This classic 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.
Casseroles always hit the spot, my family enjoys chicken enchilada casserole, beef noodle casserole and this creamy chicken and rice dish.
This 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 ultra creamy rice?
How do you make chicken and rice casserole?
The other thing I love about this dish is that it can be made in one pan. The rice and soup mixture gets stirred together in the pan, then the chicken goes on top and gets drizzled with butter and seasonings. You may be wondering why this dish includes butter since it also has creamy soup. The butter helps the chicken brown during the last part of the baking process, and it adds such great flavor to the rice! I season my chicken with salt, pepper and a little smoked paprika. If you have a favorite seasoning blend that would also be great on the chicken.
This chicken and rice casserole works best with bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. If you use something like boneless skinless chicken breasts, they’ll dry out during the long bake time. I prefer to use dark meat chicken, like chicken thighs, drumsticks or legs. Here I’ve used a combination of thighs and drumsticks so that there’s something for everyone!
Chicken and rice casserole 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, carrots or broccoli to the dish before it goes into the oven.
- Cheese: Sprinkle 3/4 cup of shredded cheese over the top during the last 10 minutes of the baking time.
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!
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More great chicken recipes
- Garlic & Herb Roasted Chicken
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Bacon Wrapped Chicken
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Chicken Santa Fe
Chicken and rice casserole video
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.
Charlene says
Can I use boneless, skinless chicken breast instead?
Sara says
You can but you’ll want to reduce the cook time so that the chicken doesn’t dry out.
virginia says
how much water do I add for orzo instead of rice?
Sara says
The liquid would be the same!
Julie says
What kind of rice does this use? I only have original rice at the moment, not quick cook. Slim selection at the store!
Sara says
It does not use quick cook rice, any regular white rice is fine!
Linda K Smith says
Only found instant rice (items r limited in area) and boneless, skinless breast, but following ur recipe, minus the paprika, thought of using lemon pepper and cumin instead however, was just curious if I might need to add or eliminate anything else, if u should have any suggestions on the bake time or with the amount of liquid needed to be added or deleted using this method? Any suggestions from anyone that may have done the same would be greatly appreciated and thanks!
Sara says
I haven’t tried it with these substitutions, but you’ll definitely want to cook it for less time, probably 30-45 minutes total.
Kathryn says
Does it call for cooked or uncooked rice?
Sara says
Uncooked rice!
Joe says
Hi,
I need to drastically reduce the salt content. I am going to make my own cream of celery soup which includes chicken broth and I use potatoes for creaminess instead of flour and cream. I think a can is 10 ounces so I just need to replace 30 ounces of liquid?
Sara says
Yes that should be correct!
EJ says
I’ve made this three times and there’s never any leftover.