The ULTIMATE Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe

This cheesy chicken and rice casserole is packed full of creamy, cheesy, meaty goodness. It combines tender chicken, mushrooms, and rice in a rich sauce that's loaded with flavor. What's even better than how it tastes though, is how easy it is to make. In fact, 10 minutes is all it takes to have this chicken and rice casserole prepped and ready for the oven.

The Best Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

I don't know about you, but I don't think there's a better savory combination than chicken and rice. And I'm not going to lie, out of all the chicken and rice recipes out there, this casserole might be my favorite one!

Honestly, it might even be my favorite casserole ever, and that's saying something because I've made a ton of casserole recipes recently. I just love how quickly this casserole comes together and how few ingredients you need to make it. Not to mention, even the pickiest of eaters - like my kids - love it too.

By the way, since most of the time it takes to make this casserole is completely passive - it's just oven baking time - you'll have plenty of time to make some delicious sides to go with it. A few of my favorites to make with it are these Chinese green beans, these honey glazed carrots, and this sweet potato cornbread.

Ingredients

As I just mentioned, all you need to make this cheesy chicken and rice casserole are a few kitchen/pantry staples. In fact, you probably have most - if not all - of them at home already! 

Anyway, here's everything you'll need to make it:

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. flour
• ½ tsp. garlic, minced
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 ½ cup chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 ½ cup chicken, cooked and shredded (a rotisserie chicken works great)
• 1 ½ cup rice, cooked
• ½ cup mushrooms, sliced

Simple stuff, right?

By the way, if you have some leftover chicken and rice, you can give this poppy seed chicken casserole a try next. It's another one of my favorite chicken and rice recipes.

Ingredient Substitutions And Suggestions

While I recommend making this cheesy chicken and rice casserole with the ingredients listed above, you can definitely experiment with some additional ingredients to change up the flavor. So with that said, I've listed some of my favorite ideas below.

Add Veggies

If you want to make this casserole even heartier, you can pretty much add any vegetables that you want to it. Frozen broccoli florets, bell pepper, green peppers, mushrooms, and carrots are all great additions. Just let the veggies thaw first if you're using frozen veggies, then add them to the casserole before baking.

Add More Cheese

Everyone knows that there's no such thing as too much cheese. This cheesy casserole uses shredded mozzarella cheese, but you can also add shredded cheddar cheese to it or any other type of cheese you want for some extra cheesy goodness. 

How To Make Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Now, it's almost time to make the casserole!

Again, making this cheesy chicken and rice casserole recipe is about as easy as it gets. You literally just add the ingredients to a pan, let 'em cook for a bit, then put everything in a casserole dish and let your oven take care of the rest.

Anyway, with that said, let's not waste another second and get cooking!

Step 1: Create The Roux

First things first, you're going to preheat your oven to 350°F (180ºC).

Then, you'll want to make a roux for the creamy sauce. A roux is a paste-like mixture that provides the base for this dish. So you can start making this by heating a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and adding the butter and flour to it.

Then, you'll just want to let the butter and flour cook for a couple of minutes - until they form a paste-like consistency.

Step 2: Cook The Other Ingredients

Once the roux has formed, you can add the garlic, wine, and chicken broth to the skillet and cook everything for a couple more minutes - until the mixture starts to thicken. Then, you can add half of the shredded cheese to the skillet and continue cooking and stirring until all the cheese has melted.

Finally, you can add the cooked chicken, rice, and mushrooms to the skillet and give everything a good mix, so it's well combined. 

Step 3: Bake The Casserole

Once all of the casserole ingredients are well combined, you can transfer the mixture to a medium-sized baking dish or casserole dish. Then, you'll want to top it with the rest of the shredded cheese and bake it for about 20 minutes or until the cheese layer is bubbly and golden brown.

Finally, take the baking dish out of the oven and serve the casserole hot. Enjoy!

How To Store Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

This cheesy chicken and rice casserole recipe will make 6 servings, so if you serve it for a family dinner, you may have some leftovers.

If you do end up with some leftovers, you can store the cooked chicken and rice casserole in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. With that said, you'll be using already-cooked chicken and rice, so the amount of time you can store the leftovers depends on how old the chicken and rice are. 

By the way, if you want to store this casserole for even longer, you can freeze the cooked casserole in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for up to 6 months.

How To Reheat Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

When you're ready to enjoy this chicken with rice casserole again, you'll definitely want to reheat it first. So, to reheat the casserole, just put it back in a baking dish and warm it up in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until it's warmed through.

Alternatively, to warm up a single serving of it, you can use the microwave. Just heat it up in 45-second intervals until it reaches your desired temperature.

FAQS About This Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe

What is the best chicken for this recipe?

The best cut of chicken to use in this recipe is chicken breasts. I like to use the chicken breasts from a rotisserie chicken when I make this chicken casserole, but leftover ones - if you have some on hand - will work just as well.

How can I add extra flavor to my casserole?

There are lots of different seasonings and ingredients that can boost the flavor of this casserole. You can add some Italian seasoning, ranch seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, or sour cream to the casserole mixture before baking it. In fact, I've been adding a couple of tablespoons of ranch seasoning when I've been making this recipe lately and now my wife won't let me make it without it.

What rice should I use in this casserole?

You can use any rice that you want to make this cheesy rice casserole. Things like white rice, brown rice, and even instant rice will work great. Just be sure to use cooked rice in this casserole since that's what this recipe calls for.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make cheesy chicken and rice casserole!

This really is one of my family's favorite recipes, particularly when we are in need of some good old-fashioned comfort food.

The combination of chicken, rice, and cheese in the creamy sauce is truly something that's hard to beat.

Anyway, I hope your family enjoys this easy chicken casserole recipe as much as mine does!

As always, if you give it a try, leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts.

More Chicken Casserole Recipes

If you liked this recipe, we have a ton of other easy chicken casseroles on the blog that you can try out next!

Here are some of our most popular recipes:

• Chicken divan
• Chicken fajita casserole
• Chicken noodle casserole
• Chicken and potato casserole
• Chicken mushroom casserole

Oh, and as always, make sure to check us out on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube! We post new recipes on them every day.

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