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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.
Kathy D. says
I’m sorry, but this was NOT a good dish – in fact, it was horrible. After TWO hours – yes, TWO hours, the chicken finally was done, however the rice was still hard and it was just a disaster. Sadly, I spent $7.00 on the gruyere cheese, not to mention the money for the other ingredients … and…for nothing. Everything but the chicken was discarded after we tried it and found it to be awful. I followed your directions EXACTLY, so it wasn’t a matter of not reading correctly.
Karly says
Hi Kathy, I’m sorry this one didn’t suit your tastes. I can’t imagine it taking a full two hours to cook through if the foil was tightly sealed around your dish. I know it’s frustrating to try a new dish and not have it turn out how you’d like, but better luck next time!
Susan says
Could I used canned chicken breast meat in this recipe?
Karly says
I’d be a bit worried about the chicken drying out as it’s already cooked. If you do give it a try, I’d stir the chicken in with the rice rather than place it on top.
Caitlin says
This was SO good!! I made sure my foil was on tight at the beginning and again after stirring and it cooked perfectly! My husband loved it, too! Thanks for the great recipe!
Karly says
So happy to hear that! 🙂
Deanna says
For the question about instant rice. That is what I used and it turned out GREAT!! Thank so you much for this recipe. I have a toddler and making dinner can sometimes be a challenge. But this is just so easy and he really liked it too!
Lisa says
So you followed the recipe as written, except used instant rice….and everything cooked right? Cooked the same amount of time?
Kerri Fowler says
Did you use the same amount of liquid in the recipe when using the instant rice? I am making it now however all I have is instant rice
Jill says
I did the same and cooked it about 30 minutes covered and 5 min uncovered with cheese. I also cooked chicken in the crock pot all day, shredded it, and mixed it in with everything else before baking. I think it’s delicious!
Sherry says
Can I use chicken broth instead of milk?
Karly says
I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for sure.
Yvonnw says
Ok…so far this has been in the oven 2 hours!! The rice still isn’t done!! Followed the recipe exactly. Proper sized pan. Proper oven temperature. What is going wrong??? Very disappointed
Karly says
Sorry to hear you’re having problems with this one! The dish needs to be tightly sealed with foil to keep in the steam to cook the rice.
Stephanie says
Loved the flavor of this recipe, but alas, my rice was pretty crunchy even after leaving the foil on for an extra 10-15 min 🙁 but this won’t discourage me from trying it again, I never seem to get rice right unless I use my rice cooker lol. I’m just going to use cooked rice and cut back the liquid next time. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Val says
Made this for dinner today, changed a couple things. I used cream of chicken and cream of celery soup, cut back rice by 1/2 cup. Provolone cheese slices on top instead and hubby loved the dish! Thank you for your recipe!
Pat in CO says
Gonna try this the “lazy, I don’t have the ingredients” way.
Instant rice and half the portions
Chari says
I want to try this but have no idea where to find, or what brand to buy for french onion soup mix packet. I want to be sure I’m getting the right ingredients. Can you provide a link or pic of what I should be looking for? Nothing I find for french onion soup mix seems to be the right thing. Help!
Karly says
Looks like I need to take the “French” off of there – it’s just called Onion Soup Mix. Here’s a link so you can see some pictures. You’ll find this near the canned soup at your store. http://amzn.to/2sH6qHO
Rachel A. says
Ok so something is definitely off on this recipe. The first time I fixed it when I checked the chicken it needed longer but the rice came out ok. Second I cooked like I did the 1st and the rice came out crunchy! Third time cooked a little longer and some how the rice was semi crunchy and dry. So the forth time I added 1/4 a cup more milk and a cup and a forth of chicken broth. I also cooked it for a grand total of a hour and 35 mins. Now it’s perfect.
Karly says
Hi Rachel!
The recipe should work the same each time so long as you’re covering it nice and tight with foil when baking. I’m guessing that’s what is causing the variation in cooking.
Meggan says
I made this last night for the first time and it was a huge hit! I did use mozzarella cheese on top of mine.
Brandi says
Could I use any other type of cheese?
Karly says
Sure, any type of cheese you like is fine.
Debbie says
I want to try this in my pressure cooker XL. Any advice?
Karly says
No, I’m sorry, I haven’t tried this one in a pressure cooker.
Moni says
Could I change the chicken tenders for chicken breast? And maybe brown rice instead of white (maybe cooking the rice first then adding it?)
Karly says
I think chicken breast would be just fine. Switching to brown rice will likely change the amount of liquid and cook time needed, though.
Moni says
I used the breast and brown rice. It turned out so yummy! But I think next time I’m going to do less rice and more chicken! Maybe even shred the chicken or cube it.
Shea says
When you switched to brown rice, what did you have to do differently?