Quick & Easy Chicken And Rice Casserole

This Chicken And Rice Casserole is the easiest and most delicious weeknight dinner ever! Rice, chicken, and broccoli all conveniently cooked at the same time in the oven!

What I like the very best about this recipe is that I have my carb, my protein, and my veg all in one dish and I don’t have to think about side dishes and main dishes and extra dishes, dishes, dishes.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Rice – I recommend Jasmin or Basmati for this recipe. Long-grain white rice may take a longer cooking time as the grain tends to be thicker. You may also need more liquid because thicker grain absorbs more liquid.
• Chicken – you can use chicken breast or chicken thighs for this casserole. Both work the same way.
• Broccoli – You can use a variety of different vegetables. Broccoli is delicious in this but so is: mushrooms, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, bell pepper, sugar snap peas, snow peas, etc.
• Lemon zest – lemon zest makes this chicken and rice casserole a super special. You can replace it with lime zest or orange zest but lemon is my favorite. I definitely recommend adding some kind of zest.
• Grated cheese – any cheese that easily melts is good for getting the nice brown crusty cheese on top. Cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, Emmental, Mozzarella, Gouda…..Parmesan gets nice and brown when mixed with another does not meld nicely if alone though. I love mixing mozzarella, swiss, and a little parmesan for best results. The higher up you put your casserole in the oven, closer to the broiler, the nicer it browns and becomes a bit crusty.
• Crème Fraîche – you can replace this with sour cream if crème fraîche isn’t available at your grocery store. It is “almost” the same.
• Onion and garlic – as always important “flavor givers” as I love to call them. Few dishes are really complete without the two. I always recommend fresh because it is more flavorfull than dried. However, if you only have dried on hand you can use 1 tsp dried onion and 1/2 tsp dried garlic.
• Spices – the sky is the limit honestly, I like to keep it simple and add poultry seasoning, sea salt, and pepper.
• Boiling hot broth – big emphasis on BOILING HOT (!). If you add cold or warm broth your rice will take a good hour to bake in the oven. You have to add boiling hot broth so once you add the chicken and rice casserole into the oven it can simmer in there instead of having to get to boiling temperature first and then start simmering/steaming. Any broth works: vegetable, chicken, beef, mushroom, herb. My personal favorite here is chicken.

Do I Cook Rice Before Adding To Casserole Dish?

Short answer: No! Long answer: As long as you add boiling hot liquid and seal your ovenproof casserole dish well, your rice will cook perfectly well in the oven. No need to pre-boil the rice.

Many (the majority) of Chicken and Rice Casserole recipes I’ve seen call for cooked rice and cooked chicken and blanched vegetables. What exactly is the point of making a casserole when you have to cook everything separately? Also….who’s gonna wash all those dishes?

Needless to say, I went into the test kitchen and tried all different methods to make this work. What is the trick to getting perfectly cooked rice in the oven? Hot liquid and sealing. That is the trick. Rice only cooks when the liquid is brought to a boil and then there is little liquid evaporation during simmering on low. Basically, you want to steam it and you can only achieve that by adding boiling liquid in the first place and then sealing the ovenproof dish.

My ovenproof dish is flat on top so I can take a baking sheet, flip it upside down and place it right on top of my dish and thus seal it (see video in the recipe card). If your dish has elevated handles I’m afraid you will have to use aluminum foil. Use a big piece and then tightly seal it all around to make sure no liquid evaporates.

Oh and one important note: All rice grains have to be submerged in the hot liquid or else they won’t cook either. Use a spatula to press down the rice into the liquid.

Can I Cook Raw Chicken In Casserole?

Short answer: Yes! Long answer: Chicken has to be cooked to 165F internal temperature. If you cube your chicken and put it in a 400F preheated oven, it will most definitely cook to that internal temperature within 15-20 minutes.

If you use ice-cold liquid for the rice instead of boiling, neither your rice nor your chicken will cook in 20 minutes. It may take up to an hour in this case.

How Do You Fix Uncooked Rice In Casserole?

If for some weird reason your rice didn’t cook. Maybe because you forgot to press it down into the liquid or your liquid wasn’t hot when you added it, or you didn’t achieve a tight seal with your baking sheet or aluminum foil, don’t worry!

Drizzle 1/4 cup hot liquid well spread out on top of your still cheeseless casserole, this time seal it super-duper extra well, and quickly return it to the hot oven for another 5-10 minutes.

More Chicken and Rice Recipes

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Rice

Slow-Cooker Chicken Curry