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 Santa Fe
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Chicken And rice casserole video
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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
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.
Guess what!? Winner, winner chicken dinner! We made this tonight and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Susie
Do you cook the rice ahead of time or just add it from the bag? I am making this tonight… we use Jasmine rice. Thanks in advance!
Susie
The rice goes in uncooked!
My Aunt used to make something very similar to this that was one of my favorite recipes when growing up.
Can you cook this slightly longer (3 hours) at a slower temperature… like if you wanted to put it in before leaving for church to have ready for Sunday dinner?
Yes that should be just fine!
Sounds delicious and I want to try it but I don’t want to cook the chicken with the rice so how do I do this do I reduce the the liquid in the rice or do I just leave everything in the same except cooking chicken on the side
So you’re looking to cook the chicken in a separate dish? I”m not sure I understand the question.
Wanting to try tonight but wondering if I can use a different soup beside celery
Any flavor cream soup will work!
I made this in the middle of a super busy week but didnt have the 2+ hours to get it done so I used rotisserie chicken that i pulled apart real quick, boil in a bag rice, and also added some steamed mixed veggies. Baked it for 45 mins, added some cheese, baked a few more mins and it turned out delicious!!
Made this last night with only a couple of tweaks. I used a 2nd pan (my cast iron skillet) and browned the chicken (thighs, bone-in, skin on) for 2-3 minutes on each side after sprinkling with seasonings (garlic powder, thyme, paprika and salt). The only other tweak I used: 2 cups of chicken broth, instead of water, AND I deglazed the cast iron skillet, after browning the chicken, with a little bit of the broth, about half a cup. Scraped up the brown bits and poured that back into the 2 cup measure before adding to the soups and rice. One more thing, I did not have Cream of Celery soup, so I used Cream of Corn soup instead. It was awesome! Cooked perfectly in just under 2 hours, but I did have to use a larger casserole dish than a 9×13. I had a few extra pieces of chicken that would have overflowed the 9×13.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!!
These family style recipes are always a crowd pleaser! I have updated this recipe and now use brown rice. Still tastes just as good and no one notices.
My mother, and I, have always made this with 1 cup of rice, the same 3 soups, and no water. Fabulous!
This recipe is so good I used boneless skinless chicken breasts and added, mushrooms,onion,and broccoli to it. It’s sooooo good even my picky toddler eats it.
Sounds amazing, so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi there. Assuming that regular rice means long grain? Sounds delicious and plan to make this evening.
Yes long grain rice!
Hi there. I just came across you while searching for an answer. I am on a low carb food plan. I want to try substituting brown rice for white. In all my hours of searching I have only found one answer. I would like to get your opinion. It was suggested to parboil the brown rice for 9 minutes, strain, and continue with the recipe. What are your thoughts on this? I may try this with 1/2 cup of brown rice first to see how well it does. I don’t want to ruin the cassarole. Food prices are high enough. Thank you in advance.
Xoxo
Suzan
I think that sounds totally fine to parboil the rice first, you could parboil for 10 minutes and that should work!
Love this recipe! It’s one of my husband’s faves too:) I would really like to make in a Dutch oven because once all ingredients are combined in my largest Pyrex casserole dish it’s extremely full. If it’s not too much trouble can you advise on temperature and timing for a Dutch oven. It is a staple for our fam but does get a little old cleaning the overflow off the oven floor. Thanks for the help!
If you’re baking it, you can bake it the same way as you would in a casserole dish!
Can you freeze? If so do you cook all the way through or cut off any steps?
You can freeze it, just be aware the rice will be softer upon thawing and reheating!
Kudos for such a great chicken and rice recipe! I added poultry seasoning and a little thyme. Instead of water , I used chicken broth and 1/2 cup more liquid than what’s called for. Wonderful! Thanks!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Can you use Boneless chicken for this?
Yes but you’ll need to reduce the cooking time accordingly!
We watch our Sodium intake because of history of heart issues. This is very high and assume it’s all the canned soups. Any suggestions for lowering the sodium level?
They do make low sodium versions of the canned soup, I’d recommend trying it that way!
I live in Colorado and it turns out very tasty but the texture was gluey. Served it up to raves but had to cover it in gravy. The baking pan is full when you bake so adding extra fluid is out. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll make it again but does anyone have a solution? Less rice?
The rice is on the softer side due to the long baking time. You’d have to use smaller chicken pieces and reduce the baking time if you’re looking for firmer rice!
Try minute rice, another half a can or whole can of soup and more water. I also use aluminum pans large enough for a turkey.
So I am guessing that I should not cook the minute rice prior to mixing it with the soups?
The rice goes in uncooked!
Absolutely delicious!! I’m a new mom, my husband and I both work, and I believe in eating a home cooked meal at least most nights of the week… This recipe is so simple, doesn’t take much effort to throw it together, and tastes awesome! It’s become one of my go-to dinners when I want a good dinner but don’t have much time. You can easily stir in some brocolli or other veggies for a complete, wholesome meal.
So glad you enjoy this one, thanks for reporting back!
My family loves this recipe!
This looks so good but I’m allergic to mushrooms. Can I use 2 cans of cream of chicken soup or use cream of asparagus or cream of broccoli in place of the cream of mushroom soup?
Yes, any cream soup will work!
I make this similarly but use a mix of wild rice, brown, and jasmine. The rice and chicken are both cooked ahead of time in the chicken broth. I then add the soup, broccoli florets, and cover it all with grated cheese. Bake for about an hour. Tastes great.
Sounds great I’ll have to try it your way next time!