontina cheese–oh yum!!
Thanks for sharing your success with me Amanda. And if you ever want to venture out from this classic–try my Buffalo Chicken and Rice–https://amindfullmom.com/cheesy-buffalo-chicken-and-rice/
Can I substitute vodka for the 1/4 cup of white wine?
Well, I assume that yes, you could. But I would see no value added. The white wine adds flavor–vodka adds no flavor and the alcohol would evaporate. You would be better off to add additional chicken stock in place of the wine.
I missed seeing white wine. Where is that in the recipe??
Amy, Great catch–the recipe had just been updated due to a new back-end blog change and it was left off. It is there now 🙂
THIS WAS SO DELICIOUS!!! MY FIANCE AND I TRIED IT WITH BISCUITS TOO AND IT WAS YUMMY!!! Thank you for this amazing recipe. It’s hard to cook when you have someone very picky!
We did use white rice because we had no brown and we used gouda cheese and grated it because we did not ahve shredded cheese, but all in all, it still turned out great!.
YEA!!! So happy you loved it! And with gouda cheese? Fabulous!
Making this for the second time tonight! Just popped it in the oven:) the first time I made it I didn’t have as much cheddar as I thought so I used mostly mozzarella in the sauce and topped it with cheddar and it was delish! Tonight I’m using all cheddar so I’m excited to have it as the recipe was written. Thanks for sharing such a great comfort food recipe!
Maggy–I am so glad you like it!! You will love this!
Can I start with uncooked chicken?
Amy, Honestly, it is better with cooked chicken. But if you would like to start with raw chicken, dice it into 1 inch chunks and cook the dish for an additional 20 minutes, covered the first 30 minutes.
Hi Kristen! Can you substitute the brown rice for white? I wanted to try this but an out of brown…????
Absolutely Amanda! Enjoy 🙂
This is great for picky eaters, basic ingredients. Very good thank you.
YES!!! I was just telling someone this is a perfect recipe for picky eaters.
This recipe is fabulous. I followed it exactly as stated. I even made two batches: one for the family overall, and one for my daughter who has a milk allergy (I simply substituted shredded Daiya cheddar cheese for regular cheese in hers). Both versions were amazing. It’s the perfect comfort food!!!
Suzanne, that makes me so so happy! I am so glad your family loved this meal. I hope it is a recipe you use over and over again.
This is SO delicious! My husband is picky when it comes to creamy stuff but he raved about this. He’s not a fan of anything creamy. But he really liked this. I even had him help make it. He cooks more than me actually. After reading some of the comments I did some tweaking too: no wine, just a little more chicken stock & no thyme & added 1 cup of broccoli but will at least double it next time. Oh it was so good! Thank you for posting this.
YAY!!! I am so happy you and your family loved this Karen. I really like making this with broccoli too. But my kids prefer their broccoli on the side 🙂
2 tbps of garlic or 2 Tsp???
2 Tablespoon was a bit strong.
I used Tablespoons–but fresh. If you use minced from a jar, it is much stronger. And if you don’t like garlic, cut it back to to 2 teaspoons.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I used cooked mixed quinoa and rice and 2 cups of steamed broccoli and at least 3 cups of cheese. I froze half for later. My husband is very picky and doesn’t like vegetables and he loved this! Thank you so much I’m adding this to our favorites!
YAY!!! Susan this makes me SO happy! I love to make it with quinoa anr rice mixture myself! Take care and come back for more recipes!
This was so good my entire family loved it. It’s gone already, no left overs. I didn’t have enough cheese, only 8 oz. And the only garlic I had was powdered, but that didn’t matter. I look forward to trying some fresh onions and mushrooms for next time, and maybe some hot sauce 🙂 Home run!
Yay!! Glenda, this makes me so happy! My son loves to add hot sauce to his–in fact, you can try my Bufflao Creamy Chicken and Rice version as well https://amindfullmom.com/cheesy-buffalo-chicken-and-rice/
I have not put it in the oven yet but so far it taste yummy! Do I grease the pan before putting the rice mix into the pan? Do I put foil over the pan while in the oven?
I hope my kids love this so I can add this to my double meal plan. I like to cook 2 meals in one night so I can freeze one for a busy or sick day. I wish I had this one after my C-Section. Praying my family of 7 loves this one like I did when I was a kid!
Hi Amy! I so hope your family loves this as much as mine does! It is a great meal to freeze (here are instructions on how to freeze and heat from freezer–https://amindfullmom.com/3-easy-and-healthy-freezer-friendly-meals/
And for cooking now, yes it is best to grease casserole dish (but I often forget–LOL, and it is fine!) And if cooking while warm, leave uncovered. If from fridge, cover for first half so the top won’t dry out before the casserole warms through. Enjoy!
Me and hubby made this tonight and yum! What a blessing from God!
We added bacon bits, a little sour cream, made a butter-ritz crum topping and used prepared white rice.
We like it and have plenty leftover! Next time I may use more rice.
Thanks for the recipe!
God Bless!
YAY!!! So glad you loved it!! And your changes sound yummy.
Thank you for such a great recipe! This gets 5 stars in my book. I used whole wheat flour and I put thawed frozen broccoli spears chopped up on top sprinkled with some more of the cheese and the juice of one fresh lemon on top of the broccoli. I also substituted 1/3 of the cheese with Monterey Jack. Even with substitutions it is hard to get it wrong because of this recipe’s delicious ingredients.
Thank you so so much! I love that you used whole wheat flour and added veggies!
Thank you, made it and will make it again. Loved it and so did my family
YAY!!! Love hearing this!
Oh yum! I love the combination!
YAY! Enjoy!
Hi there! I feel dumb asking this but I’m confused about the rice and how much to cook.
Hi Jennifer! Please don’t EVER feel dumb asking any question. So for the rice, you will want to start with 1 cup dry rice an prepare that as package states. Typically 2 cups of water to 1 cup rice. That will give you 4 cups cooked rice. Hope that helps and you LOVE this!
I’ve made this twice and it is AMAZING!!! My boyfriend begs me to cook it regularly now. Thank you for this recipe! ❤
You are so welcome Kasie! Thank you for letting me know how much you loved it
I accidentally slightly overcooked the brown rice so I didn’t bake it since I was worried it would be straight mush. I instead added more rice, chicken, cheese and added broccoli to make it thicker and absorb the liquids. The taste was great and I will make again. Thanks
Yay!! And what a great idea to not bake it in this case. So glad you enjoyed it!
This was a fail for all 3 of us. The garlic (2TBSP) was way too over powering. I had hopes of being able to eat brown rice- not with this dish unfortunately. The sauce lacked something – maybe it was the over powering garlic. But I didn’t care for the thyme in it. The entire casserole was dumped. So sad too
Oh I hate to hear that, everyone else loves this recipe, so I hate that your family didn’t enjoy it. So sorry.
Love this recipe!!
I have made this as posted several times but I went outside the box a bit last night, I had cooked a whole duck several weeks ago, there was alot of it left, so I throw it all in the freezer till I figured out what I was going to do with it. Yesterday I decided to make this recipe with it. Threw the duck and water in a stock pot and cooked it down, then deboned all the meat. Saving the stock/broth putting it in the fridge so I could scrap off the layer of faT so I could use it instead of the chicken stock/broth. I also used fresh shredded mozzarella cheese, thought that would go better with the duck, but did use 3 blend Mexican blend for the top. Can I say it turned out amazing!!
Thank you SO SO much for sharing Mary! That sounds incredible. I don’t cook much with duck, but my grandmother always made a duck for Christmas. I will have to try this sometime to remind me of her.
All 6 kids loved it! Virtual high five! 😂 Thanks for a great recipe.
All 6 kids?! You my friend deserve a high five!! I am so glad everyone loved it! We do as well 🙂
I had some vegetable pilaf left over from last night, and some cooked spicy chicken cooked this afternoon. I fried the sliced and diced chicken in garlic butter – no, nobody in our family here knows anything about dieting and they are sticking to a traditional real butter and cream diet, instead of starving themselves of proper nourishing nutrition – and, as I do not like thyme, I just added a pinch of seasoning salt to the flour and butter mixture and of course cayenne pepper. After that, I began assembling the layers on the baking tray.
Lowermost layer, rice. Followed by chicken layer. Then a layer of onions and lots of cheese, then rice, then leftover chicken and some bits of chopped ham and bacon which I had fried beforehand in garlic butter, so that I had plenty of bacon lard/garlic butter. Mix, to be used for a little bit of sprinkling here at the last moment and for other future culinary purposes. – I cannot resist ham and bacon, using garlic butter to fry them. Sorry, I do not use canola, because after all, we Army guys used to use the same canola manufactured in a factory and sold as industrial grade oil in the 90s, to lubricate the Frozen vehicle parts In Alaska or in other wintry regions. Until, of course somebody decided, hey, let us sell canola to guys all over the world as an edible oil. Call it vegetable oil, and these people are going to eat anything, as a cooking spray.
So, butter, or clarified butter is the cooking medium or olive oil or coconut oil, or real sesame oil, unrefined.
Well, the last layer of course is of cheese, after I have spread the soup sauce on the different layers. Last sprinkling, white pepper, some Himalayan salt, and just a touch of cayenne – I love cayenne flakes.
This was supposed to last me up to tomorrow afternoon, but I do not think any vestige of it is going to go into the fridge. Having made rice, chicken with white sauce before, and cheese, I know how delicious it is, when taken out of the oven, especially a cold winter’s night!
Bon appetit!
Well thank you for your version of the recipe
Can I make this in the morning and stick in the refrigerator until I cook in the oven before dinner?
Absolutely Ashley! I do that a lot myself. In fact, I will often freeze at that point to have on hand for busy days
Hi, and thank you for the recipe. I modified it a bit:
I parboiled the rice, chopped fresh onions, celery, parsley, rosemary, and thyme and cooked them in 6 tablespoons of butter along with the garlic before making my roux. Then I used a combination of bone broth (for nutrition), chicken broth, and milk (for creaminess). I topped it with the cheese instead of stirring it in.
It was delicious! Very flavorful!
Thank you for sharing your changes Lisa. I LOVE adding fresh herbs and veggies, but the kids not so much! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe
My family (mostly) loved this recipe. I made the gluten free version, but missed the “add to the rest of the soup stock” step (like an idiot) and had to fish out the awful gummy mess I created in the bottom of the pan *eyeroll* But in the end, it really didn’t need the thickener. I also added frozen peas and corn, and used Colby and Mozzarella cheese (the ones I had on hand). The other modification I made was in the soup – when I took my soup out of the fridge it was growing mold so I couldn’t use it, but I wanted to try this recipe so I made it with water. The end result was perfect consistency, but a little bland. My son loved it, as bland as it was. My daughter and I needed a bit of salt to round out the dish. I can’t wait to make it again with non-moldy soup, I’m betting it will be amazing.
Oh Jennie–it sounds like you had quite the time making this recipe! I have been there before. And you are right–the stock will make this SO much more flavorful. I hope you try it soon 🙂
My daughters favorite meal is chicken and rice. My mother in law makes it for her and she loves it and I really wanted to learn how to make a good dish for her. I’m an amateur when it comes to cooking and I was a little intimidated by this recipe, but I am so glad I decided to make it! I didn’t have thyme on hand but I used basil and it came out great anyway! I am definitely saving this recipe. It’s AMAZING.
Oh Sierra, I am so happy you gave this recipe a go for your daughter! I hope that you will be make it time and time again!
This was surprisingly wonderful! I was worried it would be too “kid food” for everyone to enjoy, but we all did. I opted use white rice and to include the 2 cups of gently steamed broccoli and reduced the butter as suggested. I used a mix of cheeses based on what I had and it was very forgiving. I do think the chicken, rice, and broccoli need to be tossed together in a large mixing bowl THEN add the cheese sauce, but that’s a minor issue.
Oh Mary I am SO glad you enjoyed this recipe. And like I say in the recipe, nothing about this recipe on paper excites me, but one bite and I LOVE it myself. And great tip to toss the chicken with rice together before adding the sauce. Have a fabulous night!
Made this for dinner tonight! Sooo delicious! The homemade cream of chicken sauce is definitely going into my book for future recipes. So much better than canned! I do think I’ll try white rice and a crunchy crust on top next time though. Thanks for this recipe!
I love that you enjoyed this recipe so much Ashley! (And a crunchy topping is a great idea!!)
Love this recipe! Do you ever save the remaining liquid and use it? Such a great flavor with the pineapple juice.
Hey Casey! Did you mean to ask if I save the pineapple juice from my Instant Pot Chicken Breast recipe? I do use that liquid to make BBQ sauce or in a stir fry–so good!
Hi! I was wondering if instead of cooking it in the oven could it be put into a slow cooker instead? Have an office lunch and wanted to bring this and figured it would be easier to bring in a slow cooker than try and find a way to warm it up. Thanks for any tips!
Hi Ashleigh! This recipe should work in slow cooker. Be sure to prepare as directed up to making and pour into greased slow cooker. The casserole dish may be a bit more loose than if baked, but still tasty! Cook on low for 4-5 hours and enjoy!
Thanks! Will be trying it this weekend.
Let us know how the slow cooker version turns out!
Just wondering if i could use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast?
Absolutely! Cooked chicken thighs can be substituted with no issues.
I’m making this tonight! Looks so good and I love the homemade sauce!
I hope you enjoy!
Hi I just found your blog and this recipe and I am so excited to give it a try. I do have one question – I’ve never frozen a meal before but I love the idea of making a double batch and freezing one. Do you bake it first and then freeze or just assemble and freeze?
many thanks!
Hi Tammy! So glad you found me and this recipe. For this chicken and rice casserole, you can freeze before baking since everything is precooked. Enjoy!!
Very tasty. I used a store bought rotisserie chicken, and it added some extra flavor. Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow or later on tonight. (:
I am so glad you enjoyed Katie! I use my homemade rotisserie chicken often for that added flavor as well.
Wow!!!!! Full of flavor! I first questioned the workload, but it ended up being super easy and the reward was worth it! A simple childhood recipe made in to something even BETTER! Eating last night’s leftovers as I type this… will absolutely make again- a huge hit, and very budget friendly!
It isn’t my quickest recipe…that is for sure.😉 Glad you found the effort and time worth the end result
Loved it! I cook a lot and my family said this is the best chicken and rice dish I’ve ever made. Super easy too!
That makes me so happy Corrie! Thank you for sharing that.