Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe
This easy Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe is a family favorite recipe! Fluffy rice and fresh vegetables are cooked in a homemade cheesy sauce (using no canned soup) and topped with a buttery Ritz cracker topping. Note: To make this recipe gluten-free, be sure to check out the gluten-free substitutions in my post above.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup long grain rice rinsed (I use basmati rice)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small carrot diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 1/2 bell pepper diced (any colour)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour (omit and see post above for a gluten-free substitution)
- 2 cups water
- 1 3/4 cups milk
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
Ritz Cracker Topping
- 3 dozen ritz crackers (replace with gluten free crackers to make this a gf dish)
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Lightly grease a 8x13 baking dish and add the rinsed rice and the cooked chicken.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots and saute for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add the bell pepper and onion and continue to saute until they are softened.
- Add the butter to the saucepan and once it is melted, add the flour. Mix to coat the vegetables and cook for a minute.
- Add the water, milk, bouillon cube, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Stir until it begins to thicken and it simmers. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese until melted. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Add the creamy sauce* to the baking dish and stir everything together. Cover it with foil tightly to prevent steam from escaping and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let rest with foil on for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and fluff the rice with a fork before serving.
Ritz Cracker Topping
- While the rice is resting for 5 minutes in the step above, begin making the ritz cracker topping.
- Place the ritz crackers in a ziploc bag and crush them using a rolling pin to turn them to crumbs. Alternatively you can pulse them in a food processor (just be careful not to turn them completely into a powder).
- Add the melted butter to the ziploc bag and then massage it into the crackers so they are evenly coated.
- After removing the foil from the rice and fluffing the rice with a fork as described in the step above. sprinkle on the ritz cracker topping.
- Return the casserole in the oven for 10 minutes.
Notes
Note: The nutritional information above is an estimate and may not be entirely accurate. If accuracy is important to you, please do your own calculations using the exact ingredient and brand names you are using.
Note: liquid should be hot when added to the baking dish as this begins the cooking process. If the liquid is cold, by the time it heats up in the oven, the rice will not have time to cook in the allotted time.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
Calories: 573kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 23gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 601mgPotassium: 335mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 2620IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 372mgIron: 1mg
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
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