This Creamy Cheesy Chicken and Rice is the ULTIMATE comfort food recipe. A rich cheesy sauce, coats wholesome brown rice and tender chicken. 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.
Creamy Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Do you have a favorite family recipe?
My family’s all time favorite is Creamy Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole. It is a simple chicken and rice casserole that is easy to make, tastes extremely indulgent, and appeals to just about every palate–including children!!
Every single time I make this chicken and rice casserole, my family grins ear to ear! In fact, I have NEVER served this casserole to ANYONE who didn’t love it. Truly, what is not to love? Tender chicken and rice are swimming in a rich, cheesy sauce. It is absolute comfort food!
Notes and Substitutions on Ingredients
- Chicken: Use pre-cooked chicken. This is a great time to use leftover Rotisserie Chicken, Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken, or Instant Pot Shredded Chicken.
- Chicken Stock: Use homemade chicken stock or store-bought stock. Low sodium is best to control the sodium content.
- White Wine: I love adding white wine to elevate the sauce, but it is completely optional. Feel free to use additional chicken stock in its place. If using wine, use a dry white wine such as chardonnay or pinot grigio.
- Herbs: I add in fresh thyme and garlic to really season this sauce. Both are optional and can be omitted for a more basic chicken and rice casserole.
- Cheese: I recommend shredded Colby or Cheddar cheese for the most flavor impact in this recipe.
- Rice: Use cooked white or brown rice. Whatever your family likes! You will need 4 cups of cooked rice, which is equivalent to about 1 cup of uncooked rice.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Casserole
This is a super simple chicken and rice casserole to prepare. Especially if you have leftover chicken and rice to start with.
Step One: Prepare the Sauce
This cheesy sauce starts with a roux. A roux is just a fancy term for a mixture of equal parts fat and flour and is used to thicken up sauces. It is as simple as melting the butter in a saucepan and whisking in flour. My tip is to always cook the roux for 1 minute to cook off raw flour taste, before adding in additional liquid.
Once the roux is made, whisk in wine and stock, seasonings and simmer until thickened.
Step Two: Prepare the Casserole
Mix in the cooked rice and chicken into the cheese sauce and then transfer to a buttered casserole dish. Top with additional cheese and bake until the cheese is melted through.
Variations on Cheesy Chicken and Rice
- Gluten-Free Chicken and Rice Casserole: If you need this to be gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour.
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice with Broccoli: Add in 2 cups of chopped steamed broccoli to the casserole before baking.
- Buffalo Chicken and Rice Casserole: Omit the thyme, white wine, and minced garlic from the recipe. Stir in 1/2 cup bleu cheese or ranch dressing, 1/3 cup hot sauce, 1 teaspoon paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder into the cheese sauce along with the rice and chicken. Bake as directed.
- Lower Fat: To keep this recipe a bit on the lighter side, reduce the amount of cheese in half.
To Prepare in Advance
This chicken casserole is a great one to stock in your freezer. It bakes up perfectly from frozen, making it perfect to pop on a busy night or to take to a friend in need of a meal.
To prepare this casserole in advance, prepare up to baking. Cover tightly with 2 layers of foil. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months.
- To bake from the fridge, remove casserole from the fridge and remove 1 layer of foil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, letting the casserole sit on the counter while the oven preheats. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until warmed through.
- To bake from the freezer, remove casserole from freeze and remove 1 layer of foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes covered and then uncovered for 15 additional minutes.
More Chicken and Rice Recipes
- Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken and Rice
- Mediterranean Chicken and Rice Skillet
- Homemade Orange Chicken
- Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
Creamy and Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4 Tbs butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme optional
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
- 1/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour
- 1/4 cup white wine or additional chicken stock
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
- 4 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
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.
- Reduce heat to medium low and then stir in 2 cups of cheese until melted. Turn off heat and stir in cooked rice and chicken.
- Transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with remaining cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- 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. You can substitute 1 teaspoon 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.
- This recipe has a lot of added garlic, feel free to cut the amount in half, if you are sensitive to high amounts of garlic.
- Store leftover chicken and rice casserole in covered container for up 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
This recipe was the very first recipe published on my blog in February 2014. The pictures and recipe remain the same, but the post has been updated with tips, variations, and a new video in January of 2020.
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!
Wow Kristen this looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it, love rice.
You will LOVE this Rosemary!
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!
This is creative!
Thanks Megan.
Just made this tonight using the gluten free method. It was great.
Jen, that makes me so happy!! Thank you for sharing!
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.
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
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.
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 🙂
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.
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!
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!
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 🙂
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
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)