Creamy and Cheesy Chicken and Rice: The ULTIMATE comfort food recipe. Wholesome brown rice, cooked chicken, and lots of cheese all swimming in a decadent, yet healthier sauce. This is a dish that everyone loves.
Do you have a favorite family recipe?
My family’s all time favorite is Creamy and Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole. It is easy, tastes extremely indulgent, and appeals to just about every palate–including children!!
It is actually quite funny, because to me, this dish dosen’t wow my tastebuds. It is nothing exoctic or spicy or fancy.
BUT every single time I make it my family grins ear to ear, and I have NEVER served it 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 if you have to take a meal to someone’s house, THIS IS THE MEAL that you need to take. It will always be well recieved and very much appreciated.
Creamy Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Even though this dish is not in my 3 favorite recipes (which happen to be Buffalo Chicken Salad with Oven Baked Fries, Sweet Potato Black Bean Nachos, and Tortellini Broth Bowl) I do crave this dish quite often. And it is pure comfort to me–almost like a big hug from Mom.
And like I said, my family BEGS for this dish. You should hear the screams at my house when I announce Creamy Cheesy Chicken and Rice is on the menu. I feel like a ROCK STAR!!
Pretty sure YOU will be a rock star too if you make this dish!
Want more family-approved CLEAN EATING meals? Sign up for my e-mail subscription to get a FREE Weekly Meal Plan–yes FREE I am doing the work for you!
Tips for Homemade Chicken and Rice Casserole:
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- Make this recipe GLUTEN FREE by combining 2 Tablespoons cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of the chicken broth together and mixing that mixture with remaining chicken broth. Add that to the melted butter, leaving the flour out of the recipe. Then bring to a boil and simmer until thickened. Follow remaining steps as stated.
- Make this 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.
- If you really want to amp up the flavor, add 1/4 cup dry white wine to flour and butter mixture and boil for 1-2 minutes before adding chicken broth. Yummy!
- 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.
You can also remake this comfort food with a bit of spice and make it feel a bit more adventerous by making Buffalo Chicken Creamy Chicken and Rice.
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
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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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 wine and chicken broth whisking continuously. Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in cheese until melted. Stir in cooked rice and chicken and then 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. Serve.
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.
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 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 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!
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: http://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!
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
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 http://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–http://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 http://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–http://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!