This chicken and rice casserole is packed with rice, cheese, chicken and lots of vegetables. It is comfort food at it’s best and the kids LOVE it. We make this dinner on repeat with some roasted vegetables and our favorite cookies for dessert!
If you love chicken dinner recipes like we do, try our Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas too.
Chicken and Rice Casserole
This chicken and rice casserole has been a family favorite recipe for years! I am having a blast sharing some of my favorite Picky Palate recipes this summer. This one is from September 2010 and is a reader favorite. It is one of my most pinned Picky Palate recipes and works great as a freezer meal! Note, you can used steamed white rice in place of the wild rice. Works just fine!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Comfort Food. This is comfort food in a casserole!
- Hearty and Filling. Hearty meal for the whole family.
- Great Leftovers. Makes great leftovers and freezes great for another meal later.
Try my Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole too! Follow Picky Palate on Instagram for daily recipe inspiration.
What’s Needed For Chicken and Rice Casserole
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make the casserole. See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for full instructions.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil– The olive oil is used to saute the vegetables.
- Onion– White onion works great. Make sure it’s finely chopped.
- Celery– Wash, dry and finely chop the celery.
- Carrots– Peel and dice carrots the same size as celery and onion so they cook the same time.
- Garlic– Mince the garlic before adding to pan.
- Cooked chicken– Rotisserie chicken works great.
- Cooked White Rice– Use any of your favorite rice for the recipe. I usually use Basmati or Jasmine.
- Cooked Wild Rice Blend– If you can’t fine wild rice, substitute for more white rice or you could use a brown rice.
- Kosher Salt- Kosher salt is a coarse salt.
- Black Pepper– For best tasting results use freshly cracked black pepper.
- Garlic Salt– Lawry’s is my favorite brand of garlic salt.
- Salted Butter– I use salted butter for most of my recipes, unsalted is just fine as well.
- All-Purpose Flour– Flour is used to make the homemade cheese sauce.
- Chicken Broth– Look for reduced sodium chicken broth.
- Shredded Cheese– Mild cheddar cheese works great.
How To Make Chicken Rice Casserole
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Saute Vegetables. Heat oil into a medium dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add Broth and Seasonings. Stir in chicken, both rices, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low.
Prepare Cheese Sauce. Melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously.
Add Cheese and Transfer To Rice. Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in 2 cups cheese until melted. Pour cheese sauce into cooked rice mixture then transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish.
Add Cheese. Top evenly with additional 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese.
Bake. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.
One of our favorite casserole recipes to make. Cheesy delicious comfort food!
Recipe Tips For Success
- Rotisserie Chicken. Use shredded rotisserie chicken for quick recipe prep.
- Pre-Chop Veggies. Pre-chop the vegetables needed for the recipe in advance.
- Freeze Another Recipe. Double the recipe and freeze one to use for another dinner.
- Great Dinner To Bring To Neighbors and Friends. Double the recipe and give a dinner to a neighbor in need.
How To Serve Chicken and Rice
We love serving this recipe any day of the week. It’s great for Sunday dinner, weekend entertaining and makes the best leftovers. Serve this chicken and rice with some roasted vegetables and a side salad.
Can I Freeze This Recipe?
Yes, prepare the recipe up until the step where you add the cheese. Don’t bake it yet. Cool completely and cover the dish tightly with tin foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw completely before baking. You’ll add the shredded cheese before baking as well.
How To Store Leftovers
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Re-heat in microwave as needed. Place rice in a heat proof bowl or plate, lightly covered in the microwave for 60-75 seconds or until hot.
You Might Also Like
- Pesto Ranch Crock Pot Chicken Thighs
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
- Cheesy Chicken Air Fryer Taquitos
Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
Equipment
- 9 x 13 inch baking dish
- Oven
- cutting board
- chef knife
- large mixing bowl
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- mixing spoon
- Large Skillet/Fry Pan
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 3 stalks celery finely chopped
- 3 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
- 2 cups steamed white rice
- 16 ounces cooked wild rice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Cheese Sauce
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese to top over rice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Heat oil into a medium dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in chicken, both rices, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low.
- To prepare cheese sauce melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously. Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in 2 cups cheese until melted. Pour cheese sauce into cooked rice mixture then transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with additional 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.
Nutrition
Pin To Your Favorite Recipe Board!
Welcome to my online kitchen! Picky Palate is where you’ll find family friendly recipes along with the best Disney eats, tips and copycat recipes! 
to save even more time, you could use tj’s mire poix (onion, carrot, celery mix)! looking fwd to trying this.
got most of the ingredients today to try this. they don’t seem to have the prepared wild rice at tj’s anymore. i do realize this post is from almost two years ago, though 🙂
Hi,
Just a question for a picky eater, does the chopped celery, onion and carrots soften when this is cooked? Thanks!
This sounds so yummy! I can hardly wait to try it!
Oh heck yeah! I am TOTALLY making this! My husband is CRAZY for wild rice. Seems like all the chicken and rice recipes out there use yucky condensed soup. This is much more like it! Thanks for sharing!
So glad to hear it Christi! Hope you enjoy!
I featured this recipe on my blog tonight at richestoragsbydori.blogspot.com. Great recipe. I linked the recipe back here so they would have to come to your site to get it. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe.
Thanks for sharing!! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
wonderful! I saw it on Pinterest, it was not easy to found your site, a lot of pins for coming to the source!! thank you for this recipe
You can purchase already cooked wild rice in any grocery store with the brand name of Canoe.
I don’t think I’ve ever commented on this yet, but I wanted to let you know how much me and my family LOVE this recipe. My daughter is going to be 2 in August and she DEVOURS this casserole. It’s so delicious! I’ve also made it for a few friends who have babies recently and it’s a huge hit. So thank you!
I had something like this at a potluck on Sunday with the addition of mushrooms, looking forward to trying it. It would be nice if I could master this rice cooking thing too {smile}.
I made this and wrote about it here. What a scrumptious recipe! Thank you for sharing it.
Says carrots in cooking directions but how many? Guess I can add 3 (like celery)?
Jenny,
This recipe is awesome! I just featured it as the “Daily Nosh” on the VirtualWineBar.com. I paired it with Gundalach-Bundschu 2010 Chardonnay.
Cheers!
I wanted to make this tonight but unfortunately, my Trader Joe’s discontinued the cooked wild rice…………….
I just made this a few nights ago and it was delicious! My family really liked it. I added a can of black beans, but otherwise followed the recipe. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the recipe
I have no TJs… sad but true… If I am making sense of the recipe, I would need about 2C. wild rice? Same amt as white?? Thanks!
I made this today for the first time. Unfortunately, Trader Joe’s no longer carries the precooked wild rice. But, I used their brown rice medley and basmati rice medley. I cooked the rice the day before so that it wouldn’t be too gummy and to save time. Waiting for it to come out of the oven. Thanks for a great recipe.
Made this for dinner after seeing it on pinterest. YUMMY!!!!
I made this for my kids and then my husband gobbled it all up. Everyone loved it!
Made this tonight. It’s really good! I accidentally bought the uncooked wild rice from TJs, so that added some cook time! Made the rices and chicken the night before and everything else the day of. Something to note, it takes a while for it to cool off.
OMG…This is an awesome recipe.
I have pinned and will be using it again.
Thanks
Thanks for the feedback!!
hello! this recipe sounds delicious! i was just wondering if i could sub the white rice with brown or what was the reasoning for using white? will it throw off the flavor? can’t wait to try this! thank you!
This sounds great! Could I use quinoa instead of rice? Would it taste as good and do i cook rice before then add? Thank you!!
I haven’t tried it with quinoa Laura, but I bet it would work just fine!!
I’ve been making this for years and my family loves it! I did However, start counting macros and I’m wondering if the nutritional information you posted with the recipe is for the whole recipe or per serving? It’s not adding up quite the same in MyFitnessPal as you have it here.
I found this recipe through pinterest and made it tonight. SO GOOD. I can’t stop thinking about it. I love the flavor the wild rice adds. Thank you for sharing!!!!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Emily!
I’m thinking of freezing it and didn’t see how any one else was going to freeze it in the comments—would you freeze it before you added the cheese to the top or does it not matter? I’m having a baby in a few months and want to stock up the freezer! This recipe looks great!
I’m wanting to make this tomorrow night but have a quick question. I have uncooked wild rice in abundance, but I’m guessing the weight is different between uncooked and cooked (and I don’t have a kitchen scale anyway). SO, do you have a rough amount in cups of how much cooked rice to use? I scanned the comments on this page and aside from someone mentioning using brown rice and reducing the amount to 3 cups I really don’t have a good jumping off point to estimate it…I’ll make something work, but I’d appreciate a response from someone who’s made it before I try tomorrow if possible. 🙂
This was a lucky find. Cannot wait to try Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole. LOVE wild rice. LOVE Trader Joes.
This was a lucky find. Cannot wait to try Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole. LOVE wild rice. LOVE Trader Joes.
Hope you enjoy the recipe Jan!!
Hope you enjoy the recipe Jan!!
Just made it tonight for my family and we all gobbled it up! Thanks for the recipe. (I came across it on Pinterest).
I made this tonight, and came up with one addition: I topped it with French’s Fried Onions for the last ten minutes of the baking time. Holy deliciousness!! I can also think of other ways to use just the cheese sauce portion of this recipe! Thank you so much for this great recipe! 🙂
Sounds like a perfect addition!!
This looks delicious! I’m curious to know if you have thought of a way to make this lighter? I think “skinny” is the new word 🙂
Hi Ashley, you could certainly play around with “light” ingredients. I am definitely not a “skinny” blog as you can see from my recipes 🙂
I made this for my family tonight. It was labor intensive (about an hour of prep), but we are a family of four and we only ate a quarter of it. My two year old ate hers and the rest of her sister’s. Hubby had seconds. Definitely a winner. I can see making this for a new mom or grieving family. We’re eating it again tomorrow and freezing the other half. I think it will reheat well. Thanks for the recipe!!!! 🙂
I’ve seen this multiple times on pinterest! Excited to try it for dinner tonight!
Made this today, VERY GOOD! my kids LOVED it (they love nothing I make)! thanks!!
Thanks for the feedback Lisa! So glad your family enjoyed!
This was delicious! I made it for a picky 10 year old and teenager while I was babysitting. Everybody loved it and wanted it for leftovers the next day!
Wonderful! Thanks for the feedback!
Found your recipe on Pintrest and it looked great. My family is vegan so I made a vegan version of it and it was fantastic. I’ll be posting my vegan version on my blog and will link back to your original recipe. Thank you for the inspiration!
Hi there! I just found this recipe on Pinterest yesterday and knew I had to try it immediately! Let me tell you, I just finished eating my second helping of it and all I can say is oh my word, it’s good!
Thanks for a fabulous recipe. I’ll most definitely be making it again!