This Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole with Poppy Seeds is an easy dinner recipe that the whole family will love! It’s total comfort food, and best of all, the convenient meal can be prepared in advance and refrigerated or frozen until you’re ready to serve!
Shortly after Casey was born, my Aunt Barbara brought us this dish for dinner. We inhaled it at the time, and I begged her for the recipe shortly thereafter. It’s been a cool-weather staple in our house ever since, because everyone loves it!
My aunt actually got the recipe from her friend Debbie, who lives down in Florida. Debbie got the recipe from her daughter. You get the idea…it’s one of those family-friendly meals that pleases everyone and tends to be passed around because it’s THAT GOOD.
The Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole is a simple combination of rice, chicken, sour cream, Campbell’s soup, slivered almonds, and a Ritz cracker crumb topping. It’s hits all of the texture highlights with creamy, crunchy, and buttery flavors in every bite!
How to make Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole:
Once all of your ingredients are prepared, this dish is very easy to assemble. Let’s get started!
Ingredients for Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole:
- Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice Mix
- Cooked, diced chicken
- Sour cream
- Condensed cream of chicken soup
- Slivered almonds
- Ritz crackers
- Poppy seeds
- Butter
First, cook the wild rice and spread it in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Stir together the soup, sour cream, almonds and chicken, and then spread the chicken mixture over the rice.
Finally, prepare the crumb topping by combining the crushed Ritz crackers with the melted butter and poppy seeds.
Sprinkle the topping over the casserole and bake the dish at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.
What to serve with Chicken and Rice Casserole:
This casserole is delicious when served with a simple green side salad, green beans, roasted broccoli, roasted asparagus, or Brussels sprouts with bacon.
Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations:
- If you want to use the microwaveable packets of wild rice for a shortcut, you’ll need a total of about 3 cups of cooked rice.
- I used the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken here, but you can also cook your own meat to use in this recipe. If starting with raw meat, you’ll need about 1.5 – 2 lbs. of raw chicken tenderloins (breast meat is fine too, but the tenders cook faster). My preferred cooking method is to place the chicken tenderloins in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Cover with foil and bake in a 400F (200C) oven for about 30 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through). Allow to cool before chopping and using in the recipe.
- Cooking for Two? Just cut the ingredients in half and bake the casserole in an 8-inch square dish. Alternatively, if you don’t want to cut the ingredients in half, you can prepare the entire recipe, but divide the ingredients between two 8-inch square dishes. Bake one for dinner and share the other with a friend (or stick it in your freezer for a later date)!
- To prep ahead: This casserole can be prepared in advance through step 4 and either refrigerated for a day or two before baking; OR you can prepare the dish through step 4 and keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months. If baking from frozen, be sure to thaw the casserole in the refrigerator overnight before baking as instructed. Allow the refrigerated casserole to come to room temperature on the counter for about 30 minutes before baking.
- Make this a Chicken Wild Rice Broccoli Casserole by adding a package of frozen broccoli florets to the chicken mixture. I recommend steaming the broccoli before adding it to the dish so that it’s nice and tender.
- Add a layer of frozen French style green beans to the casserole. Simply cook the green beans until crisp-tender (but not mushy) and layer in the dish on top of the rice.
- Swap out the cream of chicken soup and use a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup instead. You can also add a small jar of sliced mushrooms to the mixture!
- Like cheese in your casserole? Sprinkle your favorite grated cheese on top of the casserole before adding the Ritz cracker topping.
More chicken and rice casseroles that you might enjoy:
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole with Lipton Onion Soup
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole with Poppy Seeds
Ingredients
- 1 (6 ounce) package Uncle Ben's Wild Rice mix (about 3 cups cooked)
- 3 cups cooked, diced chicken
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed Cream of Chicken soup (NOT diluted)
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, coarsely crushed (about 30 crackers, or 1 ½ cup crumbs)
- 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
Instructions
- Cook rice and seasoning as directed on package. Spread in bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together soup, sour cream, almonds and chicken. Spread over rice.
- In a separate bowl, combine cracker crumbs with melted butter. Stir in poppy seeds and sprinkle cracker crumb mixture on top of the casserole.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Notes
- If you want to use the microwaveable packets of wild rice for a shortcut, you'll need a total of about 3 cups of cooked rice.
- I used the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken here, but you can also cook your own meat to use in this recipe. If starting with raw meat, you'll need about 1.5 - 2 lbs. of raw chicken tenderloins (breast meat is fine too, but the tenders cook faster). My preferred cooking method is to place the chicken tenderloins in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Cover with foil and bake in a 400F (200C) oven for about 30 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through). Allow to cool before chopping and using in the recipe.
- Cooking for Two? Just cut the ingredients in half and bake the casserole in an 8-inch square dish. Alternatively, if you don't want to cut the ingredients in half, you can prepare the entire recipe, but divide the ingredients between two 8-inch square dishes. Bake one for dinner and share the other with a friend (or stick it in your freezer for a later date)!
- To prep ahead: This casserole can be prepared in advance through step 4 and either refrigerated for a day or two before baking; OR you can prepare the dish through step 4 and keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months. If baking from frozen, be sure to thaw the casserole in the refrigerator overnight before baking as instructed. Allow the refrigerated casserole to come to room temperature on the counter for about 30 minutes before baking.
- Make this a Chicken Wild Rice Broccoli Casserole by adding a package of frozen broccoli florets to the chicken mixture. I recommend steaming the broccoli before adding it to the dish so that it's nice and tender.
- Add a layer of frozen French style green beans to the casserole. Simply cook the green beans until crisp-tender (but not mushy) and layer in the dish on top of the rice.
- Swap out the cream of chicken soup and use a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup instead. You can also add a small jar of sliced mushrooms to the mixture!
- Like cheese in your casserole? Sprinkle your favorite grated cheese on top of the casserole before adding the Ritz cracker topping.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in October, 2013. The photos were updated in February, 2020.
Great hot dish. Easy to do with great flavor.
I did add steamed fresh broccoli and
white cheddar cheese.
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked it! The broccoli is a perfect addition. 🙂
Ouch…have no Ritz crackers…Could I use bread crumbs or corn flakes
Hi, Elayne! I don’t prefer breadcrumbs (they just don’t have any taste), so I would definitely go with the coarsely crushed Corn Flakes if you have them. Corn Flakes are one of my other favorite casserole toppings — just mix them with the butter in the same way that you would with the Ritz crackers.
Hi Blair! This is a delicious dish. Even my picky steak and potatoes husband likes it. Also, I really enjoy your column every Sunday morning. Thank you!
Thank you, Nancy! I really appreciate you saying that! 🙂