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Home Casseroles and Cosy Bakes

Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole (from SCRATCH!)

By:Nagi
Published:26 Aug '19Updated:13 Nov '20
206 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

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!!!

Close up of creamy Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole in a white baking dish, fresh out of the oven

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:

  • Dump UNCOOKED RICE in pan

  • Sprinkle with flour and seasonings

  • Mix with liquids (broth and milk)

  • Top with RAW chicken and RAW broccoli

  • Bake

  • Stir in cheese, melt cheese, serve.

How to make Ultra Lazy Chicken Rice Casserole

And this is what comes out: a CREAMY Chicken Rice Casserole with PERFECTLY COOKED rice with JUICY SEASONED pieces of chicken! 🙌🏻

Overhead photo of creamy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole in black bowl, ready to be eaten

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!

Overhead photo of Ultra Lazy creamy Chicken Rice Casserole

What you need

Here’s what you need to make this Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole:

Ultra Lazy Chicken Rice Casserole ingredients

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.

Photo of Vegeta stock powder

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!

Close up of spoon scooping up creamy Chicken Rice Casserole

Watch how to make it

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Close up of creamy Chicken Rice Casserole in a white baking dish, fresh out of the oven

Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 45 mins
Total: 55 mins
Mains
Western
4.87 from 45 votes
Servings5 - 6 people
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 134
Recipe video above. Dump-and-bake creamy chicken rice casserole made FROM SCRATCH! Perfectly cooked rice, creamy cheesy sauce, juicy seasoned chicken. Unusually high liquid-to-rice ratio because 1) baked uncovered (brown chicken); and 2) creamy rice (rather than stodgy!). See Note 7 re: SCALING recipe!

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:

1. Chicken - boneless thigh or tenderloin best for juiciest chicken with required cook time. Breast also works but not quite as juicy!
2. Stock powder (aka granulated bouillon / bouillon powder) - this is bouillon cubes in powder form. Any brand or type of chicken or vegetable works fine here, has more flavour than salt which is needed for this shortcut recipe. I like using Vegeta (blue can, vegetable stock powder, sold in herbs & spices aisle, also the secret ingredient Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, fab easy Chicken Rice Soup and Chicken Pot Pie).
Crumbled bouillon cubes will work just fine too! They are essentially the same. The good ones crumble easily into powder. If it doesn't, dissolve in some of the hot liquid then add.
3. Rice - recipe works best with long grain white rice. Will also work with medium or short white rice grain, "standard" (unspecified) white rice, jasmine* or basmati rice*. Recipe as written won't work with: brown rice, wild rice, risotto, paella rice, quinoa.
* These types may take 10 minutes or longer during first bake to cook through, make sure to check before stirring rice!
4. Broccoli - use 2 big heads! About 4 - 5 heaped cups, 400g / 14 oz - it can even take more. Frozen broccoli can be used but thaw and drain off excess liquid first (don't put frozen in because it will bring down the temp of liquids = uneven rice cooking).
5. Heating liquid ensures rice cooks evenly and without going gluggy. Heat separately in microwave (I do this) or mix together in same saucepan & heat on stove. It doesn't matter which order they go into the baking pan, it's just easier to pour some liquid in first to dissolve flour, then the rest.
6. Ceramic or glass pan - this is what I always use for good control of heat. Heavy duty cast iron or similar will also work. Flimsy/thin metal pans won't provide even heating as well and may affect how evenly the rice cooks.
7. Cooked rice - rice should be cooked at 40 minutes. But if not, cover with foil and stick it back in the oven. Make sure you check rice before stirring - even cooking of rice depends on remaining submerged under liquid.
8. Scaling recipe (slide scaler) - If you scale down to half, please use a smaller pan (say 8"/20cm). If you scale UP, it should scale up ok by about 25% in the same pan, but any more and I'd recommend using a separate pan to ensure rice cooks evenly.
9. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings (generous quantities!)

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 617cal (31%)Carbohydrates: 64g (21%)Protein: 42g (84%)Fat: 21g (32%)Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)Cholesterol: 112mg (37%)Sodium: 1301mg (57%)Potassium: 1042mg (30%)Fiber: 3g (13%)Sugar: 8g (9%)Vitamin A: 1265IU (25%)Vitamin C: 83mg (101%)Calcium: 428mg (43%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Keywords: chicken broccoli rice casserole, chicken rice casserole, rice casserole with chicken
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

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206 Comments

  1. Linden says

    October 28, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 29, 2020 at 9:37 am

      Hi Linden, sorry you had issues here – what kind of rice were you using? N x

      Reply
      • Linden says

        October 29, 2020 at 1:23 pm

        Long grain white rice

        Reply
  2. Sarah says

    October 25, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
  3. SanFran says

    September 18, 2020 at 12:26 pm

    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

    Reply
  4. Kezza McD says

    September 9, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    We had this for dinner last night. Very quick & easy to make. Great flavour, filling and a real comfort type meal. Thanks Nagi xx

    Reply
    • Salina says

      September 10, 2020 at 12:40 am

      What kind of shredded cheese do you use?

      Reply
  5. Karen says

    July 10, 2020 at 4:04 am

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
  6. Semara says

    June 30, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
  7. Cheryl says

    June 16, 2020 at 2:52 am

    Can rotisserie chicken be used? I already have cooked chicken that I’ve cut up and frozen.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 16, 2020 at 10:13 am

      Sure can Cheryl, just throw it in with about 20 minutes left to bake so it warms through. N x

      Reply
  8. Brooke says

    May 22, 2020 at 7:59 am

    I haven’t made this yet..
    But can this be done in the slow cooker?

    Reply
  9. Gretchen Cheak says

    May 14, 2020 at 4:37 am

    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?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 14, 2020 at 10:42 am

      Hi Gretchen, I like to use a mix of tasty and mozzarella here 🙂 N x

      Reply
  10. Marian Glover says

    May 7, 2020 at 10:28 am

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 7, 2020 at 7:39 pm

      Thanks so much Marion, I truly enjoy hearing what people think of my recipes! N x

      Reply
  11. Marlene says

    April 24, 2020 at 1:14 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 25, 2020 at 10:19 am

      Sounds like you nailed it Marlene!! N x

      Reply
  12. Annabelle says

    April 2, 2020 at 6:48 pm

    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???😢😢

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 3, 2020 at 11:38 am

      Hi Annabelle, sorry you’re having issues here – sounds like there may be a problem with your oven thermostat! N x

      Reply
      • kj says

        September 10, 2020 at 9:46 am

        Just wondering if you used the rice that was listed 🤔

        Reply
        • Sue says

          November 1, 2020 at 10:04 am

          Also getting the liquid really hot before pouring it onto the rice is important.

          Reply
  13. Tracey says

    March 29, 2020 at 12:53 pm

    Kids really loved this one. Would be great with pre-cooked BBQ chicken too. Thanks Nagi.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 29, 2020 at 8:50 pm

      Yes 100%!!! I’m so glad it was a hit Tracey! N x

      Reply
      • marisa@shazam.com.au says

        June 21, 2020 at 5:49 pm

        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!

        Reply
  14. Bronwyn says

    March 28, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    Just the thing when we are socially isolated! and no need to race to the shops LOL

    Reply
  15. Amy Morgan says

    March 23, 2020 at 8:44 am

    5 stars
    Thank you for helping make quarantine delicious 😂

    Reply
  16. Jennifer says

    March 20, 2020 at 5:22 am

    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

    Reply
  17. Eleanor Campbell says

    March 17, 2020 at 11:34 am

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
  18. Kate says

    March 10, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 11, 2020 at 3:18 pm

      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 😉

      Reply
  19. Emily says

    March 5, 2020 at 9:01 am

    Made this tonight, there was still lots of liquid left over 🙁

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 6, 2020 at 1:06 pm

      Hi Emily, that doesn’t sound right – what rice did you use and did you make any adjustments to the recipe?? N x

      Reply
      • Emily says

        March 7, 2020 at 8:54 am

        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.

        Reply
  20. Janany Shanmugarajah says

    January 11, 2020 at 7:50 am

    5 stars
    Brilliant as ever Nagi – and perfect for all of us, including the toddler!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 11, 2020 at 12:10 pm

      Awesome Janany!

      Reply
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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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