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 chicken breasts
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 package onion soup mix or use homemade
- 10 ounces cream of mushroom soup condensed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Add chicken breasts and season with salt & pepper.
- Pour uncooked rice over chicken. Sprinkle with onion soup mix.
- Combine mushrooms soup and 1 ½ cups of water. Pour over chicken.
- 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© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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How could I adjust this using the chicken from a rotisserie chicken that is already cooked?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Jenn. I would try adding it 20 minutes before the end. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
I follow this recipe to the tee and every time my rice is undercooked and crunchy……I keep trying but I am disappointed every time. Maybe I will cook the rice before hand?
I’m sorry it didn’t workout for you Nanette.
Rice should certainly cook within an hour in the oven (our oven baked rice never fails and takes less than an hour) so can’t say for sure why the rice doesn’t cook for a few of you. I haven’t had that problem and I’ve made this countless times and haven’t yet been able to recreate the issue.
My rice cooks in about 90 minutes. You could also try par boiled rice or instant rice.
I used Rice-a-Roni and rotisserie chicken, it was sooo good!
I just posted to ask about using a rotisserie chicken…did you add the chicken at the end? How did you adjust the recipe?
I used Rice-a-Roni and a rotisserie chicken, it was SOOOO good!
The taste was great and easy to put together, however even after 1 hour and 15 minutes the rice as still hard.
As mentioned in the notes of the recipe, my casserole is always ready in 1hr 15 minutes however depending on your own variables, it can require up to an additional 25 minutes. I hope this helps Tracey!
My mom made this for my family growing up! So it’s very nostalgia for me
I made it for my partner and myself, though we found ourselves wanting more rice. If I cook this recipe without the chicken, would it work??
It should work just fine without the chicken.
why would someone make it without the chicken? the recipe is Chicken rice casserole!
This recipe is soo Yummy and I’ve made it a few times, it turns out Excellent every time, I make it.
Very good and easy! Used chicken breast strips and ranch seasoning (didn’t have onion) and was flavorful and cooked perfectly.
We love this casserole! I followed your recipe exactly and it came out delicious. The chicken was tender and juicy and the rice was well seasoned and fully cooked after baking it at 325 degrees for an hour and 15 mins, according to the recipe. Preheating your oven and keeping the dish covered should ensure the rice isn’t undercooked and crunchy. Thanks for the tasty recipe!
I made this on a day I needed something easy to make, and it was!! it turned out delicious!!
Hi! Just found your recipe and cooking it as I type this.
Question: why not mix the onion soup into the rice prior to spreading onto the chicken? I poured the onion soup over the rice, as instructed and really hoping that when the chicken is done cooking, the onion soup disburses throughout the rice and I don’t have “salty patches” in the rice.
Thoughts?
Thank you for the recipe, I’m excited to try it in 60 minutes!
You could mix the soup mix if you prefer Ann! I hope you loved it!
made with Spanish rice was delicious
loved it, wish I could add a picture, we have a big family, so I made 2 pans, instead of water I used no sodium chicken stock and added 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach and 4 oz fresh chopped & sautéed portobello mushrooms per pan. It was Delicious, rice was cooked perfectly.
currently making this casserole and followed the recipe exactly. my timer just went off and the whole thing is basically a soup still! I’ll have to raise the oven temperature and keep adding time to the oven and cross my fingers that it’ll end up edible.
just made this receipt and it is great tasting. but just like all of the other children and rice recipes the rice is not cooked to softness. the, as all of my attempts, rice is not soft
what I doing wrong?
Sorry to hear that John. Did you use long-grain white rice? We have made this recipe many many times and it should be cooked after the time indicated, and if not, you may want to bake a little longer. Ovens can vary in their heat, so that could be another reason.
Can I use instant rice…?
I’m sure it would work but the ratios and cook time will vary Kim.
Absolutely delicious!!! This recipe is now my go to. Thanks for sharing!!
can u parboil the rice? if so for how long?
I have not tried this Glenda, but other readers have with success. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
This recipe was missing something. It wasn’t very good
I thought this recipe was delicious and so easy! I added some garlic salt, basil, and oregano to the chicken and used long grain brown rice instead of white. I baked mine in a stoneware dish and it definitely need 25 extra minutes to cook. Everyone cleaned their plates!