Broccoli Chicken & Rice Casserole
Posted Sep 14, 2022, Updated Nov 15, 2022
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In this broccoli chicken and rice casserole, broccoli, rice and chicken are baked in a homemade sauce (NO canned soups) for a delicious, hearty & nutritious dinner recipe that’s easy to prepare.
I recently realized I needed more casserole recipes in our repertoire. So I created this broccoli chicken and rice casserole.
I think I shied away from casseroles because so many of them call for canned soups and other processed ingredients. So I took things into my own hands and created the most delicious chicken and rice casserole with a from-scratch sauce.
This broccoli chicken and rice casserole is a hearty and healthy main dish that your entire family will love!
Chicken and Rice Casserole: Ingredients & Substitutions
- White rice. brown rice or wild rice work as well, you will just need to increase the cooking time because those varieties take longer to cook than white rice.
- Broccoli. I prefer using fresh broccoli florets, but I have also used frozen with great results. Be sure to cut the broccoli into small pieces so it cooks well.
- Salted butter. unsalted butter works well too.
- Onion. use yellow, white or red onion in this recipe.
- Minced garlic. freshly minced or jarred both work well.
- Whole milk. 2% milk or half and half are good substitutes. I do not recommend using fat-free milk.
- All-purpose flour. Use gluten-free all-purpose flour if desired. Also bread flour works well in a pinch.
- Chicken broth. use store-bought or homemade.
- Better Than Bouillon Chicken base. This is my favorite chicken base by far and imparts the best flavor. You can use another brand or bouillon cubes or chicken broth/stock if necessary.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Casserole
It takes about 5 minutes to make the sauce for this recipe, and then all you need ot do is assemble and bake. Follow the step-by-step instructions below, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Make the sauce
Begin by making the by whisking together milk, flour, onion powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder in a medium bowl.
Then, in a 5-quart saucepan, cook butter, garlic and onion together until onion is soft.
Next, add the chicken broth and chicken base to the saucepan, whisk to combine and bring to a boil.
Once the mixture is boiling, add the milk mixture and cook over medium-high heat until thickened (1-2 minutes).
Assemble
Once the sauce is finished, it’s time to assemble the chicken and rice casserole. Combine the sauce, rice and chicken breasts in a 9×13” baking dish.
Then, cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and stir in the broccoli, cover and cook 25 to 30 more minutes until rice is tender.
Remove the foil in the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the top and thicken the sauce
Serve
Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving warm. The rice soaks in more liquid as it cools and the casserole thickens up.
Serve warm with garnished with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
I usually serve this chicken rice casserole warm as a complete meal (no side dishes). You can absolutely add some sides if you wish!
- Salad. for extra veggies serve it with a salad: burrata salad, kale salad, etc.
- Or try this winter fruit salad!
- Dinner rolls. These homemade dinner rolls are the perfect compliment to this chicken pot pie!
- Bread. Dutch oven bread, homemade french bread and Pretzel bread are great choices.
- Vegetables. A side of roasted green beans, roasted carrots, or balsamic roasted vegetables.
Store
Store leftover chicken broccoli rice casserole in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven or on the stovetop.
Freeze
I suggest freezing this casserole after baking so you just need to reheat it and serve. You can freeze the entire casserole or individual servings.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, just be sure to bake the recipe long enough to ensure the chicken is cooked all the way.
In this recipe, the rice is added before it’s cooked.
This chicken rice casserole is baked covered for 30 minutes, and uncovered the remaining 20 minutes.
It takes 50-60 minutes for rice to cook in a casserole.
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Broccoli Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- 10 oz broccoli florets cut into small pieces (283 g)
Sauce
- 2 TBS salted butter
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 TBS minced garlic
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 TBS better than bouillon chicken base
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Make the sauce
- In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, flour, onion powder, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder.
- In a 5-quart saucepan, cook butter, garlic and onion together until onion is soft.
- Add chicken broth and chicken base to the saucepan, whisk to combine and bring to a boil.
- One the mixture is boiling, add the milk mixture and cook over medium-high heat until thickened (1-2 minutes).
- Assemble
- Add the sauce, rice and chicken breasts to a 9×13” baking dish.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and stir in broccoli, cover and cook 25 to 30 more minutes until rice is tender. Remove the foil in the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the top and thicken the sauce
- Serve
- Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving warm. The rice soaks in more liquid as it cools and the casserole thickens up.
- Serve warm with garnished with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Video
Notes
- White rice. brown rice or wild rice work as well, you will just need to increase the cooking time because those varieties take longer to cook than white rice.
- Broccoli. I prefer using fresh broccoli florets, but I have also used frozen with great results. Be sure to cut the broccoli into small pieces so it cooks well.
- Salted butter. unsalted butter works well too.
- Onion. use yellow, white or red onion in this recipe.
- Minced garlic. freshly minced or jarred both work well.
- Whole milk. 2% milk or half and half are good substitutes. I do not recommend using fat-free milk.
- All-purpose flour. Use gluten-free all-purpose flour if desired. Also bread flour works well in a pinch.
- Chicken broth. use store-bought or homemade.
- Better Than Bouillon Chicken base. This is my favorite chicken base by far and imparts the best flavor. You can use another brand or bouillon cubes or chicken broth/stock if necessary.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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The photos in this post were taken by Nyssa from Nyssa’s Kitchen.
What actually us better than bouillon? There is nothing like it where I live. Ordinary powder and cubes but nothing like the better than bouillon. Help?
Absolutely love your recipes, so simple, tasting and easy to make. Thank you!
If I were to freeze it as a meal prep, how would you reheat it?
This recipe is perfect. I loath condensed soup cans and felt this was much easier to control. Do you know how I could adjust the recipe to use riced cauliflower rather than rice?
Hello! Ok – so I am not a fan of cauliflower masquerading as a replacement for grains like rice and bread! 😉 The only way I could suggest using it would be if you used already cooked chicken (e.g. got a rotisserie chicken, baked some chicken breasts, or made shredded chicken). The cauliflower will cook significantly faster than the chicken and will turn into mush if you try to just use it as a rice replacement. So you would also need to decrease the baking time.
I mixed my broccoli into casserole before I baked. Should I try to remove it before I bake it. Will it work if all ingredients are baked at one time. So mad at myself.
The broccoli will likely be overcooked if it’s baked the full amount of time, please tell me what you decided to do and how it turned out.
I made this recipe and it turned out great. Making the sauce was a little more labor intensive than opening a can of soup but soooo worth it. I added some freshly shredded cheddar cheese to the sauce and on top in final stage of cooking. I also use the “Better than Bullion” to make the chicken broth, it really is the best bullion and I’ve been using it for years in all of my soups and stews.
Thank You! I will be making this again and again!
PS: Not so sure about the 12 servings. If I were making for 12 people I would have to make two of these because everyone will want seconds and 1 cup of this delicious meal wouldn’t be enough lol.
This was really yummy. I used chicken thighs (just cooked a little longer at 160 celsius)
and a bit extra salt and pepper. For the last 5 minutes of cooking time I added some mozzarella cheese. I liked the fact I did not have to pre cook the rice, chicken or broccoli as I never have time for that.
Thanks so much for this recipe 👌
Thank you so much Tracey! I’m so glad you love this recipe!
I loved this recipe the only issue is that the rice didn’t fully cook and I followed instructions. I will try again but probably cook the rice for ten minutes and then pour in the casserole to bake, perhaps this will do the trick.