This chicken and rice casserole recipe is a one pan meal that’s full of tender chicken and creamy rice, all baked together to golden brown perfection. A classic dinner that the whole family will enjoy.
Casserole recipes always hit the spot, and my family enjoys favorites such as pierogi casserole, King Ranch chicken, chicken enchilada casserole, beef noodle casserole and this creamy chicken and rice dish.
This easy chicken and rice casserole is actually a family recipe that comes from my mother-in-law. It was my husband’s favorite dish growing up, and his mom always made it for company. It’s pretty old school with the canned soups, but sometimes you just need a little classic comfort food, and this casserole definitely fits the bill. How can you go wrong with tender chicken and rice in creamy sauce?
Table of Contents
Chicken And Rice Casserole Ingredients
This dish is made with simple ingredients that are easy to find in any grocery store.
- Chicken Pieces: I find this recipe works best with bone-in, skin-on chicken such as drumsticks and/or chicken thighs. You can also use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Boneless chicken does not work as well, as it may dry out before the rice is done cooking.
- Rice: This recipe calls for long grain white rice. It will not set properly with minute rice. If you choose to use brown rice, you’ll need to add more water and possibly increase the cooking time.
- Cream Soup: I use cream of chicken, cream of celery and cream of mushroom soups for maximum flavor. It is ok to use low sodium or light versions of the cream soups. You can also just use one or two types of soup if that’s what you have on hand, so long as it still amounts to three cans.
- Water: This ingredient is to hydrate the rice. I do not recommend substituting chicken broth because you could end up with an overly salty casserole.
- Butter: I add butter to this dish to give it a little richness, it also helps to ensure the chicken will brown nicely.
- Seasonings: The chicken is seasoned with a blend of salt, pepper and paprika.
- Parsley: A little fresh chopped parsley adds extra flavor and a bright color to this dish.
How Do You Make Chicken And Rice Casserole?
Place the rice, water and cans of soup in a casserole dish and stir to combine. Add the chicken pieces on top of the rice, and season the chicken with butter, salt, pepper and paprika. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Uncover and bake a little longer until the rice is tender and the chicken is browned. If you prefer chicken with a crispy skin, you can broil the casserole for a few more minutes. Add a sprinkle of parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- It’s important to use bone-in, skin-on chicken for the best results. Boneless skinless chicken can get dry during the longer cooking time.
- This dish can be assembled up to 4 hours before you plan to bake it. Store it covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to put it in the oven.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I do not recommend freezing this dish as the rice will change texture when it’s thawed.
- Serve your casserole with a veggie or a salad on the side. Some of my favorites include mandarin orange salad, asparagus salad, mustard greens, sautéed mushrooms and onions and fennel salad.
Quick Tip
Cream soups contain plenty of sodium, so add extra salt to this dish sparingly!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can cook raw chicken and rice together. This is best achieved in casserole form, so that the two can cook together in the even heat of the oven, and be done at approximately the same time.
Generally speaking, a chicken casserole will bake at 350 degrees F. For this particular recipe, after the initial baking time, the temperature is increased to 400 degrees F to give the chicken a chance to brown.
In this casserole, the cream soups add all the flavor to the rice. Generally speaking, when making rice, you can amp up the flavor with additions such as broth, sauteed onions, fresh herbs or minced garlic.
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Chicken And Rice Casserole Flavor Variations
You can add other flavors into this dish to make it your own, I often add other ingredients that I have on hand to spice things up a bit.
- Vegetables: Add 1 cup of vegetables such as sliced mushrooms, green beans, carrots or broccoli to the dish before it goes into the oven.
- Cheese: Sprinkle 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese over the top during the last 10 minutes of the baking time.
- Herbs: Add extra flavor with additional varieties of herbs such as thyme, dill, green onions or fresh basil.
My husband is thrilled that our kids love this casserole as much as he does. Add a green veggie on the side and you’ve got an easy dinner for those times when nothing will do except comfort food!
More Great Chicken Recipes
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Chicken And rice casserole video
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Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in skin-on chicken pieces such as legs, thighs or drumsticks
- 2 cups white rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon paprika regular or smoked paprika
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9″x13″ baking pan with cooking spray.
- Add the rice, water, and 3 cans of soup to the pan. Stir to combine.
- Place the chicken pieces on top of the rice mixture. Drizzle the butter over the chicken and rice.
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika.
- Cover with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.
- Uncover and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed and chicken is browned. If you like extra crispy chicken skin, broil the casserole for 3-5 minutes after it's done baking.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Notes
- It’s important to use bone-in, skin-on chicken for the best results. Boneless skinless chicken can get dry during the longer cooking time.
- This dish can be assembled up to 4 hours before you plan to bake it. Store it covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to put it in the oven.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Can you use chicken broth instead of water?
You can but there's a possibility that the end dish could be overly salty from the broth.
Got the message about the rice a roni w/seasoning that it might be too salty, what about just using the rice from the package? Also, I am only making 4 chicken legs and would like to cook in an 8X8 pan (it's just my husband and I) How would you cut the ingredients down for this small of casserole?
Can I use a box of Rice a Roni that comes with seasoning package instead of long grain rice?
I think that would come out way too salty with the cream soups!
We are trying this recipe tonight and we are going to use yellow rice instead of white, will let you know how it turns out
So just to be clear, nothing is precooked, correct. Throw uncooked rice and uncooked chicken with 3 cans of soup and put it in the oven?
Yes that is correct!
If I use boneless skinless breats, (that's what I have on hand) do u think I should cook the chicken first then add and cook for the hour for the rice to be done? Or should it be ok if its raw in there and the rice be fully cooked and the breasts not be overly dry?
I'd cook the chicken in the rice mixture so that it doesn't dry out!
I have been making this for years. I use minute rice, never been mushy. I use thighs , boneless. I just prefer them. I cook rice first then put in casserole dish. Cuts way down on cooking time. And brown chicken in skillet. Just 2 minutes each side.
Made this week with boneless chicken thighs. Turned out great.
Can minute rice be used in this recipe?
No, it would be mushy at the end of the cook time!
I liked it alot my husband and father in law enjoyed it. We were thinking maybe making it boneless chicken.
Have you got to use the celery soup or is there an alternative
You can use any flavor of cream soup!
can you use jasime rice?
Yes that works!
I am trying this today.the dish looks good
Can I freeze it uncooked or should I cook and then freeze?
I would freeze it after it's been cooked.
If you add broccoli when would you add it and would it be raw or cooked?
I'd stir in steamed broccoli during the last 10 minutes of the cooking time!
5 minutes rice works great as well. It's the only rice I use now. It gets ready faster.
Can you use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of the bone in chicken?
Yes that's fine!
Could this be done in the crock pot with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
I haven't tried it before, I'd be concerned that the rice would get mushy!
Did you use quick rice or long gran rice?
Uncooked long grain rice!
Iβve cooked it 1 1/2 hours. The rice is not done, will it finish cooking the last 20-30 minutes? I used uncooked long grain rice.
It should cook through completely by the end!
Is there a reason you have to use bone in, skin on thighs, legs or drumsticks? Never use any chicken other than skinless breasts. What changes would I need to make?
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are much more likely to dry out in this dish, but you can try it if you want!
The skin and bones actually add a lot of flavor to the dish. And longer cook time gives the rice the time it needs to cook thoroughly. You can always remove the skin and bones and shred or chop the chicken after it's cooked, then mix back into the rice. I brown the chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet before I put them in the rice, just 2 minutes or so on each side.