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:
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Dump UNCOOKED RICE in pan
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Sprinkle with flour and seasonings
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Mix with liquids (broth and milk)
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Top with RAW chicken and RAW broccoli
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Bake
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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!!!😲😲😲
I love all of your recipes but this one I couldn’t get right. I followed it exactly. There was too much liquid and the rice wasn’t cooked. The chicken was cooked though. I ended up taking the chicken out and cooking the rest at 450 degrees (I don’t know how long) but that ended up working.
Hi Linden, sorry you had issues here – what kind of rice were you using? N x
Long grain white rice
I love so many of your recipes and first discovered your page looking for a dumpling recipe. They never cease to impress.
This one is YUMMY!
I have tried many recipes here and they are all good. For this, I am confused. I tried but there seems to be a lot of liquid. Total of 5 cups of liquids for 1.5 cups of rice? My rice was not cooked though I had baked for hours. Help? Thanks
We had this for dinner last night. Very quick & easy to make. Great flavour, filling and a real comfort type meal. Thanks Nagi xx
What kind of shredded cheese do you use?
I was a terrible cook. Then I discovered your page and now I’m a great cook! My 6 year old says all your recipes I’ve made so far are in her top 10 faves! This one is currently number 1!
Your recipes are my go to Nagi, this is another great one. This is my kind of cooking, love a tray bake! I only had one head of broccoli so added grated zucchini, spring onions and kale to bulk it up. The rice turned out perfectly and continued to soak up the sauce on standing. This will be a regular feature in our house from now on.
Can rotisserie chicken be used? I already have cooked chicken that I’ve cut up and frozen.
Sure can Cheryl, just throw it in with about 20 minutes left to bake so it warms through. N x
I haven’t made this yet..
But can this be done in the slow cooker?
Hello! I’m so excited to make this for dinner tonight because my 4-year-old is very picky but loves broccoli so I think this will be a hit. What kind of cheese do you use?
Hi Gretchen, I like to use a mix of tasty and mozzarella here 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, I just love all your recipes which I have tried and I will be endeavouring the rest. Your recipes are so simple and easy to follow and they are so so yummy.
Thank you for sharing.
Marian.
Thanks so much Marion, I truly enjoy hearing what people think of my recipes! N x
This is SO good! One of my new favorite recipes. The only thing I did differently was to substitute half the amount of corn flour to make it gluten free. Otherwise, followed the directions exactly and it was perfect!
Sounds like you nailed it Marlene!! N x
I’ve had this in the oven now for over 2 hours. Rice isn’t cooked and there’s soooo much liquid. What went wrong???😢😢
Hi Annabelle, sorry you’re having issues here – sounds like there may be a problem with your oven thermostat! N x
Just wondering if you used the rice that was listed 🤔
Also getting the liquid really hot before pouring it onto the rice is important.
Kids really loved this one. Would be great with pre-cooked BBQ chicken too. Thanks Nagi.
Yes 100%!!! I’m so glad it was a hit Tracey! N x
I’m in the middle of making this and it’s been in for 40 min and like the other person it’s still raw and lots of liquid. Never had issue with my ove. So not sure what’s happening. Smells amazing though!
Just the thing when we are socially isolated! and no need to race to the shops LOL
Thank you for helping make quarantine delicious 😂
Hi Nagi,
I hope you are doing well; this is the second time I’ve made this and it was almost decimated by my family!! This time I added cauliflower w/ the broccoli. However, I forgot the butter! Can you tell me what it adds? Just curious; it was still AMAZING w/o it.
Thanks!
Jennifer
Made this tonight. It was delicious. I didn’t read the number of servings and have a lot left. I’m going to freeze half of it and hope it tastes as good the second time.
My boys are half Balinese. While this is an amazing dish, they both said it is not how rice is to be prepared! They both feel it is a sacrilege to have rice in any way other than white rice with side dishes. Sigh. I loved it, Nagi.
Hi Kate, there are SO many ways that rice can be prepared – just think of Sushi! It’s so much more than just a side dish 😉
Made this tonight, there was still lots of liquid left over 🙁
Hi Emily, that doesn’t sound right – what rice did you use and did you make any adjustments to the recipe?? N x
As it sat it ended up soaking up the liquid and tasted great! Sorry for premature comment. I came to search comments to see if I did anything wrong.
Brilliant as ever Nagi – and perfect for all of us, including the toddler!
Awesome Janany!