This post first appeared over at Real Housemoms where I’m a contributor. Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole is the ultimate comfort food layered with flavorful rice, chicken, a cheesy sauce, and crispy stuffing.
This is the casserole I grew up on. I loved it as a child and I still love it today. Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole will forever be on our meal rotation.
Of all the casseroles I’ve eaten, this is seriously one of the best. Why? First, the flavor and texture is awesome. Instead of using plain white rice you use the seasoned Long Grain and Wild Rice. So much flavor packed in the rice alone! Then in the casserole you’ve got some chicken, and yummy cheese and cream of chicken soup that create a nice sauce to hold everything together and gives moisture to the dish. And then to top it all off you add a layer of stuffing. I’m pretty much addicted to stuffing (Thanksgiving Stuffing) so having that on top is a dream come true. It adds the perfect amount of crispiness and flavor to round out the dish.
Second, you can make it ahead of time! And you don’t have the cook the chicken. Just cook your rice, layer everything in a casserole dish, and stick it in the fridge until an hour before you want to eat.
Third, it freezes great. Since our family is small, I like to split the ingredients into two 8×8 inch dishes and freeze one to have on hand. Then just place the casserole in the fridge the night before you want to eat it and cook it as directed. Easy Peasy! If you don’t want to keep your dish in the freezer, line it with foil before layer in the casserole. When the casserole freezes you can easily lift it out of the pan and put it in a freezer bag.
And finally, this casserole is great for feeding your own family but it’s also a perfect dish to take to those in need. I like to take this Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole or Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad to all those new mamas who are getting fragmented sleep and are just on survival mode.
Make it a complete meal by serving it with a side of salad, green beans, carrots… whatever. Your family will walk away from the table feeling full and nourished. Enjoy!
Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole
Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 6 ounce package Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice
- 4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- ¼ cup chicken broth or water
- Paprika
- 3 cups Pepperidge Farm herb seasoned stuffing
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions.
- Spray a 9”x13” casserole dish with cooking spray and pour rice into casserole dish. Cover rice with 1 cup grated cheese and then layer on uncooked chicken pieces over the top of cheese. Sprinkle chicken with paprika and layer with the remaining 1 cup grated cheese.
- Add broth (or water) to soup, mix, and spoon over top of the cheese.
- Add the melted butter to stuffing mix and spread over the top of the casserole.
- You can refrigerate overnight or cook immediately.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes.
Notes
Whole Recipe: Use a disposable pan OR line your dish with foil, grease, and assemble as directed. Freeze until solid and then lift the foil from the pan and wrap tightly with press & seal wrap or place in a large air tight freezer bag.
Half Recipe: Divide ingredients and assemble in two 8x8 inch pans (one disposable or lined with foil and sprayed).
Thawing: The day before you want to eat the casserole, place it back in the casserole dish and in the fridge. Cook as directed.
Thanks, Melanie. Your casserole looks great.
Can you freeze left overs after it’s been cooked???
I haven’t tried it but I think it would be fine.
I know the recipe says 4 chicken breasts, but about how big should they be – approximately how many pounds of chicken? I can’t wait to try this recipe this week!!
about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds.
When my family and I need comfort food, this is the recipe I reach for! It is so unbelievably delicious, and it’s easy for me to have the ingredients on hand. It’s hard to stop eating it, but if there are leftovers they reheat beautifully! Do yourself a favor and make this right away. I’m making it for dinner tonight. ????
This looks really tasty! We eat plain rice everyday and have not tried using it for casserole. I want to prepare this for my family, it looks easy and convenient to make as the ingredients are not hard to find and besides we eat rice anyway.
This looks so delicious! I can’t wait to try this one out! I’m sure my partner’s going to love this! Thank you for sharing!
I love this recipe! I surprised my husband with it when we had an at-home date night (in front of the fire and Christmas tree!) and he loved it too!!
Now I’m looking for an Instant Pot version. Any thoughts?
Can we use ground chicken? I don’t like big chunks of chicken. What would the cook time be?
I have never used ground chicken in a casserole dish like this but I would still cook it the same amount of time.You can always cut the chicken to whatever size you want.
This is my very favorite chicken casserole of all times! I worried a bit the first time I made it using raw chicken as the recipe calls for; but It turned out fantastic. I cut chicken breast fillets into bite size pieces… basically the less than the size of a nickel. It cooks up beautifully. It Gets Rave reviews from friends and family and many requests for it again.
Hint: Now Uncle Ben’s has a fast cook Wild Rice. Same exact thing, just takes less time. So, a great time saver!
I’m so happy to hear that Judy! It’s my favorite too. 🙂 Thanks for leaving a review!
I came across this recipe to take to a Thanksgiving potluck!. It looks delicious! I actually decided to roast a few chicken breasts ahead of time, then shred it for the casserole. I added spicy pork sausage too for a little kick. All I had to do was assemble the casserole and cook it until the cheese melted. Oh my! Just delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Not sure my comment got posted. This casserole is delicious!!!
How to warm left overs? I had 1/2 of it left. Transferred to an 8×8 dish.
Temp & time for cooked left overs? Thanks hanks!!
Judy, if it’s completely cooked you can microwave it or just bake it in the oven at 350 covered loosely for 15-20 minutes or until warmed throughout.
Well, I had not received your Email.. so I tried something on my own. Since I still wanted the crispy topping, I rememoved most of the topping that was on it, added a new layer of cheese, topped with a cup and a half of the herb stuffing mixed with 1/4 cup of melted butter. Warmed at 350 for about 20-25 minutes uncovered. It was just like the day I first baked it.
Hi, I am making this tomorrow. I got herb seasoned cubed stuffing. It’s a 12 0z bag. Is that what I’m supposed to use?
Also on the back of the bag it says to add a lot of ingredients like onions, celery, etc. Am I supposed to add those and am I supposed to cook the stuffing before adding to casserole?
Hey Bo! You use 3 cups of just what is in the bag. You’re just mixing the dried bread cubes with melted butter.
Hi! Can I substitute regular cooked wild rice (rather than Uncle Ben’s)? If so how much do you think I’d need? Just trying to use what I have in my pantry. (:
Shannon, The only problem is you won’t have the seasonings. The amount of rice is 3/4 cup. I haven’t tried this yet but this is what I’d do for seasonings- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 dried teaspoon parsley.
Hi. The Uncle Ben’s rice I bought said Original Recipe and came with an herb seasoning packet. Does yours? You didn’t mention it so I was unsure.
Yes! You make it with the herb seasoning packet according to the directions on the box.
This was so good!!! I used cream of chicken & mushroom soup (they now have that!). I am wondering if I add in vegetables next time does it change the consistency? Maybe some broccoli, carrots and mushrooms.
Yum! I’ll have to try that flavor with it. And adding vegetables to it sounds delicious! I haven’t tried it but as long as it’s not too watery of a vegetable (like zucchini) then the consistency should remain the same. Let me know what you used and how it turned out.
Are you putting the chicken in raw or cooking it before hand?
You put the chicken in raw.
Does the chicken breast needed to be cooked first?
Nope! You put it in raw. So easy!
We absolutely loved this casserole! I made my own stuffing for the top and it turned out so yummy. Thank you for sharing, we will definitely be having this again.
Amy, Homemade stuffing on top sounds amazing! I’m totally trying that next time. So happy to hear you liked the recipe! 🙂
Are we making the stuffing completely or just adding melted butter to the hard uncooked stuffing mix?
Tiffany, You are must melting the butter, mixing it with the dry uncooked stuffing bread crumbs, and then pouring that on top.
Yes I read it wrong and thats what i did. Turned out great! Thank you!
If you have cooked chicken already should the cook time be cut in half? Have you made it with cooked chicken? I have some shredded cooked chicken I wanted to use in a casserole 🙂
Sheana, I’ve never made it with cooked chicken but if you do you just need to cook it until the cheese melts and the stuffing is crispy enough for you. I’d cook it for 20 minutes and then turn the heat up to broil and cook for a couple minutes until the stuffing is browned and crispy.
Am I suppose to cover with foil??
If it starts getting too browned towards the end of baking you can lay a piece on top (no tight). You don’t want to cook it covered or you won’t get that crispy top.
How long does it have to bake? The recipe says 60 minutes but above the recipe, where it states the prep time, it says cook time 1 hour 20 minutes.
Hey Kelly! After assembled you bake for 60 minutes. The total cook time says 1 hour 20 minutes because it takes 20 minutes for the rice to cook and then 60 for the full casserole.
I thought the rice was already cooked. That’s what the instructions say.
The first step in the directions is to cook the rice. That takes 20 minutes. Then you assemble the casserole and put it in the oven. That takes 60 more minutes. All together, cooking time is 1 hour and 20 minutes.
How long do I need to bake it? The recipe says 60 minutes but above the recipe, where it lists prep time, it lists cook time as 1 hour 20 minutes. Thanks!
Have you made this in multiple batches to have some in the freezer? Wondering how well this well hold up in the freezer.
This is how I freeze an extra casserole. Since we have a small family I divide it into two 8×8 inch pans and then once it’s frozen solid and I remove it from the pan and put it in a gallon size freezer zip-lock bag.
Wow…totally missed that in the blog part right above the recipe! Do you cook it before freezing it?
Liza, Nope. Just assemble and freeze. Place the frozen casserole in the fridge the day before so it can thaw and then cook as normal. 🙂
Making this tonight for my little family. Thank you for this recipe, it looks so very yummy. ????
I hope you and you family enjoyed it, Bria!
This casserole looks amazing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Thank Paige! It’s so so good. Creamy, filling, comforting, easy… everything a casserole should be!