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This chicken and rice casserole is serious comfort food! My whole family loves how flavorful it is, and I love that it’s super simple to throw together for busy nights!
I have this weird new food obsession.
Rice.
Seriously. Rice.
It seems so random. I mean, I’ve always liked rice just fine, it’s just not something that I ever really craved or cooked, unless it was my Bacon Fried Rice. <— Can never get enough of that one!
Lately, though, I’m obsessed.
I think it has something to do with white rice made in my Instant Pot. It’s the most perfect rice I’ve ever had. Shall I share my recipe sometime?
Anyway, my family is getting sick of plain white rice, so I thought I’d continue my obsession and create something with a little more excitement and flavor.
Enter the casserole – my favorite way to serve dinner. 😉
I’m from the Midwest after all. Casseroles are a requirement around here.
We kept this chicken rice casserole super simple with just 5 ingredients and loads of flavor thanks to the packet of onion soup mix.
Chicken Rice Casserole Ingredient Notes:
Chicken Tenderloins – We use strips of chicken tenderloins in this recipe, but you can also use chicken breasts that you’ve cut into strips yourself.
Rice – You’ll need long grain white rice. Do not use instant rice. We haven’t tested this recipe with brown rice.
Cream of Chicken Soup – This is going to add lots of creamy chicken flavor to the casserole. If you don’t like the canned stuff, try out my homemade cream of chicken substitute recipe!
Onion Soup Mix – A packet of onion soup mix is just what we need to add that French onion soup flavor to this chicken and rice casserole!
Cheese – I love a cheesy chicken and rice casserole so I top it with plenty of shredded Gruyere cheese! And of course you can add or use any other shredded cheeses you prefer to this recipe.
Seasonings – The onion soup mix adds loads of flavor to this dish, but you can top your chicken with some paprika and garlic powder, if you feel the urge.
What Readers are Saying!
“Just made this recipe, exactly to directions, turned out great, rice is nicely done and sauce is delicious. I did brown for about 5 minutes under the broiler for a little color. Chicken was nice, not dry. Very easy for a weeknight meal…” – Denise
How to Make Chicken & Rice Casserole:
Mix: First up you’ll need to prepare the rice and soup mixture. While your oven pre-heats go ahead and add the uncooked white rice to a mixing bowl and then pour in the water, dry soup mix, and cream of chicken soup. Stir to combine.
Assemble: When the creamy rice mixture is ready you can pour it into a prepared 9×13 baking dish. Smooth it out evenly in the dish and then you can start adding in the chicken tenderloins. Just place them over the top of the rice mixture and try to keep them from overlapping.
Sometimes we sprinkle the chicken with extra seasoning and sometimes we just let the onion soup mix do the work. You can feel free to get creative or keep it simple.
Bake: Now you can go ahead and cover the dish with foil and let it bake for an hour.
We’re going to turn this into a cheesy chicken casserole by topping it off with a bunch of shredded Gruyere cheese. Once you’ve topped the casserole with the cheese cover it with foil again and return to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the rice is tender and the cheese has melted.
Helpful TipS!
- My biggest tip to ensure that the recipe is cooked properly is to be sure that the foil is on TIGHT. You need the steam to stay inside the pan to cook that rice properly.
- Don’t be afraid to let it cook a bit longer if it’s not quite done. The chicken is cooking with the rice, so I know a lot of people are worried it’s going to dry out after being in the oven for so long. But, it’s cooking in that steam and liquid and it really doesn’t dry out. It comes out nice and tender, just the way we like it.
- This recipe used to call for milk in place of water. It worked well for me and for many other readers, but plenty of people were having a hard time getting the rice to cook through. We’ve swapped the milk for water and think that is a bit more fool proof.
FAQs:
Absolutely! Mozzarella, provolone, Havarti, or Monterey jack would all work well in this chicken and rice casserole.
You’ll want to use thawed or fresh chicken in this recipe.
Yes, this casserole stores well in both the refrigerator and the freezer. It should last up to 4 days in the fridge and you can re-heat it in the oven or microwave. It should last a few months in the freezer if sealed tightly.
MORE CASSEROLE RECIPES!
- Million Dollar Mac & Cheese Casserole
- Keto Meatball Casserole
- Broccoli & Cheese Casserole (Air Fryer)
- Crockpot Hashbrown Casserole
- Amish Breakfast Casserole
French Onion Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
- 2 cups water
- 20 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 1 packet Onion Soup mix
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins
- 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
- 1 teaspoon parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Add the rice, water, cream of chicken soup, and soup mix to a bowl and stir well to combine.
- Pour rice mixture into the baking dish and place chicken tenderloins over the top.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 60 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking.
- Remove the foil and top with the grated cheese. Cover and return to oven for 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
- Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.
Amy says
I made this tonight. I made a couple of mistakes that worked out pretty well. I didn’t have the recipe with me at the grocery store so I bought a ranch dressing packet instead of French onion. I bought the completely wrong rice so I cooked some orzo separately but very el dente. Put it all together we and cooked per the instructions. Added the cheese and I had some frenchs fried onions I put that on the top. Everyone liked it so that’s a win win.
Chris Ryan says
So, I don’t have COC but I do have CoM (mushroom) and I’m also using minute rice. I have dinner in the oven now, and I’m going to check it at the 45 minute mark. Let you guys know how it turns out! 😀
Shannon Rop says
HI! Do the chicken pieces need to be thawed or is frozen OK?
Thanks!
Delbra says
Hi
It’s best to thaw the meat. I made the dish last night. I used chicken thighs lightly seasoned. I cooked for 45 mins, then added the cheese American, took off foil and put back in oven for 15 more mins. If you limit the time the rice is crunchy.
Delbra says
After looking at this easy recipe, I jumped off the sofa to make it. I had chicken thighs available which I lightly seasoned, no salt added, and used Lipton onion dry soup. I will use American cheese. I hope it come out good for dinner tonight, if so, I will make it again for grandchildren and use chicken legs.
Tracy | Baking Mischief says
This looks so good! I was already on board, and then I saw you add the Gruyere cheese and I was like, yeeeeeees x10. 😉
Rachel @ Bakerita says
I never realized how much rice I ate until I started Whole30 – I miss it so much! Totally trying this next week when my Whole30 is done! Looks SO good – and I’d love to see your Instant Pot rice recipe. I haven’t made rice in mine yet.
Maggie says
I feel like 75 minutes will be way too long for the chicken (especially chicken trnders). Does the chicken not come out dry?
Kathy says
YES!
Karly says
The chicken kind of nestles down in the rice and the liquid all keeps it nice and moist. The dish should be tightly covered as well and that keeps the steam in there.
CK says
I made this exactly as described. The chicken was not dry at all. It’s essentially cooking in liquid.
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says
You totally just reminded me I have yet to make rice in my instant pot! What?! Obviously I need to get on that, and what better way than with this FABULOUSNESS?! I mean french onion chicken and rice casserole?!! GIMME DAT. Preferably in massive quantities. This looks amazing! Pinned! Cheers!
Melissa says
Do you think this could be made with instant rice? It looks really yummy!! I think I’ll add mushrooms as well. Can’t wait to try it. Making it tonight!
Ariel says
If you add vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, and mushrooms come to mind) do you need to adjust anything else? Like add more/less liquid?
Karly says
I haven’t tried this so I can’t say. I do think that 75 minutes might be an awful long time for most veggies, though.
Deborah Fuller says
Looksw tasy!! Can i get recipes sent to my email???
Karly says
Sure! You can sign up right here: http://eepurl.com/ydJtj
Ally says
Also, do you think I could prep this in the morning and refrigerate it to bake later?
Karly says
Hmm, I’m not sure if the rice would get weird sitting in liquid all day or not. I’ve never tried it.
Victoria says
Ok, so I make a chicken & rice all the time. I do 1 cup of rice, 2 cups water, 1 can cream of chicken, whatever seasonings I decide to use and I use 4-5 chicken thighs (sometimes bone-in, skin on & sometimes boneless/skinless). I cook mine at 375 covered for 45 minutes. Turn oven off and cook for 15 minutes, then add cheese & turn the broiler on for 5 minutes. So my dumb question is, what is the difference with using 2 cups of rice, 2 cups of milk & 2 cans of CofC? Could I still use my same recipe and just add the french onion mix or would that not work/taste as good? Thanks for your help
Karly says
You should be able to add the soup mix to your recipe just fine. 🙂
Debbie says
Because of health reasons we’ve switch to brown rice can you make this with brown rice?
Karly says
I’m sure you can, though I imagine you’ll need to adjust the bake time a big as brown rice takes longer to cook. You may also need more liquid.
Sofia Dakos says
I’ve tried a similar recipe and used orzo. Will try it in this recipe as well! I like the cream of chicken soup substitution too!
Karly says
Oh, I bet it’s great with orzo!
Amy says
Do you think the cooking time needs to adjust if you use orzo?