This is a dump-and-bake Chicken Rice Casserole with broccoli that’s made from scratch. It’s creamy, cheesy, comforting and tastes like a risotto but so much easier to make! It’s the ultimate emergency meal – completely effortless but doesn’t sacrifice flavour for convenience.
NO CANNED SOUP!!!
How to make Chicken Rice Casserole – my Emergency way!
This is a dump-and-bake rice casserole that’s made from scratch.
And anyone who knows anything about cooking will (rightfully!) raise their eyebrows when they see how this emergency version of Chicken Rice Casserole is made:
Dump UNCOOKED RICE in pan
Sprinkle with flour and seasonings
Mix with liquids (broth and milk)
Top with RAW chicken and RAW broccoli
Bake
Stir in cheese, melt cheese, serve.
And this is what comes out: a CREAMY Chicken Rice Casserole with PERFECTLY COOKED rice with JUICY SEASONED pieces of chicken! 🙌🏻
What this Chicken Rice Casserole tastes like
It truly tastes like everybody’s favourite risotto – except you haven’t been slaving over a hot stove for 20 minutes. The rice is coated with a creamy cheesy sauce that’s made with milk and flavoured with chicken broth/stock plus stock powder.
It’s nice and creamy rather than stodgy like many rice casseroles are, and comes out of the oven with a bubbly golden cheesy top.
Most of the chicken has some browning on it, and the chicken stays juicy and isn’t overcooked.
The broccoli is on the soft side, but most definitely not cooked into mushy oblivion. You could steam it separately and stir it through at the end, but I chose convenience for a relatively small compromise!
What you need
Here’s what you need to make this Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole:
The key ingredient here that makes a real difference to the tastiness of this recipe is stock powder, also known as bouillon powder. I use this in lieu of salt in this recipe because it’s salt with flavour.
Use chicken or vegetable stock powder – my favourite is Vegeta which is a vegetable one, pictured below. Crumbled bouillon cube will work just great too – it’s the same thing, in cube form!
We need this extra flavour boost to compensate for skipping the usual flavour base step of sautéing onion and garlic in butter and searing the chicken until golden brown like I do with my stovetop Chicken Rice Casserole!
Other uses for Vegeta?
I’m a huge fan of Vegeta, it’s my secret ingredient for great soup broths, such as for from-scratch Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. It’s also my trick to make a really great QUICK clear soup broth for Chicken Rice Soup and faster Chicken Noodle Soup, and a really terrific creamy sauce for Chicken Pot Pie.
NO CANNED SOUP!
I would’ve loved to call it the WORLD’s easiest – but I know for a fact it is not!
The world’s easiest chicken rice casserole is made with just chicken, rice and canned soup that is dumped in a pan and baked, and you will never see that recipe on my site.
I do not judge (you’re talking to she whose parents would crack an egg over rice, add a drizzle of soy and call that dinner!) but using canned soup to make shortcut casseroles just isn’t the way I cook. 😇
But I do truly believe this to be the easiest Chicken Rice Casserole that’s made from scratch because we by-pass the usual roux making process whereby melted butter is mixed with flour and used to thicken milk to make a creamy sauce for loads of things from Mac and Cheese, the Béchamel Sauce for Lasagna to Chicken Pot Pie.
And I promise you – it is 100% delicious. Not “hmm, it’s pretty good”. It’s SERIOUSLY delicious. Creamy, cheesy, comforting, can’t-stop-eating-it-good!!! – Nagi x
PS This is the rice version of the Ultra Lazy Chicken Broccoli PASTA Bake and the baked version of this 30 minute stovetop Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, both of which are reader favourites!
Watch how to make it
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Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 500g (1 lb) chicken thighs or tenders (tenderloin) , cut into 1.5cm / 2/3" pieces (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder (granulated bouillon) (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Rice:
- 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) milk , any fat %
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 3)
- 1/4 cup (35g) flour , plain / all purpose
- 1 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder (granulated bouillon) (Note 2)
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tbsp (30g) unsalted butter
- 2 broccoli heads (large!), cut into florets (Note 4)
- 2 cups (200g) shredded cheese
Garnish:
- 2 green onions , finely sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F (180°C/350°F fan/convection).
- Mix Chicken Ingredients.
- Heat chicken broth and milk until hot using any method (stove, microwave). Can combine together in saucepan. (Note 5)
- Spread rice in 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" ceramic or glass baking dish. (Note 6)
- Sprinkle with flour, stock powder and garlic.
- Add the hot chicken broth, stir until flour dissolved (some small lumps ok).
- Add milk, swish rice to spread out evenly.
- Spread broccoli on top, then chicken, then plonk butter on (anywhere).
- Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. (Might get some browned skin on surface, that’s ok)
- CHECK rice before stirring – should be JUST cooked (Note 7).
- Add half the cheese, stir through, being sure to get rice in the corners and edges of pan. Should be creamy and quite loose (see video).
- Top with cheese, return to oven for 5 minutes until just melted.
- Sprinkle with green onion, if using, then serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This is why I never drive with the windows down – he’d lose his head with a passing car!!!😲😲😲
This truly is my dream dish it’s easy to prepare and it tastes absolutely divine, I will be making this again for dinner tomorrow!
I’m so glad you loved it Veronica!!
Hi Nagi,
Just wanted to know if I was to add more vege i.e sweetcorn, peas, beans would I need to add more liquid?
Regards
Joanne
Hi Joanne, no it should be fine – N x
I haven’t made it yet but I have a question-what kind of cheese did you use? It looks like mozzarella but I wasn’t sure so thought I’d ask. This looks delish as all your other recipes are. I’m also going to make the Asian beef with ramen very soon (I’ll leave a comment when I do)
Hi Brenda, tasty, cheddar or mozzarella would be perfect here! – N x
Did anyone add fresh mushrooms to this with good results?
They would be amazing here Judy!
i love vegeta. i grew up in former yugostavia where every mother and grandmother put vegeta in everything they cooked. i even sprinkled vegeta on a piece of bread with butter. good memories. now i don’t use it because the MSG in it worsens my son’s egzema.
Oh no, that’s such a shame Bojana!
This recipe was delicious and leftovers were just as good the next day ! Super easy and a great meal to make mid week. Thanks Nagi 🤗
Perfect Maria!!
i have never tried Vegeta before, but saw your recipe and will try this. I usually use Better then Bouillon. Have ordered some and will try. Amazon is FULL of all kinds of broth stuff. Wow.
I hope you love it Victoria!!
Made this today and was really delicious. I did add extra garlic though :). Thanks for another great recipe.
You’re so welcome Carolyn!!
Another delicious recipe. I cut the recipe in half with no problems. I am so glad I found your website. Fantastic recipes that are easy to follow. Keep up the great cooking. Now I have to decide which one is next.
Thanks so much for letting me know Nora!!
THEY ASKED FOR 2nds! Thank you for this recipe. It was just what we needed for a midweek meal. One question, after 40-45 min there was still a significant amount of liquid. Once stirred, however, it was more like the pic. Should there be a “pool” of milk when you pull it out of oven?
Hi Ashley – I’m so glad it was a hit!! did it look like the video?
It looked souoier than in the video. Although the shot in the video isn’t close up – so maybe similar?!?
Can I used rotisserie chicken in this recipe?!?
You sure could, I would add it last minute however as it is already cooked – N x
Looks so awesome and I’m trying this soon! Thoughts for those of us who like our veg to keep a little “bite” to them? Perhaps stir broccoli in later?
Hi Jill, I hear ya! (I do like my veg with a bit of crunch also – just add the broccoli in later)
Absolutely gorgeous!
Every recipe I’ve tried so far has been successful and gone down a treat in our household. Nagi please, please write a recipe book 😍 I think you’re fabulous!
Wahoo, that’s so great to hear!
Thanks Nagi for another winner, came home late last night. was tired and hungry, craving more than a sandwich. So glad I made this, we loved it. It will be one of my midweek regulars
I’m so happy you loved it Stheni!
Yum, I love chiken soups and especially when they are one-potters. This looks good – and so does the bread!
Hi Nagi, can you freeze this!
Hi Kath, I find this one not great to freeze – it becomes a little stodgy and dries out in the freezer unfortunately – N x
Made this for my family – a real hit. Delicious, creamy, filling and full of flavour. Recipe is a keeper like so many others.
I did add beans & a little cauliflower.
Thank you Nagi.
Green beans?
Wahoo! That’s great to hear Susette! N x
Thanks again, Nagi! My boys have already started school. Meals that provide leftovers for hot lunch to pack the next day are a HUGE help around here. My boys loved it and asked for it to be packed in their lunches. So did the hubs. If anyone is wondering, I used the BOU brand cubes that I found at Whole Foods. I’m not a frequent user of bouillon, so it almost scared me off – but I figured it out. Keep up the good work!
This recipe didn’t work well for us. We only had brown rice, arborio, and basmati at home, so I bought long grain white just for this recipe. Used both broccoli & cauliflower. The rice just misbehaved! It went from hard after 40 mins to mush. I think this is the first Nagi recipe that flopped… but I blame it on the rice! I’m thinking it needed a really good rinse/soak before cooking.
Hi May, that doesn’t sound right at all, I’m sorry you had issues! No need to soak the rice, did you follow the other directions and ingredients as per the recipe? – N x
The recipe looks divine! What type of CHEESE do you recommend?
Tasty or cheddar Mary 🙂