Chicken and Rice Casserole is a hearty and tasty dish to make for dinner. This easy oven baked casserole is creamy, full of flavor, and great for any day of the week.
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Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe
This old school chicken and rice casserole recipe is really easy to put together. You can make it with either chicken breasts or cut-up chicken. This is also a great recipe to make with inexpensive chicken thighs. However, if you use bone-in chicken, you will need to cook it a little longer.
This recipe for chicken and rice casserole is made with chicken, rice, cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix, canned mushrooms, green bell peppers, and pimentos. This simple, affordable, and absolutely irresistible cream of mushroom chicken and rice casserole recipe will warm you up from the inside out. It’s tasty and creamy, making it the perfect comfort food.
Why You Will Love This Chicken and Rice Casserole With Cream of Mushroom Soup
This oven chicken and rice casserole recipe takes no time at all to put together. Then you just put it in the oven and let it cook away. It’s a chicken casserole that’s quick and easy for school nights.
With minimal prep time, you can put this casserole in the oven and spend some time relaxing with a glass of wine. Or perhaps help your kids with their homework without coping with that usual dinner-time rush!
This casserole packs a lot of flavor into a filling one-dish dinner. The tender chicken is juicy, the rice is cooked perfectly, the creamy sauce is rich and flavorful, and the whole dish tastes incredible! Everyone will love this delicious cream of mushroom chicken and rice casserole.
Plus – easy cleanup! – only one casserole dish is needed. There’s no need for a bowl for mixing the ingredients.
Old School Chicken and Rice Casserole – Ingredients You Will Need
The ingredients for this chicken and rice casserole recipe are very simple. Here’s what you will need:
- Chicken
- Rice
- Dry onion soup mix
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Canned mushrooms
- Butter
- Pimentos
- Green bell peppers
What Are Pimentos?
A pimento is a type of pepper that is not hot – it is mild, sweet, and succulent. For convenience, you can buy diced pimentos in a jar.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Casserole With Cream of Mushroom Soup
This oven chicken and rice casserole recipe couldn’t be simpler to make, and it’s possibly one of the quickest dinner preps ever. Here’s all you do:
- If using a Dutch oven, melt the butter in it. If using a baking dish, melt the butter and pour it into the dish.
- Add the rice, pimento, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Stir to combine the veggies and rice.
- Lay the chicken on top of the rice mixture.
- Spoon the mushroom soup over the chicken.
- Sprinkle the onion soup mix over everything and add water.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake at 325°F for 1¼ hours.
- Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
Like most casserole dishes, this one easily lends itself to plenty of variations. Here are some ideas.
Broth: For more flavor, you could use chicken broth instead of water.
Soup: Substitute cream of celery soup or cream of chicken soup for the cream of mushroom soup (or mix them together).
Herbs: For additional flavor, consider adding fresh thyme, parsley, paprika, or freshly minced garlic. You could also choose to garnish with fresh basil.
Rotisserie Chicken Casserole: To make things even easier, you can forgo cooking chicken in favor of adding shredded rotisserie chicken.
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole: Add fresh or frozen broccoli florets for a pop of color and flavor. You could also go with peas, green beans, or mixed vegetables.
Chicken and Cheese Casserole: Amp up the creaminess factor with some shredded Cheddar cheese. If you’re in the mood to turn up the heat, pepper jack is a good choice. Other good options are mozzarella, provolone, or Swiss.
How to Serve Chicken and Rice Casserole
Since you’ve got your meat and grains covered, a Caesar salad would be a great choice, or a vegetable side dish such as:
How to Store Leftover Chicken and Rice Casserole
Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheating: It’s important to thoroughly reheat any dish containing rice, as leftover rice (even when stored in the fridge) can grow bacteria that can cause foodborne illness. Add a few drops of water or broth to keep the rice moist, then reheat the leftovers in the oven or microwave to a piping hot temperature (at least 165°F).
Freezer: This chicken and rice casserole freezes well for up to 3 months. If you plan to freeze an entire cooked casserole, cook it in an aluminum pan. Allow it to cool completely, then cover it with a layer of plastic freezer wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil.
To Reheat: If frozen, thaw the casserole in the fridge overnight. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
Make Ahead: This is a great make-ahead chicken casserole recipe. Prepare the dish but do not bake. Cover it well and store it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days before baking.
To Freeze Unbaked: Prepare the dish but do not bake. Cover it well with plastic wrap and foil and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
Love easy chicken casseroles? Try these recipes!
- Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Casserole
- Chicken and Dressing Casserole
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
- Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
- Tarragon Chicken Casserole
Favorite Chicken Dinner Recipes
- Chicken Croquettes
- Chicken Dijon
- Chicken Fried Chicken
- Chicken Parmigiana
- Ritz Cracker Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
Check out more of my easy casserole recipes and the best chicken recipes on CopyKat.
Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice uncooked
- 2 tablespoon pimento peppers
- ½ cup chopped green bell pepper
- 4 ounces canned sliced mushrooms
- 4 ounces butter melted
- 1 pound chicken cut into bite-sized pieced
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 package dry onion soup mix
- 1 ½ cups water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a 3-quart casserole dish, combine the rice, pimento peppers, chopped bell pepper, mushrooms, and melted butter.
- Lay the chicken pieces over the rice and spoon the cream of mushroom soup over chicken.
- Sprinkle the onion soup mix evenly over the top.
- Add 1 1/2 cups water to the dish.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the foil for the final 15 minutes to let chicken brown.
Sheri
Hi Stephanie,
First, I wanted to thank you that we can reduce or increase a recipe!
I wanted to ask you,
What can I substitute the Pimento with?
We don’t like pimento. I know it’s only 1 TBLS .
Also, I have to substitute the bell pepper as I am highly allergic to them. So, I would replace it with onions.
This recipe sounds for delicious!
Thank you!!
Stephanie Manley
There is a slider bar on the recipe, slide it to increase or reduce the portions of the recipe.
If you really hate pimento, I would simply omit it from the recipe.
Pat Cody
When I read 1 1/3 cup rice, I assumed uncooked. but since there is mostly zero liquid in this recipe, does that mean 1 1/3 cups cooked rice? It’s not a well written recipe at all. Not up to Stephanie’s usual standards.
Stephanie
The rice is meant to be raw. The melted butter, the water, and the juice from the chicken will combine together to make for enough liquid to cook the rice.
Michelle
Loved the cream of mushroom soup in this recipe.