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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.
Janie Adams says
Not trying to be negative, but I followed the recipe to the letter, and the rice never got done. I let it cook over 2 hrs. Very disappointed.
Karly says
Sorry it didn’t work out for you. You really have to make sure the foil is on nice and tight to keep the steam in the dish.
KELLY says
I am wondering if anyone has had the chicken dry out and how to fix that? I used a disposable cake pan and so I am questioning if perhaps the foil wasn’t sealed tightly enough? I cooked everything a total of 1 hour and then the rice was a bit crunch so I took it out of the oven and put the foil back on tightly for an extra 10-20 minutes. Perhaps adding extra fluid? And would it help if the chicken was mixed in instead of sitting on top? Thoughts?
Anna says
Yes, I’m thinking along your lines that if you submerge the chicken into the mixture that would keep it moist and do be sure to seal the alum foil down tightly. If the soupy mixture seems like it’s getting pretty thick and the rice isn’t quite cooked, adding a bit of water would be good. Every cook has failures, just gotta try it again if it’s a flavor you liked. 🙂
AH says
Rice was still very undercooked after over 2 hours..not happy
natalie says
I use minute rice. works just as well as the long grain. Does not get soggy.
Joy Palos says
I was very disappointed too. Rice still not cooked after 2 hours! I wonder if you mean 20 oz of “ prepared” cream of chicken soup in this recipe?
As most folks use the can of soup, not the can of soup already mixed with a can of water.
Now my friends have gone back and forth over what you meant by 20 oz cream of chicken soup. But it takes twice the liquid of rice to cook it. Plus you have chicken. If it were one cup of rice and 2cups milk that would cook the rice. Otherwise there is not enough liquid in here. I used two sheets of foil tight around my dish. And still crunchy rice.
Karly says
Hi Joy! Sorry to hear you had issues with this one. This recipe doesn’t require the prepared soup…just the soup straight from the can + the milk. I’m not sure why some people are having issues with it and others are having success. There are so many other recipes very similar to this online and the main difference is other recipes call for water instead of milk. I plan to test the two and see if there is a major difference in cook time and the rice cooking properly, but I’ve just had no problems with the milk in my house. It’s so strange!
Susan G says
We do a very similar chicken and rice dish- but we use 1 cream of chicken and 1 cream of mushroom. I’m going to have to try adding in the onion soup component- I can smell it now!
In the same vein- we love onion soup, and make a beef dish with stew meat, I can cream of mushroom, I packet soup. Sooo easy and cooks 1 hour. We cook that rice separately and mix in after, but my family loves the flavors!!
Anna says
Susan G., your beef dish sounds great! Please tell me how you get the beef tender in one hour. Is that an instapot you use or do you cut the beef into tiny pieces. I gotta know. Thanks! 🙂
krista N. says
Susan G can you post your stew meat recipe here ? I’m curious too !
Danni says
Great recipe, my toddler loved it. Just added some steamed broccoli and peas on the side. Would make again !
Shirley says
I wonder if adding 1 1/2 C. milk and 1/2 C. water might help. Rice needs lots of water to bloom. Some on the comments might be using 1% and some might be using regular milk. I think this would make a big difference. JMHO
Krissa says
Tip-soak rice in water for about an hour, even longer, to soften it up. Then drain and add to dish.
Melissa Gillespie says
I’ve made this recipe several times, with the only change being that I use whatever type of cheese I have on hand. My husband loves it, it’s simple to make, and comforting. I use a Corning Ware casserole dish with a lid, and I never have an issue with my rice not cooking enough. Always comes out perfectly! Thank you!
Nikole says
I feel like this would be good with some veggies added. Has anyone tried this with frozen peas or green beans? I am making this tonight and want to try it with green beans but not sure if it will effect the cooking time.
Karly says
I think using frozen green beans in here would work fine and shouldn’t affect the cook time. 🙂
Neely says
Is this okay to make ahead of time? Has anyone tried that?
MacBride says
I also would like to know if it can be made a day ahead of time, cooked 45-60 mins., refrigerate, takeout getting close to room temp., before I reheat for 30mins or so. Then put the cheese on top.
Allena says
Dear Karly, My keyboard seemed to go very peculiar and typed gibberish so I’m typing my comment again, and perhaps you can delete the crazy earlier one?! I can’t. Just had to tell you how much my hubby and I enjoyed your Chicken & Rice meal. I cooked it in my Slow Cooker, rather than the oven and it turned out perfectly. I cooked it for 2 hours on a high setting. I added an additional 2 cups of water to the soup mix to ensure it did not dry out. It was perfectly cooked through and delicious. I will know for again that the recipe would easily feed 4-6 people and reduce the amounts by half for 2 people. However, we two have dined well tonight, and I still have enough left-over for tomorrow, so it’s all good. Thank you for sharing your lovely recipe. I have shared its link, credited to you, on my own FB page. Hope that is okay? Thanks again. A
Karly says
Glad to hear it turned out in the slow cooker! Thanks for sharing!
Allena says
Am trying out this recipe as it looks like the type of meal my hubby and I would enjoy. However, as I am not well at the moment, with not a lot of stamina, I decided to TRY making it in my Slow Cooker! No idea how long it will take to cook, but as I’m in bed I don’t care! Cooking it on High setting as the chicken is fresh meat. Fingers crossed!
Susan Lydick Greene says
So, in reading the comments, I wonder about partially cooking the rice in milk, and adding The partially cooked rice and milk in with the rest of the ingredients and the chicken. I know it takes a little bit of the quick and easy meal out of the recipe, but I’m a bit concerned about the number of people who have said the rice wasn’t cooked. I’m planning on using some long grain jasmine rice because that’s what I have in the house. Does anybody have any ideas about this? The recipe looks like it would be delicious!
Brandi says
I am making this now!!! It sure sounds great!!!
Karly says
Hope you enjoyed it, Brandi!
Stephanie says
Very tasty! Followed the recipe everything…..rice, chicken was cooked perfectly. Thank you, ill definately make this again.