Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole- chunks of chicken, mixed vegetables, and rice form the basis of this creamy casserole. It’s pure, classic comfort food.

There’s also a little Velveeta cheese for some cheese flavor plus a buttery Panko crumb topping. This is a great recipe for a family meal. The kids will love it.

Serve with green beans or a green salad and some homemade yeast rolls for a delicious homemade dinner. Leftovers reheat well and it makes enough for at least 6 servings.

A couple of cans of condensed cream of chicken soup make this an ultra creamy casserole. There are several steps to this recipe but they can be done a day in advance to save time.

First you’ll poach some chicken (or you can cook it in a crock pot). A chicken bouillon cube gets added to the cooking liquid for extra flavor and you’ll save some of the cooking broth to add to the casserole so that you don’t have to use canned broth.

While the chicken cooks, you can go ahead and cook the rice and a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.

Mix together the condensed cream of chicken soup, the reserved cooking liquid, Velveeta cheese, dried thyme, and pepper and heat until the Velveeta is melted.

To assemble the casserole, mix the chicken, rice, vegetables, and soup mixture together and place in a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Mix together the Panko crumbs and melted butter and scatter on top of the casserole. Bake covered with foil for 25 minutes and then bake uncovered for 10 minutes so that the Panko crumbs get golden.

Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe Tips:

If you don’t want to use Velveeta, you can use American cheese or cheddar.

Timesaver Tip: If you don’t want to go to the trouble of cooking the chicken, you can use rotisserie chicken and canned broth for this recipe.

Try These Other Chicken Casseroles:

• Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
• Cheesy Dorito Chicken Casserole
• Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole
• Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
• Chicken Florentine Casserole

Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

4.75 from 8 votes

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 35 minutes mins

Servings: 8

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Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole- chunks of chicken, mixed vegetables, and rice form the basis of this creamy casserole. It's pure, classic comfort food.

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ▢ 1 chicken bouillon cube,, crumbled
• ▢ 1 cup long-grain white rice
• ▢ 1 (10-ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
• ▢ 2 (10-ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• ▢ 2 ounces Velveeta cheese,, cut into chunks
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 1/2 cup Panko crumbs
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions 

• You can either poach the chicken or cook it in the slow cooker the day before.

  To poach, place chicken in a medium saucepan with the crumbled chicken bouillon cube. Add just enough water to cover the chicken. Bring the water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Save the poaching liquid for the sauce. Remove the chicken and once cooled some, cut into bite-sized pieces.

  To cook chicken in the slow cooker, place it in a 6-quart slow cooker, add the crumbled bouillon cube and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours. Save the cooking liquid, remove the chicken and once cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces.

  If you're not ready to make the casserole, refrigerate the chicken and cooking liquid for up to 48 hours.
• Cook the rice according to package directions. Be sure to add salt (about 1/2 teaspoon) so that the rice is seasoned. This step can be done while the chicken cooks to save time.
• Cook the frozen vegetables in the microwave, cooking them for slightly less time than the recommended cooking time. They will coook more in the oven.
• In a medium saucepan, stir together the condensed chicken soup, 1 1/2 cups of reserved liquid from cooking the chicken, the velveeta cheese, thyme and pepper. Heat until the cheese is melted.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• Add the rice, chicken, vegetables, and chicken soup mixture to the baking dish and gently stir to evenly combine.
• In a small bowl, stir together the panko crumbs and the melted butter. Sprinkle on top of the casserole.

  Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

  Uncover and bake for 10 minutes.

Notes

You can substitute 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese for the velveeta cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 324kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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