As a mom to two little wild, rambunctious little boys, ages two and under, I have to get dinner on the table quick. My youngest, Collin, will pull everything out of the cabinets while his older brother, Conner attempts to climb inside the TV to join “Lightin’ McKeen” in a race.
Dinnertime can be pretty hectic in our house and where peanut butter and jelly sandwiches might work for dinner in your house, in ours they do not. My hubs is what you might refer to as a “food snob”, he loves home cooked meals that contain many fun ingredients and copious amounts of cheese. Therefore, dinnertime means I am in the kitchen cooking something somewhat gourmet.
Thankfully, since we use eMeals * for our meal planning, I do not have to come up with our clean eating, delicious meals all on my own. I just pull up my meal plan for the week and get to cooking. Even though new fun dishes are always welcomed in our home, there is one meal that usually ends up being made almost weekly and it is my hubs’ favorite dish. It is super simple, easy and a great way to use up any leftover cooked chicken you may have hanging around.
This meal is also great to give to the family that just welcomed a new baby or just came home from a hospital stay. It is super kid-friendly, husband approved, and keeps busy mama from completely losing her sanity. 🙂
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 12 oz package steam-in-bag broccoli florets
- 3 cups shredded deli rotisserie chicken (you can use leftover cooked chicken in place of the rotisserie chicken)
- 1 ½ cups chopped onion
- 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth ***If the casserole comes out too watery, reduce the amount of broth used. Different types of rice will affect how much broth is absorbed when baking the casserole.
- ½ cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
- ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare rice according to package directions.
- Microwave broccoli according to package directions.
- Stir together rice, broccoli, chicken, onion, broth, sour cream, one cup cheese, salt, and pepper.
- Spoon mixture into a 13- x 9-inch-baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Cook 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.
That is it! Super easy right?
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This looks delicious! I’m always looking to try different meals with my family because we easily get tired of eating the same old stuff so I’ll definitely have to try and let you know how it turns out.
Please do Chonce! 🙂
Do you know what the nutritional info is for this meal as well as how many it will serve?
Thanks
Hi Kathy! I’m not sure of the nutritional info and I’ve served over 6 this meal (my hubs will eat the whole thing in one sitting if I let him 😉 ).
How many servings would you say this makes?
Sorry! Just saw another post with the amount of servings! Would you say 6 one cup servings?
Yes, that would be my guessimate. 🙂
i made this tonight and it was very watery. I used brown minute rice and cooked it first. Could that be why?
It definitely depends on the type of rice – I used a (knockoff) minute rice once and it was a lot more watery. The next time I made it with that same rice I just reduced the amount of chicken broth and that worked.
Would you suggest cooking the onion prior to adding? Just concerned because some of the kiddos are not big onion fans, but usually don’t mind them if they are soft and hidden 🙂
They soften while in the oven – I would just make sure to cut them small so they soften all the way but I don’t think it would hurt to cook them before mixing in. I actually had to make it this week without onion because our onions had gone bad on me and it didn’t taste any different so if you want to leave them out, go for it! 🙂
I made this tonight and it was very watery. I could tell it would have good flavor if it wasn’t so watered down.. Im going to try it again but either cook the rice in the broth instead of water or add the rice raw to the casserole then bake.
If it’s too watery, you may want to try reducing the amount of broth. I’ll update the post so hopefully others don’t have the same problem.
I reduced the broth to one cup and it was perfect! So delicious. This recipe is in my weekly rotation now☺ Thank you!
Thank you Tauren! I’m so happy to hear that it worked and that y’all love it! 🙂
Hi! I am having a large group at our house tonight and want to make chicken casserole – found your recipe on pinterest and just want to make sure I understand – I need to cook the rice first, and then I add it to the pan with additional broth?
It looks like I should reduce the broth too?
This looks great! Thank you!
Hi Lauren! Yes, cook the rice before putting it in the pan with the additional broth — I would just use a cup and add more if you feel necessary. The variations in rice make the dish more/less runny so starting off with less broth should help. 🙂
I saw this on your post about freezer cooking..How do I adapt it for freezing?
The only thing I do differently for freezer cooking is, instead of baking it, I just put the ingredients (minus the cheese topping) in a freezer safe bag and freeze (you may want to place it on a cutting board in the freezer until it’s frozen so it freezes flat). Then once I’m ready to cook it, I thaw it, throw it in a casserole dish and then top with cheese and bake like usual. 🙂
Ok so I’ve tried this twice now. The first time big flop. Lol. My mix was far to watery but the second time it was awesome. I added 1 1/3 cups broth and 1/3 cup cream of mushroom soup. It thickens the mix and adds some flavor. Hope that helps anyone who might have had trouble with the watery-ness
Hi Jessi
I make this all the time. Love it! Sometimes I add peas
I made this last night and it was a big hit! I reduced the broth to one cup like other comments recommended. I also added my chopped onions to the rice while it was cooking so that it was already softened and added a big sprinkle of garlic powder since I have a hard time cooking anything savory without adding garlic. 🙂 This recipe is a definite keeper!
Ooooo! I’ll have to try it with some garlic! We’re huge garlic fans too! 🙂
I’m thinking… if the rice is already cooked, your 2 cups of broth pretty much has nowhere to go, that’s why it’s so watery for most of them. What I think I’ll try is boiling the broth before adding it and putting in the minute rice uncooked (1 cup of minute rice will absorb 1 cup of liquid).