Dump-and-Bake Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake
There's no prep work necessary for this Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake! Just dump the raw ingredients into a dish and pop it in the oven for an easy dinner recipe that the whole family will love!
Servings 4 - 6 people
Calories 441kcal
Ingredients
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, NOT diluted (I used Campbell’s Healthy Request)
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2.5 - 3 lbs. total)
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
- In prepared dish, whisk together condensed soup, uncooked rice, broth, and onion powder. Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper, to taste. Place chicken breasts on top of rice mixture in the dish.
- Cover tightly with foil. Bake (covered) for 1 hour, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and the rice is tender. Stir rice, sprinkle cheese on top, and return dish to the oven (uncovered), just until cheese melts (about 3-5 more minutes).
- Garnish with fresh parsley just before serving, if desired.
Notes
- I often top the baked, cheesy chicken with cooked, crumbled bacon and diced avocado. It's like a California Chicken casserole and it has so much flavor!
- I do not recommend substituting instant rice or brown rice for the long grain white rice, because the instant rice and the brown rice require different cooking times and different liquid ratios.
- If you don't have any chicken broth on hand, you can substitute with water instead.
- Instead of the cream of chicken soup, you can make a chicken and rice bake with cream of mushroom soup or with cream of celery soup!
- Make a chicken and rice bake with vegetables! Stir some frozen peas or some thawed frozen mixed vegetables into the rice at the same time that you add the grated cheese on top. The frozen peas will heat through in the oven in just minutes (no thawing necessary), offering an easy green addition to the casserole!
- I recommend using very thick chicken breast for this recipe, because the thick chicken will have a longer cooking time and will therefore be done at the same time as the rice. Thin pieces of chicken will cook through in about 30-40 minutes, and will therefore be dried out by the time the rice is done at the 1-hour mark. I used 3 chicken breasts that totaled about 2.8 lbs.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/6 of the recipe | Calories: 441kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 547mg | Potassium: 1024mg | Vitamin A: 405IU | Vitamin C: 2.2mg | Calcium: 156mg | Iron: 1.2mg