This Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole is the ultimate comfort food! We’ve replaced the traditional canned condensed soup with a simple homemade cream sauce for a healthier take, and there’s no need to pre-cook the rice, broccoli, or chicken. Simply dump it all into a casserole dish, and bake.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Broccoli Chicken Rice Casserole
- Recipe Tip
- How to Serve Chicken Broccoli Rice
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More of Our Best Casserole Recipes
- Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole Recipe
This recipe is…
Here at Fed and Fit, we love a good casserole. Typically, they’re easy to make, a great candidate for hiding veggies from picky eaters, and they can feed an army.
This cheesy chicken broccoli and rice casserole is no exception. In fact, it’s probably one of the easiest and tastiest casseroles you’ll ever make because it doesn’t require any cooking ahead of time. Instead, you’ll simply mix up the raw ingredients, dump them into a casserole dish, and bake.
If you ever look at the recipes for the casseroles you ate growing up, you’ll probably notice that cream of chicken or mushroom soup was included in the recipe. We wanted to make this chicken broccoli rice casserole a bit healthier, so we decided to skip the traditional gloppy, flavorless, filled-with-odd-ingredients canned soup in favor of a homemade version. Don’t be intimidated though – it only takes a few steps and the homemade cream of chicken soup will give this casserole tons of flavor!
The resulting dish is creamy, flavorful, and perfectly balanced. Your whole family will love this one! If you’re looking for more weeknight-friendly casseroles, try our Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Pizza Ranch Chicken Casserole, Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole, or Beef Taco Casserole.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Requires just 15 minutes of prep
- Delicious and crowd-pleasing combo of chicken, rice, cheese, and broccoli that everyone’s sure to love
- Quick and easy homemade cream of chicken soup base is so much tastier than the usual canned stuff
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole Recipe Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to whip up this comforting broccoli chicken rice casserole. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
For the Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup:
- Onion – you’ll need 1/2 onion, diced (may substitute with 1 teaspoon onion powder)
- Garlic – use 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- Butter – we call for 3 tablespoons salted butter or ghee
- Flour – 3 tablespoons thickens the soup (we used this one for gluten-free)
- Salt – 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt seasons the soup mix
- Black pepper – you’ll use 1/4 teaspoon
- Thyme – 1 teaspoon dried thyme adds a nice herbaceousness
- Chicken Broth – 3 cups is the base of this recipe
- Milk – 2 cups milk (or full-fat coconut milk) makes this soup extra creamy
For the Casserole:
- Rice – we call for 1 1/2 cups of white rice
- Chicken – you’ll need 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
- Broccoli – use 3/4 pound broccoli florets, which is about 5 cups
- Cheddar cheese – 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese gives this casserole its cheesy goodness!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
Here are a few easy ways you can make this recipe your own:
- Homemade soup v. store-bought – If you’d like to save time, you can use 2 boxes of this cream of chicken soup plus one cup of chicken broth in place of making the homemade version.
- Go dairy-free –To make a dairy-free version of this recipe, use full-fat canned coconut milk in place of the milk, and vegan butter instead of standard butter.
- Broccoli – If you’d like, use 3/4 pound frozen broccoli florets in place of fresh for this recipe.
How to Make Broccoli Chicken Rice Casserole
See how this cheesy, comforting casserole comes together with just 15 minutes of prep.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Add the butter to a saute pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened.
Step 2: Add the flour to the pot and whisk to combine, then slowly pour in the chicken broth, whisking the mixture constantly to ensure there are no lumps.
Once smooth, whisk in the milk, salt, pepper, and thyme and let cook for 1-2 minutes, until the sauce is thick and bubbling.
Step 3: Add the rice, chicken, and broccoli to a 4-quart baking dish, then pour the sauce over and toss to combine.
Make sure that the sauce completely covers the rice mixture, if it doesn’t, add another 1/2 cup of broth or switch to a different dish.
Cover the dish with foil and make sure that the foil is secured very tightly. It needs to steam to ensure the rice cooks through.
Step 4: Bake for 50 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked through and the liquid is absorbed, then remove the foil and sprinkle with cheese and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted. Enjoy!
Recipe Tip
Freezing – This casserole freezes like a dream, making it a perfect dish to make-ahead, or for meal prep. You can either freeze a fully-baked casserole whole then reheat it in a 350 F oven for 1 hour, or you can freeze individual portions and reheat them by microwaving for 3-4 minutes or by baking in a 350 F oven for 15-20 minutes.
How to Serve Chicken Broccoli Rice
Serve this casserole piping hot, straight from the oven!
How to Store and Reheat
Cover and store the casserole in its baking dish for up to five days. Or, freeze it for for up to 6 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! Once you’ve made the sauce, all you have to do is chop up the raw chicken and broccoli, then combine it with the rice and sauce. Then, you’ll place it all in the casserole dish, cover with a tight-fitting lid or aluminum foil, and cook for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, you’ll remove the lid from the pot and sprinkle the cheese over, then bake for another 15 minutes to let it melt.
Unfortunately, you can’t substitute cauliflower rice for white rice. The liquid in this recipe is absorbed by the rice, so substituting cauliflower rice would result in a very soupy texture. BUT the good news is that we’ve already got a Paleo cheesy broccoli casserole. If you want to make it a full meal, we recommend adding about 4 cups shredded chicken to the broccoli and cauliflower mixture before baking.
We haven’t tested substituting brown rice for white rice in this recipe yet. Typically, brown rice requires more liquid to cook than white rice, so we’d recommend adding an extra cup of broth to the recipe.
YES! That’s the beauty of this dish, honestly! Everything goes in the oven raw and comes out perfectly cooked.
We tested this chicken broccoli rice casserole in the Instant Pot but found that the Instant Pot failed to come to pressure and the casserole routinely burned the bottom of the pot. So we can only recommend the oven method for now!
Many of you have asked about making this casserole without the chicken so you can make it as a side dish for Thanksgiving, or for a vegetarian entree. You can absolutely leave the chicken out (and substitute vegetable stock for chicken), and it will still bake up perfectly.
This chicken rice broccoli casserole freezes like a dream! You can either freeze a fully-baked casserole whole then reheat it in a 350 F oven for 1 hour, or you can freeze individual portions and reheat them by microwaving for 3-4 minutes or by baking in a 350 F oven for 15-20 minutes.
More of Our Best Casserole Recipes
If you tried this recipe for Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole, or any other recipe on the Fed & Fit website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
For the cream of chicken soup*:
- 1/2 onion, diced (may substitute with 1 teaspoon onion powder)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (may substitute with 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 3 tablespoons salted butter or ghee
- 3 tablespoons flour, we used this one for gluten-free
- 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups milk or full-fat coconut milk
For the casserole:
- 1 1/2 cups white rice
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3/4 pound broccoli florets, about 5 cups
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Add the butter to a saute pan over medium heat, once melted, add the onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened.
- Add the flour to the pot and whisk to combine, then slowly pour in the chicken broth, whisking the mixture constantly to ensure there are no lumps. Once smooth, whisk in the milk, salt, pepper, and thyme and let cook for 1-2 minutes, until the sauce is thick and bubbling.
- Add the rice, chicken, and broccoli to a 4-quart baking dish, then pour the sauce over and toss to combine. Make sure that the sauce completely covers the rice mixture, if it doesn’t, add another 1/2 cup of broth or switch to a different dish. Cover the dish with foil and make sure that the foil is secured very tightly. It needs to steam to ensure the rice cooks through.
- Bake for 50 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked through and the liquid is absorbed, then remove the foil and sprinkle with cheese and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Recipe Notes
- If you’d like to save time, you can use 2 boxes of this cream of chicken soup plus one cup of chicken broth in place of making the homemade version.
- For dairy-free: use full-fat canned coconut milk in place of the milk.
Nutrition
Hi!!
I’d love to make this recipe but hubby really doesn’t like broccoli… any other veggies that could be used instead?
We’ve only ever tried it with broccoli, Cecy! If you swap the broccoli for another veggie, please let us know how it goes!
Maybe a silly question, but do you cook the chicken before adding to the mixture??
Not a silly question at all! Nope, it goes in raw!
That’s a lot of sodium. Does all of that sodium come from the chicken broth, salted Butter and salt itself? If so – could I use low sodium chicken broth and unsalted butter?
Sure, Satah!
Second time making this recipe and it will definitely be a staple in our house through the coming fall and winter months. So good!
So glad to hear that, Rachel! We’re so happy that you love this recipe!
I had high hopes for this recipe, but should have known that cooking all these different ingredients for the same time would be a disaster. I made a 2/3 recipe (since I had only 1 pound of chicken). After 35 minutes the chicken was mostly raw, the broccoli was already very over cooked and the riced hadn’t absorbed any of the liquid.
Luckily we had leftovers in the fridge, because this entire dish got tossed.
Oh no, so sorry to hear this, Michelle! We haven’t had that experience and are so bummed that happened to you!
I marinated the chicken ( I used chicken thighs) in plain Greek yogurt with salt/pepper/garlic/oregano/onion powder and lemon for a few hours before and it was AMAZING! I have made this recipe 3 times and loved every time! So easy to sub!
Yay! So glad you love it, Sophie!
This is tasty and oh, so easy. You could probably sub cauliflower for chicken to make it meatless…(except for the chic broth)
I used the ghee, and low fat coconut milk options. I didn’t feel like chopping so used garlic powder and 2tsp umami seasoning (Trader Joe’s) in place of onion powder and S&P), and of course tons of fresh broccoli. I also add cheddar at the end .
So glad you loved it, Wendy!
Could I substitute brown rice for white?? Do I need to change anything else if I do that?
We haven’t tested it, Kelley, but we know it would definitely take some tweaks to the recipe. It’s on our list to test!!
Would swapping in chicken thighs for breasts require any change in the cook time for this recipe?
Nope, the time should stay the same, Sam!
I made this recipe tonight and it was a hit! I used ghee, coconut milk, almond flour and I didn’t have broccoli but I did have frozen broccoli rice(finely diced broccoli). with the rice and it was perfect!
So awesome, Mindy! We’re glad it was a hit!
Can I make this with already cooked chicken? 🙂
That should work, Mallory!
Making this tonight! My broccoli is frozen – do I need to thaw first, or can I cook it frozen?
Frozen is fine, Brooke!
Thank you so much for providing such high-quality recipes. Nothing is more frustrated than putting a lot of time and effort into a dish only for it to be bland or just not good, but that’s never a problem here! I could not get my rice to soften so next time I will have to really work on my foil skills, but it was delicious and I love the convenience of a casserole!
Oh no, I’m so sorry your rice didn’t soften, but I’m so glad you still enjoyed it!
If I plan to use a dutch oven, should I alter the cook time? Any other changes to the recipe if using a dutch oven? Its my first time using one!
It should be the same amount of time, Megan!! Enjoy!
This was actually even better than I expected! Wanted a health-ified comfort food and this was spot on. Was flavorful and delicious. Hubby and I both went back for more. Will be making again! I did add a little liquid while I mixed the ingredients and then had to add 5 more minutes of cooking time with foil, but only 10 minutes with cheese without foil.
SO glad you and your hubby loved it, Megan!! Thanks so much for sharing!