Made-from-scratch creamy, cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole made in ONE POT! Tastes like risotto, but much faster to make and completely low maintenance. Loaded with tons of broccoli, this is a simple yet incredibly tasty dinner you can get on the table in less than 30 minutes.
This is no longer funny.
Yep, it’s another gold and green recipe.
And yep, as with the Zucchini Bread I shared on Friday, I was so focussed on editing the photos and making the video that it wasn’t until I uploaded them into this post that I realised with horror how gold and green this recipe is.
And yep, again, I wish I could say that I’m being patriotic and I made this recipe up just for Australia Day (which was last Friday, and being that gold and green are our national colours), but again, that would be complete bollocks.
This has gone beyond a joke. Look – here are the last 6 recipes I’ve shared. It’s a flood of yellow and brown. I’m giving myself a pat on the back for garnishing the Lamb Shawarma with pomegranate seeds – the brightest pops of colour this site has seen in the last 2 weeks. 🙄
As lacking in colour as it may be, if you’re like me and are currently salivating over all that yellow and brown deliciousness, here is what you’re drooling over (from top left, clockwise): Zucchini Cheese Bread (No Yeast), Beef Stroganoff, Slow Roasted Lamb Shawarma, Crispy Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Salisbury Steak and 5 Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars.
Right, that does it. As soon as I hit publish, I’m scouring my stash to find a super colourful recipe for Wednesday. Prepare yourself for a kaleidoscope of colour!!!! 🌈🌈🌈
In the meantime, here’s another onslaught of yellow and gold: ONE POT CHICKEN BROCCOLI RICE CASSEROLE!!!
It tastes like risotto, it truly does, except it’s made with normal white rice. And being the rice snob that I am (🤗Asian blood), I promise you that this is as far from gluey rice as you can get. The rice is just cooked to tender al dente and it’s smothered in a creamy sauce (but no cream), as opposed to overcooked super soft rice that is gluggy with thick sauce.
Here’s close up proof – see? 🙂 If it were overcooked and gluey, the surface of the rice grains would look mushy.
I wasn’t quite sure what to call this recipe. I think of this as a rice bake which is completely illogical because it’s not cooked in the oven at all. Though someone please remind me a few months down the track to share the recipe for this that’s made entirely in the oven!
So in the end, I decided to call it a casserole, guessing that is what normal people would call this. Is that what this is?? I’m not sure. I know I’ll always think of this as a “Rice Bake”! – Nagi x
Made from scratch, this tastes like a risotto but is so much more straight forward to make! The sauciness will be affected by the strength of your stove but it's easy to adjust - if it's not saucy enough, add a tiny bit of water when you stir the cheese in. Don't be alarmed if it looks a bit too saucy when you're adding the cheese in - the recipe errs on the side of saucy because rice absorbs liquid so quickly when stirring / melting cheese / serving / eating. And this IS supposed to be a bit creamy - like risotto! Recipe VIDEO below.
- 2 tbsp / 30 g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 500 g/1 lb chicken thigh , cut into bite size pieces (Note 1)
- 2 ½ tbsp flour (or 1 ½ tbsp. cornflour / cornstarch)
- 2 cups / 500 ml milk (any, I use low fat)
- 2 cups / 500 ml chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups / 225g white rice , uncooked (Note 2)
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or other herb of choice)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large head of broccoli, broken / cut into small florets (~400 - 500g / 14 oz - 1 lb) (Note 3)
- 2 cups / 200g shredded mozzarella or cheddar (or other cheese of choice) (Note 4)
- Finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
-
Melt butter and heat oil in a pot over high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add chicken and cook until it changes from pink to white. (Note 5)
-
Turn stove DOWN to medium. Add flour and stir for 1 minute.
-
Add half the milk, stirring as you go, and once incorporated into the flour add the rest of the milk and stir.
-
Add broth, rice, thyme and a just pinch of salt and pepper.
-
Stir, bring to simmer, then cover. Turn down to medium low and cook for 12 minutes.
-
Remove lid – there should still be liquid on the surface. Working quickly, add broccoli, push down so it’s partly submerged, cover and cook for a further 3 minutes until broccoli is just cooked.
-
Preheat grill/broiler. Remove lid and stir through half the cheese – don’t worry if it looks a bit too saucy, excess liquid gets sucked up in minutes (see video below). Smooth surface, top with remaining cheese. Grill/broil until melted (or just put lid on and allow to melt with residual heat on turned off stove).
-
Serve immediately, garnished with parsley if desired.
1. CHICKEN: Thigh is better than breast because it's fattier so they don't dry out. This recipe would also work great with ground meat!
2. RICE: Long grain and medium grain rice are ideal in this because they are less "sticky" than short grain rice so it makes this come out like a creamy risotto. But it will work with short grain rice too. This will also work fine with basmati and jasmine rice, though you will get the added fragrance from these rices. I have not tried this with brown rice but it should work but it will take around 40 minutes to cook on low heat, then add the broccoli right at the end. You may need to top up with a bit of extra water.
Do not use risotto or paella rice - the liquid ratios in this recipe are not suited to these. I also have not tried this with quinoa, cauliflower rice or any non-rice alternatives!
3. Frozen Broccoli is fine to use in this recipe, but thaw first and ensure all excess liquid is drained.
4. Any melting cheese is fine for this recipe.
5. It’s great if you can get some colour on it but don’t cook it all the way through and don’t let the base of the pot go too brown (discolours the sauce).
6. LEFTOVERS/MAKE AHEAD: This reheats much better than most rice casseroles because it's nice and saucy, just keep it in the fridge 🙂 For make ahead, stop at the point after you stir the cheese in, cover and let it cool. Then sprinkle with cheese on top, refrigerate, then microwave to reheat / melt the cheese. I think this is the freshest way to make ahead.
7. Nutrition per serving (about 2 cups), assuming 5 servings and that this is made using low fat milk. CALORIE REDUCTION: Leave out all the cheese, stir through 1/2 cup parmesan instead then top with breadcrumbs, spray with oil. This will reduce the calories by about 100 calories per serving.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
This is how he leaps into the water – eyes tightly closed and nose up. If he were human, he’d be holding his nose and wearing goggles. For sure.
Made this for tea tonight so easy and tasty, have tried a lot of your recipes and they are all fantastic, keep up the good work, I love easy recipes 🙂
Just wondering what pot you used to cook this in please?
Thank you
Delicious!! My 1, 2, and 7 year old all finished there plates and my husband went back for 3rds! Great recipe. Only thing I would say is the rice needed about 5 min longer to cook but that was no big deal. Thank you for sharing!
Fantastic! So glad this was enjoyed Rhianon! N x
We all loved it! Thank you for another great recipe! Would I be able to double this recipe to get more leftovers?
Love hearing that Sandy! So pleased you enjoyed this so much 🙂 If you double it, use a very big pot and the rice will probably take an extra 3 – 5 minutes to cook. N xx
This meal was absolutely amazing.
It had so much flavour and the rice and the chicken were cooked to perfection.
My hubby said that it was in your top 10 recipes.
He just loved it and he is a rice nazi, just like you.
Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes. They really are amazing.
Your web site is now the only one I go to for delicious family meals.
Kind regards
I love hearing that!!! Thanks so much for letting me know you both enjoyed this so much! N xx
Delicious!!! Super Cheesy & a very nice & comforting dish to eat! Thankyou x
Hi! I recently discovered your blog and I’ve been trying a lot of your recipes. I’m a beginner cook, so I follow recipes exactly. As with all your other recipes, I halved everything (cooking for one), measuring exactly (112.5gms of rice, 250gms of chicken etc). When I’d finished the step of cooking everything covered on low for 12 minutes, I uncovered it and found that all the liquid had been absorbed. There’s no way I could have cooked it for 3 more minutes without everything burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
The rice and chicken were cooked, and everything was coated in a nice, not thick sauce. So I took it off the heat, added the brocolli and just left it covered to steam the brocolli for 3 minutes. Did not use any cheese either, because I figured the cheese wouldn’t melt without the heat.
It was still a nice, quite tasty, barely saucy rice, chicken and vegetables dish. I enjoyed it, thank you.
That’s terrific to hear SB! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️
Made this delicious and easy dinner last night. The family ate it up! I did; however have the same problem as another commenter: my rice wasn’t quite done. It probably needed another 5 minutes before I added the broccoli.
Looks amazing!
Thanks Crystal! N x
Made this last night with brown rice. Was so yummy!
It took about 35 minutes with ‘quick cook’ brown rice. I also replaced about half the broccoli with diced carrots for some extra colour and nutrients, just sauteed it with onions so it cooked with the rice.
You seem to have a slight technical issue. When I use the slider to adjust the servings, the amount for the rice doesn’t seem to change, everything else is fine though! I usually scale your recipes down to serve 2 or 3 as I’m only cooking for myself and the slider is super helpful! 🙂
Oh dear, I’m sorry about that Mavis! Checking into it now, thanks for letting me know! 🙂 N x
I made this recipe with cauliflower rice. I substituted the cauliflower rice for regular rice 1:1 ratio. I then halved the liquid: 1 cup milk and 1 cup chicken broth. It came out perfectly! My husband loved it! Thanks!
Wow! It worked with cauliflower rice, I’m so excited to hear that!! N xx
After reading all of these comments, I feel like a failure 😣 I followed your recipe to the T and ended up with far too much liquid even after letting it sit for a while after it was all done. Maybe I messed up somewhere. 4c of liquid to 1.25c of rice did seem a bit imbalanced to me, but everyone seemed to have success so maybe it’s just me lol.
All that being said, it still tastes delicious and my family enjoyed it. I’ll definitely make it again and try tweaking it.
Oh dear LG! I wish I could have been there to help troubleshoot! Glad everyone enjoyed it though! Probably like risotto?? YUM!
my family love it
Your photographs are amazing and mouth watering! I look forward to making another one of your wonderful recipes.
hi Nagi, great recipe as usual.
Just need to ask – do you have special rice that really cooks in 12 minutes on your side of the world? please send me a truckload asap…. 🙂
Enjoyed the dish regardless of 25 minutes for rice, just added some more liquid when started clumping. My neighbours either side of me enjoyed too!
Hi Suzanne! From the reading of recipes and cooking I’ve done when I’ve been overseas (US, UK, Japan, Thailand, Middle East – to name a few!) standard white rice should take 15 minutes to cook from when the water starts simmering to al dente 🙂 It can take time to get the exact temperature right – if simmered to low (eg if stove runs a bit weak) it could take up to 25 minutes. So glad you enjoyed it though!! N xx
Nagi!
Your One Pot Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Your recipes constantly amaze me. It is especially cold and damp this evening in the Adirondacks where we live, there is nothing but ice and snow out there, so this comfort food was perfect tonight. Everyone loved it and this recipe is oh so good! I never knew until finding your recipes that chicken thigh meat is really good and this dish is not only yummy but entirely economical. I bet it will taste great tomorrow at lunchtime.
Pre-packaged frozen foods are so filled with long lists of junky chemicals (yuck) — I love cooking with real food!
I know that the summery heat on your side of the marble must have made this dish an exhausting challenge to perfect, so thank you so much, and give Dozer a big hug for us! He should be in the movies!
I LOVE HEARING THAT! So glad you enjoyed this Nadine, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Thank you for this recipe. I made this last night with slightly increased amounts for our family of six. The portions were generous and everyone liked it. Unfortunately, it got all finished, so no leftovers for next-day lunches.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Kathy!!! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Hi Nagi
Thanks for another wonderful and easy recipe.
This turned out perfect and the family loved it. I have leftovers for lunch today.
I look forward to every recipe you post.
Liz
I’m so pleased to hear your enjoy my recipes Liz! Glad the family enjoyed this 🙂 N x
I also made this in a heatwave…yum yum yum…15yr old love child who says he doesn’t like rice or green trees said it was great.. heaps left over for lunch boxes…another awesome dish…I don’t go anywhere else to get recipes…just browse, print and call at the supermarket on the way home from work
I cannot believe you made this on a stinking hot day!!!! HIGH PRAISE! N xx