Chicken Rice Casserole makes for a crowd-pleasing dinner that comes together in under 5 minutes of prep time.
Made with only 4 ingredients, this dish has juicy chicken breasts and tender rice in a deliciously creamy sauce. This is a casserole that meal packs a lot of flavor in a filling one dish dinner and a meal that everyone will love!
Enjoy!
There is nothing like Chicken Rice Casserole for dinner. This dish is deliciously easy, creamy and totally satisfying and you’ll never believe it needs just 4 ingredients!
This is a special dish because the recipe comes from my BFF, Penny and she’s been making this for years. It’s her go-to, must have, favorite easy weeknight meal that I just had to try.
I have to admit, when I first made it I knew it would be tasty but… I had NO idea what I was in for and it’d definitely become a regular in our rotation!
This easy dish comes together in under 5 minutes, it’s one of the quickest dinner preps on my whole site (along with One Pot Pizza Tortellini Bake).
This dish is belly warming and comforting while being simple and easy to make, it’s like serving a nice warm hug from your Mom!
The chicken comes out incredibly tender and juicy, the rice is perfectly cooked in a rich and creamy sauce and the whole thing is loaded with flavor!
This easy Chicken Rice Casserole takes about an hour to bake (depending on your oven, you may need a few extra minutes but for me it’s about an hour), but that is one of the things that make it kind of the perfect dish.
We’ve made this just as written over and over but I’ve also added a little bit of onion to the bottom of the pan or a couple of handfuls of fresh mushrooms.
With very little minimal prep time, you can slide this casserole into the oven and relax, or maybe help with homework without feeling the usual dinner time rush!
5 minutes of work, and then perhaps a glass of wine or read your book for an hour? I feel like that’s a good idea for ALL weeknights!
I use homemade onion soup mix in this recipe, but you can use the kind in the envelope if you haven’t had a chance to mix up a batch yet. The flavor will be amazing either way!
My friend Penny also said she sometimes replaces the onion soup mix with a packet of gravy mix depending on what she has on hand!
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, this makes for a delicious lunch the following day.
4 Ingredient Chicken & Rice Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 oz onion soup mix 1 package or use homemade
- 10 ounces condensed cream of mushroom soup condensed
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 325°F.
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Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Add chicken breasts and season with salt & pepper.
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Pour uncooked rice over chicken. Sprinkle with onion soup mix.
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Combine mushrooms soup and 1 ½ cups of water. Pour over chicken.
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Cover and bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Main Course
Cuisine American
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Have made this twice now! I do the 9 x 13 pan at the same temp and 1 hr 15, though I only use two chicken breasts as my boyfriend and I love a bit more on the rice side. I use chicken and mushroom soup combined and also add fried crispy onions before putting in the oven. It came out perfect both times.
Can this be freezed?
I haven’t tried it but I do think this would freeze perfectly once cooked.
Does one package of onion soup mix mean one or two sleeves?
Hello Mia. I package of soup mix is usually around 1.5 to 2.0 ounces (or 42-56 grams).
Your recipe is very easy and good though. I only added 6 ounces of roasted Hatch chiles from my freezer. Will definitely make again.
The video shows adding salt and pepper to the breasts before adding the rice—is this correct? The step is not in the instructions. Thanks!
As mentioned in step 2 of the recipe we season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
I made this, but out of necessity I made a few substitutions. I didn’t have Cream of Mushroom soup but I did have McCormick Country Gravy mix because I keep a jar of it on hand. I made the gravy with half the water, making just over a cup prepared. To that I added an 8 oz can of sliced mushrooms that I diced.
I used boneless skinless chicken thighs (7 thighs). I also had to substitute Lipton Mushroom Onion Soup mix because my local grocer was out of both the name brand and store brand of the Onion Soup Mix.
I followed the recipe aside from the above adjustments and it was great. my wife said the recipe is a keeper.
Is it ok to cut chicken into cubes?
I am making for dinner tonight.
Cubing the chicken should turn out fine. Other readers have with great results.
Delicious! Will make again!
I used cream of chicken, 8oz of mushrooms, can of mixed vegetables, turned out delish
My mom used to make this recipe with pork chops. I was so glad to find your recipe with the measurements I remember. I do variations either using chicken breasts or pork chops, different flavors of condensed soup, and seasoned the way my family likes. Great, cheap weeknight meal. Turns out perfect every time! Thank you!!
Everything is remarkable and so easy and delicious!!
Hi
Can you use Basmati instead of what’s asked in the recipe?
I have only tried this as written. I’m certain basmati would work but the cooking time/liquid ratio may change a little.
flavor is very good. I did put some garlic powder on the breasts. Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to my instincts that 325 degrees wasn’t hot enough to cook the breasts through in an hour and fifteen minutes. I returned the pan to the oven uncovered at 350 degrees until cooked through. Next time I’ll start at 350 degrees for an hour and fifteen, uncover and cook the chicken to temp. Oh! I also put the rice in the bottom of the pan, poured half the soup mixture and stirred, topped with chicken, the poured the remaining soup over all.
Thanks for sharing your alterations, Colleen. I am glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Can it be frozen?
I haven’t tried it but I do think this would freeze perfectly once cooked.
Made it twice. Both times rice was watery or it’s soaking up too much chicken blood. Lacks flavor too. But I LOVE how tender the chicken is. Will have to find a new recipe though with this technicque. Thanks.
I don’t generally find that boneless skinless chicken breasts have blood that could soak into the rice so I can’s say for sure what went wrong for you.
It all looks delicious! Thank you so much!
Absolutely terrible. The white rice didn’t cook even after upping the heat to 500 and letting it go for another HOUR. DO NOT MAKE THIS, YOU WILL REGRET IT.
How disappointing, I can’t say for sure what went wrong for you but if rice doesn’t cook in 2+ hours, there might something else going on. Rice should definitely cook in that amount of time.
Not really going to trust the review of someone who would think putting the temp up to 500 was the solution to undercooked casserole.
Agreed. If I were to hazard a guess, the o.p. missed the direction to COVER and bake, thus causing the evaporation of the liquid that was meant to cook the rice. I say this because moments ago I hopped up from the couch and realized I forgot to do just that . Luckily, not too far into baking.
DELICIOSO !!!!!
I was looking for quick cheap chicken dish for my large family dinner. The dinner was outstanding with a salad and dinner rolls. I would like to thank the chef recipe. Please keep the recipes coming!
Tried this and my autistic son now demands it. I try various things with this recipe substituting various liquids and vegetables and sauces. Thank you for the base.
So happy to hear that, Malissa!
How would you make this using rotisserie chicken instead of chicken breasts?
Hi Andrea, to prevent the chicken from drying out I would add it towards the last 20 minutes to let it heat through without overcooking.