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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.
Rachel says
Thanks for this delicious recipe! I read through a lot of the (some very rude) comments before making. I decided to make it in my cast-iron casserole dish in case I needed to use the lid in the oven. I added the foil to the top and cooked it for the first 30 minutes. When I pulled it out to stir at that point, the rice seemed to be cooking a little but the chicken was not even turning white on the outside. At that point I added the lid to the dish for the remainder of the cooking. At 60 minutes, the rice and chicken looked almost done.
I also added the suggested fried onion strings on top along with the cheese and it was amazing.
Karly says
Glad it worked out for you! The fried onions on top sound amazing!
Amanda says
Do you cook the chicken first?
Karly says
Nope. Everything gets cooked together.
Brianna says
Delicious recipe! Mine came out perfect, the rice was completely cooked 🙂 thanks!
Jennifer says
I made this the other night and it was a huge hit with the whole family. I made just a few changes, though. I used mozzarella cheese instead of gruyere and added a light sprinkling of California style garlic salt on top of it and then also added French’s fried onions as a topping during the last 5 minutes of cooking, like you would with a green bean casserole. The onions tied the flavors of the onion soup mix in perfectly and everyone devoured this dish even asking for seconds and thirds. This will be a dinner staple in our house from now on. Thanks so much!!!
Karly says
I bet those crunchy onions on top were a great addition!
Olivia says
Could you bake the chicken in the liquid mixture first and then add cooked rice to the mixture after the chicken is done? If so, would you still cook the chicken for an hour?
Karly says
I haven’t tried this, so I’m not sure how you’ll need to adjust.
Debbie says
I feel like I want to add some mustard (or mustard powder) to this but I have a thing for mustard!
I have a casserole dish (Kitchen Aid brand) that has a ceramic lid. Would that work instead of aluminum foil… I hate foil (almost as much as I hate cling wrap)
Stormie says
Can you do this in a crock pot? If so what is the timing
Karly says
I’ve not tried this in a slow cooker.
Ashley says
Can I make it with the canned French onion soup?? If so, how much of the can should I use?
Karly says
I haven’t tried this substitution, so I’m not sure how it’d work. I’d probably swap the milk for the soup.
Carolyn says
I only had frozen chicken breasts when I wanted to try this, so I put the chicken in the microwave on half power for a couple minutes to help thaw it first. Also used mild cheddar on top since I had some on hand. Turned out wonderful!! Chicken and rice we’re both done in the allotted time. Even my picky 87 year old father went back for a second helping!!
Heather says
Made this 2 weeks ago and it was amazing!! I now added this into one of the 4 meals I am not making for a friend who just had surgery..I hope she loves it as much as we did! Thanks for the delicious recipe!!
Karly says
So glad it was a hit! 🙂
Cherie says
Wanting to make this tonight but chicken is frozen. Do i need to thaw before hand or increase time?
Karly says
I haven’t tried this one with frozen chicken, so I’m not sure how it’d work.
Kristen says
Should the Chicken be thawed or frozen?
Karly says
I’ve only made this with fresh chicken.
Anna M Duke says
Would u please be able to tell me if i swapped chicken for pork chops that are thin how long i should cook it??
Karly says
You’ll have to cook it for the same amount of time because of the rice. Not sure how the pork will do.
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Donna says
What is the calorie count for this dish?
Karly says
I don’t calculate nutritional information on most of my recipes, but you’re welcome to add these ingredients to any of the free online nutrition calculators and see what you come up with. 🙂