Chicken and Rice Casserole
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This easy Campbell’s chicken and rice casserole, made from ingredients you likely have in your pantry, is a simple oven-baked chicken casserole dish that is super filling and the ultimate comfort food.
Dishes like these do not need to be complicated to be delicious, and the combination of the creamy soups, fresh-baked chicken, and cooked rice make this a traditional and classic dinner that everyone will love.
Chicken and Rice Casserole is EASY!
Best Family-Friendly Dinner: Chicken and Rice Bake is one of the most requested family-friendly meals in our home. Although this casserole dish is a bit old-fashioned, it brings the flavor and is a perfect main dish to nearly all the side dish recipes here.
One Dish Meal: A yummy one-pan dinner dish, you cannot go wrong pleasing the whole crowd, all the kids, and at any potluck party you may have with chicken and rice bake! This dish is also perfect for leftover rice recipes and has a relatively simple prep.
Tested and True: Judging by all the fantastic feedback that I have gotten on Pinterest, this recipe is truly one of the best chicken and rice bakes you will try. Put this one on your monthly menu rotation. Lets get started!
Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe
I wanted to share this easy recipe if you are looking for a straight-up dish with ingredients you probably already have that kids will enjoy.
Plus, anytime you combine chicken and rice, it’s super filling, satisfying, and has maximum flavor.
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes (uncooked)
- cream of mushroom soup
- cream of chicken soup
- cream of celery soup
- Seasonings: salt, garlic powder, black pepper
- white rice
- chicken broth
- butter
Always cut the chicken into even pieces to make sure they cook at the same rate and evenly. If some pieces are too large and some too small, you will have undercooked and overcooked chicken.
How to make Campbell’s Chicken and Rice Casserole
Cook the Rice: Start by cooking your rice. You’ll need 2 cups of cooked rice, so make sure you have that ready before you begin assembling the casserole.
Preheat the Oven: Get your oven heating up to 400°F. While it’s warming up, grab a 9×13 baking pan, spray it with some nonstick cooking spray, and set it aside.
Mix it Up: In a large mixing bowl, combine the uncooked chicken cubes, all three cans of condensed cream soups, salt, garlic powder, pepper, the cooked rice, and chicken broth. Stir everything together until it’s well mixed.
Assemble the Casserole: Take your mixture and pour it into your greased baking pan. Spread it out evenly so it cooks perfectly in all of the areas. If one side is really thick and one side is really thin, it can cook unevenly.
Add the Final Touch: Dot the top of your casserole mixture with the pats of butter. This will give it a nice, rich flavor as it bakes.
Bake: Slide your casserole into the oven and bake it for about 60 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s bubbly around the edges and hot all the way through in the middle.
- Now I know the final image doesn’t look appetizing- after all, chicken, rice, and soup are kinda brown – but it TASTES terrific.
Campbell’s Cream Soups work Perfectly.
When looking for recipes based on cans you already have in your pantry, not everyone keeps cream of celery stocked up. You can easily alter your cream of celery for a varying creamy sauce flavor.
The following condensed creamy soups can give chicken and rice bake and the rice mixture tons of mouthwatering flavors and tons of variety in what works for your family’s dinner needs and menu changes.
- Cream of Asparagus
- Cream of Broccoli
- Cream of Roasted Mushroom Garlic
- Cream of Potato
- Cream of Bacon
Casserole Variations & Tips
Although unnecessary, chicken and rice can have extra cheese added near the end with a 2-3 minute broil (watch it, broiling moves quickly!) for a layer of browned cheese on top.
I highly suggest using only white rice for this dish versus minute rice, wild rice, or brown rice.
For additional flavor, other ingredients that go well with this recipe are bits of yellow onion (or onion powder), Italian Seasoning, or whole cloves of garlic.
What side dish to serve with a Casserole Bake.
Serve this recipe alongside something colorful like cucumber salad, marinated tomato salad, or even a strawberry spinach salad – which will lighten up the plate and complement this savory and heavy meal with a light side dish.
Chicken and Rice Casserole (Campbell’s Soup)
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts cut into 1″ cubes (uncooked)
- 1 can 10.5 oz, cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can 10.5 oz, cream of chicken soup
- 1 can 10.5 oz, cream of celery soup
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup pats of butter
Instructions
- Make sure you cook the rice first – you need 2 cups of cooked white or long grain rice.
- Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 9×13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Add uncooked cut up chicken, all condensed cream soups, spices, COOKED rice and chicken broth in a mixing bowl and combine well.
- Pour chicken bake mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly.
- Dot with pats of butter on top of casserole.
- Bake chicken rice casserole for 60 minutes or until bubbly around the edges and the middle is heated and cooked through.
Video
Notes
- Cream of Asparagus
- Cream of Broccoli
- Cream of Roasted Mushroom Garlic
- Cream of Potato
- Cream of Bacon
- Or double up your cream of mushroom or cream of chicken
- Additionally, you could alter one of the cans for the same amount of sour cream
- Although unnecessary, chicken and rice can have extra cheese added near the end with a 2-3 minute broil (watch it, broiling moves quickly!) for a layer of browned cheese on top.
- Always cut the chicken into even pieces to make sure they cook at the same rate and evenly. If some pieces are too large and some too small, you will have undercooked and overcooked chicken.
- I highly suggest using only white rice for this dish versus minute rice, wild rice, or brown rice.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: The nutritional data provided here is auto-calculated and intended for your convenience only. As it’s generated via automation, its accuracy may be compromised. For precise nutritional insight, please compute the values utilizing the actual ingredients in your recipe through your chosen nutrition calculator or application.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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This is a great recipe! I am making it for the second time tonight, my family absolutely loves it!
Thanks Zack! We love it here too. Glad its a hit for your family. 🙂
~Trisha
I keep precooked chicken in my freezer. At what temperature and for how long would you recommend cooking with the rice and chicken precooked,
hi Mary, in this case because the rice is uncooked, I do not recommend putting fully cooked chicken into the rice bake and into the oven. I would suggest maybe cooking the rice and ingredients alone, then warming your chicken and adding at the end. The problem is if you put in chicken already cooked, its going to be overcooked by teh time the rice is done. But I do not see any reason that cant follow the recipe as instructed, without chicken and THEN adding.
I do not understand. You mention that the rice is uncooked but the recipe stresses the rice is COOKED. If both the chicken and rice are cooked then what is the problem? I am planning to fix this today and freeze, Please explain.
Guerry, because in this case she was asking if the chicken was precooked but the recipe is for uncooked chicken.
If she adds precooked chicken to the recipe as is, with uncooked rice, it will overcook the chicken while the rice is being made.
She didnt mention cooking the rice AND the chicken, just using the chicken cooked from her freezer with the recipe.
I don’t think its relevant to your personal situation if you are asking about making the dish and THEN freezing. Not using baked chicken IN the dish.
Does that make more sense?
Trisha
I’m curious to know if you tried this? I want to do the same thing (use chicken that is already cooked)! Seems like if the rice and chicken are both already cooked, the only change would be to maybe shorten the bake time??
Did you happen to try it?!
So I made this last night and it was amazing. It is just like something they used to make at an old job and I could never find a recipe that was like it until I came across yours. The only thing I did different was I pulled it out of the oven 5 minutes until the timer went off, gave it a little mix, and topped it with pepperjack cheese! Omg was it amazing!!!
Yum, I am so glad you enjoyed this chicken and rice!! Its one of my favorites too! ~trisha
My husband often requests chicken and rice ( I think he grew up having it a lot) neither of us have ever loved previous recipes. LOVE this one! Even the kiddos cleaned their plates. Will definitely make again!!
Janice, I am so happy that you enjoyed this chicken and rice! Its a family favorite of ours too because no one complains about chicken, hahaha!
Trisha
I love this recipe. I cut up celery and onions and added it also and about 15 minutes before it is done I add broccoli to the top
Devon, so happy that it made your table! I love your changes!
This recipe is wonderful! I have been making my Mom’s version of Chicken and Rice for years, but lately it just didn’t cook correctly. I made it just like the recipe, except I used Golden Mushroom instead of the Cream of Celery. It was superb! OH ALSO…you can use uncooked rice, IF you use the Uncle Ben’s Original Rice in the orange box. It worked perfectly. It does not work with regular uncooked rice though. Thanks for the recipe!
Lana, yum, golden mushroom sounds delicious! Thanks for the tip on the uncooked rice. I always worry it wont be cooked all the way but glad you found a solution! Appreciate you sharing.
Much love,
Trisha
I forgot that I did add more broth halfway through.
I finally tried this recipe, and I’m very pleased with the outcome. It was still a little soupy after 1 hr., so I cooked it for an additional 30 mins and it wad perfect….it even looked like the picture. 😁
Will definitely put this recipe in the rotation.
Just made this today and it is absolutely amazing. My husband and I both went for seconds! I’ll definitely be making this again. Soooo delicious and full of flavor!!!
You need to recalculate the sodium content. Just in the three cans of soup, one cup of chicken broth & 1 teaspoon of salt is almost 9700mg of sodium. That comes out to over 1200mg per serving.
As noted on the recipe card below the nutritional values, you need to use your own app. The recipe card automatically attempts to calculate based on the information of the serving size and ingredients but is not something we check or can verify.
Can I add broccoli to this recipe?
I dont see why not!
Hi is this definitely the right calories a cup, just checking because I have to watch my calorie intake? And this is with the regular Campbell soup? Not the the healthy version.
Thank you
As noted, it auto calculates so if you are on a category restriction, you need to add ingredients and your portion to an app that specializes in recipes that can dial down the nutrition specific to what you need.
This recipe was a great starting point for what I was aiming for. The video helped me to foresee the adjustments I wanted to make.
First, I subbed thighs for the breasts.
Second, I thought it looked too soupy at the end for my tastes. I substituted a packet of onion soup mix for one of the cans of “cream of” soups. I also reduced the chicken broth addition from 1 cup to a half cup.
Third, I added some shredded cheddar and parmesan into the mixture, and I added some red pepper flakes and sliced baby bella mushrooms.
My “cream of” choices were one can celery and one can bacon.
The result was very good, with a bit of spice and the crunchy corners I was seeking.
Other notes:
I cooked the rice in my electric pressure cooker with a 1:1 ratio of rice to low sodium chicken broth.
I also used low sodium chicken broth into the mixture.
The result was that I found it to be quite salty but not too salty (I am very sensitive to something over salted.). My friend who ate with me added salt (She adds salt to everything.). My conclusion is that the salt amount was right on for an average salt-consuming person.
Thank you for the detailed review and your great cooking suggestions. I am glad this recipe was a great base for you to add some custom extras too for your taste buds. I appreciate you!
Trisha
Absolutely wonderful. The only thing I did differently was use a can of cheddar cheese soup in place of the cream of celery. My husband Loves it.
Thanks bonnie! So happy this chicken and rice casserole was a family hit. Its one of our favorite dinner recipes too.
Trisha
Do you cook it covered .?
no, you do not.
Awesome recipe! Pure comfort food! May try some dry onion soup mix next time. But great as is! Used almost 3 breasts (had to boil a little for my pups). I also put uncooked rice (Uncle Bens …. all I buy), about a little shy of 1 1/2 cups, and cooked it as the recipes says and it was perfect! I let mine set about 30 minutes still covered with foil still covering and it was a perfect consistency. Didn’t run on the plate at all. Great recipe!
Thank you Teri! We make this one around my own house at least once a month. I appreciate your recipe feedback.
Trisha
With 3 cans of soup, a cup of chicken broth & a teaspoon of salt, the title of this blog is spot on.
You can choose to use low sodium of all of those items if you prefer. The dish, however, does not taste salty.
Why does this say EXTRA CHEESE may be added when there isn’t any mention of cheese in it to begin with 🤷🏻♀️. I’m wanting to make this in the morning for Sunday lunch but I just want to know where’s the first cheese, for there to be EXTRA CHEESE? ALSO, if I have parboiled rice do I have to cook it before starting?
I think I meant more of adding a layer of cheese as an extra element, but I can see how the wording might have been confusing in the article. I do not know how parboiled rice would change the recipe as parboiled and cooked rice are not the same. The rice should be all the way cooked through and not crunchy.
I make this at least 1 time a week for the last 10 yrs we love it! I use Costco rotisserie and uncooked rice and 375 degrees. I cooked covered for 40 minutes then take the cover off for 10 min more!
Love this recipe, so comforting and good 🙂
Man this is awesome. Takes me back to being a kid. Except this one is better. I think the original recipe by ‘that soup company’ only uses one can of soup. This is way tastier.
Thanks for making me feel like it’s 1985 again, lol. Gawd I’m old…
I was born in 78, so we will be old together!
I will try making it and try it
I made this recipe as is and it’s incredibly salty. It’s also too creamy for our tastes, even after leaving it in the oven for 20 extra minutes. I’ll make it one more time and omit the salt altogether and add another cup of rice to absorb the soup mixture and see if that helps.
It might have been too salty for your tastebuds with the canned soup (as it also has salt in it). Its fine to eliminate. 🙂