Made-from-scratch creamy, cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole made in ONE POT on the stove! Tastes like risotto, but much faster to make and completely low maintenance. Loaded with tons of broccoli, this is a terrific quick dinner idea you can get on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
It never even crossed my mind to make a recipe such as this Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole from anything but scratch. But a quick Google and I was somewhat bemused to find that there are in fact many versions of similar rice casseroles made using canned soup.
I’ve never tried this with canned soup, and I never intend to. Having tried canned soup in various forms in my time, I can say with absolute confidence that homemade from scratch is tastier, it’s better for you and it’s easy!
How to make Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole – from scratch!
Sauté garlic and onion in butter and/or oil, then mostly cook the chicken – it finishes cooking with the rice;
Add flour, milk, broth and basic seasonings (salt, pepper, thyme), then add the rice right into the same pot. As the rice cooks, the flour thickens the liquid which makes the sauce beautifully creamy;
After 12 minutes of simmering, add the broccoli and cook for a further 3 minutes; then
Stir through cheese, top with more cheese then give it a quick broil/grill just to melt the cheese.
What this Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole tastes like
It tastes like a creamy, cheesy risotto, it truly does. Except it’s made with normal white rice.
And being the rice snob that I am ( 🤗Asian blood), I promise you that this is as far from gluey rice as you can get. The rice is just cooked to tender al dente and it’s smothered in a creamy sauce (but no cream), as opposed to overcooked super soft rice that is gluggy with thick sauce.
Here’s close up proof – see? 🙂 If it were overcooked and gluey, the surface of the rice grains would look mushy.
I wasn’t quite sure what to call this recipe. I think of this as a rice bake which is completely illogical because it’s not cooked in the oven at all. Though someone please remind me a few months down the track to share the recipe for this that’s made entirely in the oven!
So in the end, I decided to call it a casserole, guessing that is what normal people would call this. Is that what this is?? I’m not sure. I know I’ll always think of this as a “Rice Bake”! – Nagi x
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Watch how to make it
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One Pot Broccoli, Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp (30g ) unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 500g (1 lb) chicken thigh , cut into bite size pieces (Note 1)
- 2.5 tbsp flour (or 1 ½ tbsp. cornflour / cornstarch)
- 2 cups (500 ml) milk (any, I use low fat)
- 2 cups (500 ml) chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cups (225g) long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 2)
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or other herb of choice)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large head of broccoli, broken / cut into small florets (~400 – 500g / 14 oz – 1 lb) (Note 3)
- 2 cups (200g) shredded mozzarella or cheddar (or other cheese of choice) (Note 4)
- Finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
Instructions
- Melt butter and heat oil in a pot over high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add chicken and cook until it changes from pink to white. (Note 5)
- Turn stove DOWN to medium. Add flour and stir for 1 minute.
- Add half the milk, stirring as you go, and once incorporated into the flour add the rest of the milk and stir.
- Add broth, rice, thyme and a just pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stir, bring to simmer, then cover. Turn down to medium low and cook for 12 minutes.
- Remove lid – there should still be liquid on the surface. Working quickly, add broccoli, push down so it’s partly submerged, cover and cook for a further 3 minutes until broccoli is just cooked.
- Preheat grill/broiler. Remove lid and stir through half the cheese – don’t worry if it looks a bit too saucy, excess liquid gets sucked up in minutes (see video). Smooth surface, top with remaining cheese. Grill/broil until melted (or just put lid on and allow to melt with residual heat on turned off stove).
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Chicken and Rice Casserole originally posted January 2018. Updated for housekeeping matters in January 2019 – no change to recipe, I wouldn’t dare!
More one-pot Chicken and Rice recipes
- Baked Chicken and Rice – one of my all time most popular recipes!
- One Pot Chinese Chicken and Fried Rice
- One Pot Greek Chicken and Lemon Rice – firm reader favourite!
- One Pot Chicken Shawarma and Chickpea Rice
- See all One Pot Recipes
More Chicken and Broccoli recipes
For those of you who consider these standard weekly grocery items like I do!
Life of Dozer
This is how he leaps into the water – eyes tightly closed and nose up. If he were human, he’d be holding his nose and wearing goggles. For sure.
Hi Nagi, thanks for this recipe! Would love to try this, but my oven isn’t working. Will I be able to finish the recipe off on the stove instead of in the oven? Thank you!
Sure can Sarah, you just wont have that golden cheese on top 🙂 N x
Hi. I was wondering if I cook the chicken thighs separately, would the casserole still turn out? I just have bone in thighs I would like to bake instead.
Hi Ashley, you can definitely do that if you prefer! N x
Hi can I sub with asparagus
100% yes!!! N x
Great easy family recipe, inhaled by everyone at the table. Lovely on a cold autumn day. Will definitely use this again.
That’s great to hear Sarah! N x
So my mom has this recipe called Chicken Broccoli Casserole. My little brother and I could have LIVED on that when we were kids. Although now, as an adult, I haven’t wanted to make it much because it has canned cream of chicken soup as the base and we all know that that stuff is TERRIBLE for you. So one day (ok, like 3 days ago) I found your website and was magically drawn to this page. I read through it and thought that I could use to mimic my mom’s recipe. The only different would be instead of Thyme I would use curry powder, like my mom. Well I have to say, I made this tonight and it. was. amazing. I have already updated my recipe in my recipe book and am just about to email it out to my family! Thank you so much for helping me to keep my mom’s wonderful recipe alive in my life, while also making me feel better about what I’m putting in my body.
Also, I love the slider you have for adjusting the number of servings. It’s really great. It could just be that I eat like a small bird, but I put it on 3 servings and probably got like 4-5. It’s fine though. I can freeze some of it for later! 🙂 Thanks again! Can’t wait to try something else.
i justn love your recipes they are so easy to prepare and taste great and such variety keep them coming
Hi Nagi, made this tonight for dinner. We live in Cyprus and with all the restaurants closed I’m looking for easy, quick and delicious recipes. This didn’t disappoint.
This was amazing thank you! My broccoli took a turn so I had to substitute frozen peas but still delicious. I am at high altitude and the rice took quite a bit longer to cook, probably 45 minutes total for the recipe. Absolutely worth the wait.
Hi can i freeze the chicken rice and broccoli casserole by the way lice your recipes they are fab and easy to make
I will make the rice/broccoli again. I didn’t have chicken so did without. Very good. I also added a red paper to the rice.
Hi Nagi. I’m cooking your Corona menu… or should I say eating, supposed to be testing… well you know how it is. Could you add a footnote about freezing suitability to your recipes in future? It would help a lot. Thanks for the yummy recipes. Jen
Easy and quick! Excellent flavour combination!!! Love that it is made from scratch and didnt take long to prepare. Thank you Nagi, you NEVER disappoint.
Hi Nagi, this recipe was great!
I didn’t have enough broccoli so added some chopped carrots.
Next time I’m going to add some curry powder!
I love you for this recipe…. Fancied chicken & broccoli bake this evening, and wanted to avoid the canned soup thing… (albeit because I didn’t have any) but was looking for something healthier. I just knew you wouldn’t let me down as you are my go-to girl! 🙂 Delicious, as per!
WOOT! That’s great Kat! N x
Yummy! I had to add more broth & water. But still really good. Thanks for recipe. Say hi to Dozer! He’s such a beautiful dog 💕
I Love your recipes!!!!
Thanks so much Kim ❤️
I made this and unfortunately I used the wrong pot. I used a very heavy pot with a loose fitting lid ( I dropped lid on floor once). So when it was time to cook the broccoli, I used fresh and it literally would not cook. Long story short I had to cook much longer than recipe stated. However, everyone loved it!!!! The thing I loved the most about it was the creamy rice. Omg!!!! So delicious. I am going to make the rice with the milk and broth tonight because it’s so darn good. Thank you for all of your amazing recipes. I found you before Thanksgiving and made your broccoli cheese casserole. That was amazing as well. I love you
I’m so glad you managed to get it to work Kim!!
Hi, Nagi 👋 I can’t wait to try your chicken brine recipe as a second main for Christmas dinner. I’ve always just seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder, so this will be an interesting change. Thank you for always being so easy to follow! Love, love your recipes!! THE BEST…and of course Dozer。。always enjoy his antics 🤙 Aloha🌺 Doris😊
If i were to premake this as per your directions how long would itbe good in refrigerator
Hi Jamie-Lynn, up to 3 days should be fine – N x
Ooh…an instant comfort food go to!l loved how cheesey, gooey and creamy this dish was. Instructions and Cooking times spot on.
Might add some bacon or chorizo next time, so easy to tweak although so good exactly as is!
Thanks again!
I’m so glad you loved it Matt!