This recipe for Broccoli Cheese Chicken Casserole is a hearty, filling dish that only takes a few minutes to prepare and it all cooks in one pan – even the rice and chicken!
Sure. I might develop recipes for a living, but I don’t exclusively cook my own stuff. We love trying new dishes and are always on the hunt for different things to try. I’m always on the hunt.
When I saw my friend Mary over at Sweet Little Bluebird share this Mamaw’s Chicken and Rice, I knew I had to try it. It’s a homey, comforting dish of rice, chicken, a few canned soups, and butter AND it all cooks in one dish. Now, I love anything with a chicken and rice base – be it Chicken Bog, Jambalaya, or this Fajita Chicken Casserole – so I knew I would love it.
Well, as I predicted, I did love it. In fact, it was an instant hit with the entire family. It was easy, straightforward, and had tons of great flavor without tons of work.
But if you know me, you know I can’t leave well enough alone. So, I got to figuring and tinkering with the original recipe to see how I could squeeze a veggie in there to make this super simple dish into a complete meal.
Adding broccoli seemed like the most likely candidate, so that’s just what I did. With a few other tweaks, this Broccoli Cheese Chicken Casserole was born.
It’s hearty, filling and just plain delicious.
Despite the fact that this recipe is delicious, one of its best attributes is just how dang easy it is. I mean, how many recipes do you have where everything cooks in one dish? Even the chicken and rice all cook together – right at the same time. I’m serious!
Yes, it uses instant rice. Instant rice removes the guesswork in ensuring you have enough liquid for the rice and the right cook time.
Yes, it calls for three cans of “cream of” soup. They add great flavor and make for a super creamy casserole.
Sometimes we have to sacrifice for convenience, but I promise this dish doesn’t taste like a shortcut.
Should you eat this every day of your life? Of course not. As they say, “Everything in moderation.” I like to add… “Including moderation.”
For convenience, I included frozen broccoli florets in the recipe – no washing, no chopping. But, if I’m being totally honest, I don’t LOVE frozen broccoli. I ate my fair share of it as a kid, but it’s just not my favorite.
So, when I make this for us, I typically use about 2 1/2 cups of fresh broccoli florets. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll just grab the little bag of fresh broccoli florets already cut up in the produce section of the grocery store. You know… the little bags that you can just steam?
We like for it to have a little texture, so I just toss it in raw and it cooks right to where we like it in the 1 hour cook time. If you want your broccoli to be a little more tender, you could always blanch it first before adding it to the casserole mixture.
Regardless of whether you use fresh or frozen, I’m guessing this is going to be a family favorite at your house, too. Y’all enjoy!
Recipe Card
Broccoli Cheese Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces ((about 2 pounds))
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained ((or about 2 1/2 cups fresh))
- 2 cups instant rice
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can broccoli cheese soup
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cheddar cheese soup
- 2 cups water or chicken broth
- 30 butter flavored crackers, coarsely broken ((I used Ritz))
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the broccoli, rice, cream of chicken soup, broccoli cheese soup, cheddar cheese soup, and water or broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.
- In a small bowl, stir the butter together with the cracker crumbs and sprinkle the crumbs over the casserole.
- Wrap tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes or until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
Mary R
Very tasty! Good comfort food if you need it. It makes a good amount too!
I’m so glad you found it tasty and comforting. It’s always nice when a recipe yields a good amount too!
Dallas
Have not made this yet, but curious if the chicken is cooked prior to putting in the oven or if you mix all together raw?
Great question! You mix everything together raw before putting it in the oven. It cooks through while baking, which helps keep it juicy. Hope you enjoy it!
Winnie Mom
Have not made this yet. I like the sounds of all this but do not care for rice at all. What would be a good substitution for the rice? Can the chicken breast be subbed with skinless/boneless chicken thighs?
Hmmm… I’m just not sure of a suitable substitute in this case. But yes, boneless skinless thighs will work as well.
Melissa Slayton
Wonder if cauliflower rice would work in place of the instant rice?
Cauliflower rice isn’t the best swap for instant rice in a casserole with raw chicken because of the difference in cook time. While the chicken takes much longer to cook through, cauliflower rice cooks super quickly. If you add it at the beginning, it’ll turn to mush long before the chicken is done.
Nancee
Great recipe. Easy to make and tasted wonderful. I did add some Velveeta cubed, since I had some I needed to use up and because I love cheese. Baked it just about 5 minutes longer and let it rest as directed, and it was great!!! Thanks for another winner, Stacey!!!
I’m sure the Velveeta added some great creaminess! Thanks for sharing. Glad you enjoyed it!
Ruth
I love this…but often I have rotisserie chicken and already brown rice that I have precooked, and steam/microwave some broccoli ..so I make it but use less canned soup because do not use all the liquid to cook the rice…I also like adding toasted slivered almonds on top…I am always looking to make it healthier..less salt and less white flour…Then if everything is cooked all you do is heat it in the oven 375 degrees for 25 minutes/ or microwave to heat instead of turning the oven on in hot summer…great recipe!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing, Ruth!
Teresa Shaw
I have not tried this recipe yet. I just need to ask a question first. Is there anyway I could make this with plain long grain white rice, but not the instant kind? I sort of stocked up prior to seeing your recipes.
I suppose so, though I’ve not tested it, so I’ll just be guessing here. You could use the rice uncooked and increase the liquid to 4 cups or cook the rice first. If using uncooked, keep in mind the cook time may be longer. If using cooked rice, it might be shorter but you run the risk of overcooking it and it becoming mushy.
Laura Wells
My whole family loved this one – which is rare! It was super easy to throw together, too. We’ll be having this regularly! Thank you!
So glad y’all enjoyed it!
There's Rimbey
I made it, we LOVED it…Ibput onion powder on the chicken before I added it to the otherbingredients. It was a definite hit. Mycdaughter was concerned about the calories. If you know thqt info, please send it to me.
Glad to hear y’all enjoyed it. I don’t track nutritional info. Here’s why: https://southernbite.com/heres-why-i-dont-post-nutritional-information-with-my-recipes/
Katie Bulger
Stacey,
I watched Mama Sue’s Southern Kitchen make this yesterday on her video! She mentioned you, and I had to tell her how great all your recipes are!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you so much Katie!
Beta
I just made this and it was fabulous! It was so easy to make too. This is definitely going in the repertoire. Thank you!
Thank so much!
Susan Knell
Just made this tonight and as always, your recipes never disappoint! I did do one thing I’ll never do again. I was at Aldi and bought their version of Ritz crackers and they just weren’t as flavorful as Ritz brand.
Thanks for another keeper!
So glad you loved it!
Mary B
Do you think you can freeze this casserole? Look delicious but too big for two of us.
This should freeze well!
Kateesh
Thoughts on using cooked shredded chicken for this recipe? How much would you reduce the cooking time? Looking forward to trying it out. Thanks!
Quite literally you would only need to cook long enough to cook the rice. If you used already cooked rice along with the cooked, shredded chicken you would only need to warm it!