Simple Chicken and Rice Recipe
When I first moved to NW Ohio, one particular family would often invite me over for lunch at their home after church. Mrs. B, as I call her, would almost always serve a some kind of casserole with salad and fruit and follow it with coffee and her famous cookies. It wasn’t an extravagant lunch by any means, but the meal always left me satisfied and well nourished. My favorite casserole of hers was a simple chicken and rice recipe bake she slow cooked in the oven during the church service. Really simple and really delicious!
I recently asked her for the recipe and after a few adaptations, I made it for dinner this week. It was even better than I remember – moist chicken and flavorful brown rice all cooked together into a hearty main. Some people have called this dish “Forgotten Chicken” and how true that is! After you put it together, you let the oven take care of the hard work and you literally forget about it…until that wonderful fragrance starts to take over your home!
Would you like to learn how to make this Simple Chicken and Rice Recipe?
Come on in to my kitchen!
Wondering where the remaining ingredients are? This it it! Simple, right? Raw chicken breasts, uncooked brown rice, vegetable broth, water and flavorful cream soup.
My adaptations:
- Mrs. B’s original recipe calls for 1 can each of condensed cream of mushroom soup and cream of celery soup. However, I made my own condensed soup from scratch, following the recipes on www.simplyscratch.com. I substituted non-dairy butter and milk to make it safe for my daughter. I am pleased with the result! Perfect consistency and healthier than the canned soup.
- Instead of cooking this dish on a lower heat for at least 2 hours, I cook mine at 350 for only 90 minutes total.
- For the broth portion, I’m using herb infused vegetable broth made by Rapunzel. This adds even more flavor!
There are lots more adaptations and variations you could try, but we are keeping it SIMPLE, friends!
This picture shows the final step in making my own cream soups, which you will need to do first. If, however, you are using the canned guys, pretend you didn’t read this part 🙂
Rinse 2 cups of brown rice and drain.
Grease your best 13×9 pan and pour the rice in the bottom. Follow with 5 defrosted boneless, skinless, chicken breasts.
Combine 2 cups water, 2 cups vegetable broth and 1 can each (or 2 1/2 cups homemade) of condensed cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup. No need to add more salt. Both the broth and soups should have plenty of salt to carry through the rice and chicken. Pour this soup mixture over the chicken and rice. Almost done!
It may look like there is too much liquid in the pan at this point, but no fear! You will need this much liquid to cook 2 cups of brown rice. Ratio is key in making both your rice and chicken moist.
Cover the entire pan with foil and place it into a 350 oven for 80 minutes. Forget about it! Then, when the timer goes off, remove the foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until golden. This will finish the cooking and leave you with perfectly cooked chicken and rice.
Let it cool down for a bit and then let the chicken break apart as you dish it out. You’ll love the simple flavors, but there is no shame if you want to add sour cream or hot sauce to your own portion…and did I mention the leftovers? This Simple Chicken and Rice dish is even better the next day.
There you have it! A great meal…esp when served with salad and fruit and followed by coffee and your famous cookies 🙂
Enjoy!
Easy Chicken and Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Rinse 2 cups of brown rice and drain.
- Grease a 13x9 pan and pour the rice in the bottom. Top with 5 defrosted boneless, skinless, chicken breasts.
- Combine 2 cups water, 2 cups vegetable broth and 1 can each (or 2 1/2 cups homemade) of condensed cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup.
- Pour the broth/soup mixture all over the chicken and rice.
- Cover the entire pan with foil and place at 350˚ F for 80 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until golden.
Nutrition
You may also enjoy this Spanish Rice Mix Recipe or this Freezer Recipe Chicken Tetrazzini!
Meredith is a pastor’s wife and stay-at-home mom living in NW Ohio. She loves to adapt recipes to her family’s eclectic tastes and is learning to provide nourishment for any bellies who walk through the door at a moment’s notice. If not in the kitchen, you’ll find Meredith in front of her sewing machine or spending quality time with her home and church families. Life goes by so fast!
Comments & Reviews
Just fixed this and found it bland even after spicing it up. Also left too much liquid after cooking so bumped up the time 25 minutes and increased temp to 450°F convection. Doubt I will make again.
Sorry you didn’t like it, Flava! I know different broths have different seasonings. I use one with lots of extra salt and herbs.
How much liquid should I use if I use frozen rice and what temp for how long?
Hello Subrena!
This recipe only works for uncooked rice. You could try to experiment with cooked, frozen rice, but the rice may get done before the chicken. Not sure of the liquid amounts or temp. Sorry! Let us know if you try anything that works
I tried this recipe but for some reason after 90 minutes the dish was still covers with liquid and wasn’t done. I followed the instructions perfectly. Any suggestions?
Hi Mel!
So sorry this didn’t turn out for you…Not sure if it was the chicken or rice that was not cooked for you. I would suggest letting the casserole cook uncovered for an additional 10-20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. So in other words…80 covered minutes followed by 25-40 uncovered. I hope that helps!
can this be a freezer meal?
Hi Linda!
I have never tried this as a freezer meal. But why not try? You could even use frozen chicken breasts, but prepare everything else the same. Cover well and freeze. Allow yourself at least an additional 30 minutes of baking time and let us know how it goes! 🙂
What about the crock pot? I think this would be perfect.
Martha, go for it!
Neither my friend (who gave me the recipe) nor I have ever tried it in the crockpot. I’d say as long as your crock temp is hot enough to cook rice, it should work?
Let us know how it goes!
I did four huge chicken breasts for 6 hours on high in the crockpot and added the rice 2 1/2 before it was done. It turned out perfect.
Awesome! Thanks for the idea Candace.
If I wanted to do this with the slower method, what time/temp would that be?
Hey Jennifer!
I would suggest 250 for 2 1/2 hours before removing the foil for the last step. When you open the foil, check the rice. If you find really wet rice that is still slightly tough, recover and go for 3 hours before removing the foil lid for the last step. I wouldn’t go any lower than 250 degrees. You need a temp hot enough to steam the rice.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Looks wonderfully simple and delicious