The Best Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole is made completely from scratch in this easy one pan recipe that’s sure to please the whole family!
Chicken and Rice Casserole is a classic family favorite here in the United States. It is total comfort food. In this recipe we’ve stuck with a completely “from scratch” concept. In addition, this recipe is made in just ONE pan.
A lot of times nowadays, chicken and rice casserole comes from a box or is made from a bunch of canned ingredients. Not here! We are bringing you completely from scratch deliciousness for your family to enjoy. You still get to dump everything in a pan, but this time it’s all whole, real ingredients. There is ABSOLUTELY NO cream of chicken in this dish.
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Rice Options:
We recommend using only regular white rice in this recipe. Instant rice is not a good option and will overcook in this casserole. Brown rice requires a much longer cooking time than white rice and is also not recommended for this recipe.
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Is Best Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole really made in only one pan?
This recipe is made directly in a 9×13 baking dish. There’s no need to dirty any bowls or pots or pans. Simply stir everything together directly in the 9×13 pan, add in your chicken, season, and bake. It’s that simple!
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Chicken Options?
Chicken thighs are used in this recipe because they will stay moist during the long baking process. If you prefer, chicken breasts can be used instead, but you’ll want to check the chicken and rice to see if both are done after baking for 1 hour. The additional 30 minutes of cooking may be unnecessary for chicken breasts. Use thick chicken breasts for best results.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious chicken thigh recipes:
- Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Easy Garlic Lime Skillet Chicken
- Mom’s Chicken Cacciatore
- Mexican-Spiced Chicken Thighs
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Best Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole
- 2 cups white rice
- 1 medium white onion diced
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 to 6 whole chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan.
- Stir rice, onion, 3 tablespoons melted butter, and flour together directly in the 9×13 pan until flour has no more visible white specks. Spread rice mixture out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Pour in chicken broth, heavy cream, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.
- Place chicken thighs on top of rice mixture. Brush remaining melted butter on top and sprinkle chicken with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and paprika (optional).
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
- Remove foil and bake another 30 minutes until rice and chicken are cooked through and the chicken skin crisps up. For crispier skins, place under the broiler setting for 2-3 minutes before serving. Serve hot.
I made this tonight and I would modify it next time by sautéing the onions first, using only half an onion vs whole (it was VERY onion-y). I would also cut the rice down by 1/3 and add in quartered baby Bella mushrooms and some large chunks of broccoli. Also if only using 4 chicken thighs your rice to chicken ratio will be large and you’ll end up with lots of leftover rice…it def needs 6 pcs of chicken if made again sans veggies.
I did almost exactly that. I Pre cooked brown rice some. . I put a frozen bag of broccoli in and made a cheese sauce. Threw in left overs from roasted chicken. It was great!
Rachel – you are a lifesaver!!! I hate de-boning – removing the skin. This recipe is PERFECTION!! So easy so tasty ?. Btw, I love all of your FB videos – you’re my fave cook to watch!!
This is a great recipe! I’m making it for the third time tonight. It’s one of those recipes that is really hard to mess up…so it’s perfect for me ?. I’m only one person , so I cut the recipe in half and it came out perfect with the same cooking time as the original, whole recipe. The first time I made it I used two chicken thighs and found the rice to chicken ratio to be too high. Now when I cut the recipe in half I use 3 chicken thighs and find that leaves me with the right… Read more »
What kind of rice long grain
Hi Patricia!
What kind of rice did you use?
Thank you
I used Jasmine rice, but you could use any white rice. I’ll be using brown rice next time to see how it turns out.
Very good and easy! I threw in some frozen peas and only used 4 cups of broth. It turned out great.
Hi. I used sodium reduced broth, unsalted butter, and reduced the tsp. Of salt to 1/2 and added a bit more pepper. It turned out really well with a lot of flavor
Delicious. I used Uncle Ben’s rice, half & half (didn’t have heavy cream) and 4 cups of chicken broth (32 oz container) 6 thighs. Followed rest of recipe and it turned out fantastic! Definitely making again! Thank you.
My kids prefer chicken legs, would they work in this recipe? Thank you! ?
I used two thighs and two legs. They all turned out perfectly!
This was delicious!! I doubled the recipe and agree that the ratio of rice to chicken is great. The amount of liquids is great also so i know that next time I will use a much deeper baking dish.
This turned out really really good despite several errors on my part (I forgot to cover it for the first 30 min so I covered it the last hour). My husband who HATES baked chicken even liked it and said we should have it again. I was worried with the large amount of liquid but that all worked out fine too. Thanks!
You’re suppose to cover for an hour and then the last 30 minutes you uncover and finish cooking making sure the chicken and the rice are fully cooked 👍🏻
This is super easy to make and good for picky eaters. I really like the flavor. Thank you!
Very good! Will make in place of similar one using The soups. More healthy.
I made this and it was very tasty. BUT, the five cups of chicken broth were too much. I ended up cooking it in the oven, foil wrap off, for more than an extra hour and ended up with very mushy rice. Curious if anyone has done this with less broth?
One change I made was to added a can of diced tomatoes. I drained off the liquid and counted it in the cups of liquid I put in. So I don’t think that was the problem.
I had the same issue with too much liquid. I cooked mine longer without the foil til the liquid was gone. The rice was not fluffy and the dish ended up oily. I will try to modify next time.
Made it. Delicious. Lots of rice !!
I used brown rice which I cooked ahead of time. It tasted great. As a diabetic I avoid white rice.
We loved this at work, i made as a chicken dish for the daycare kids. Instead of chicken thighs i used chopped chicken on the top. The staff loved it too and asked for the recipe. This is going into our work place reciep index and will become a regular item on our menu!
Thank you for that wonderful recipe.