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Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Ready for the best casserole recipe? This freezer-friendly cheesy chicken and rice casserole comes together fast, with pantry staples and leftover chicken.

Chicken & rice casserole is one of our family staples, but in my quest to develop a whole binder full of no-cook freezer meals, I decided to take on the challenge of creating a freezer friendly version. I’ll be honest, it took a lot of trial and error to get it right, but the final version was one both my husband and kids couldn’t get enough of!

Quite frankly there is something just comforting about a hearty one-dish meal coming straight out of the oven after a long day. Between the frozen broccoli and canned soup, this one feels a little retro, but man is it delicious! While the recipe calls for using a cooked rotisserie chicken, you could easily substitute leftover Thanksgiving turkey as well!

Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Here is what you need:

3-4 cups cooked chopped chicken (a deli rotisserie chicken works well)
1 sweet onion
4 cans condensed cream of broccoli soup
2 cups milk
2-1/2 cups water
1 16oz container sour cream
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 10 oz packages yellow rice
1 16oz bag frozen broccoli
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Step 1: Chop onion; set aside.

Step 2: In large bowl whisk together soup, milk, water, sour cream, salt, pepper, chopped onion and garlic powder until well blended.

Step 3: Mix in rice, chicken, broccoli, and cheddar cheese.

Step 4: Divide mixture into 2 gallon size freezer bags (be sure to label bags first); freeze until needed.

Step 5: Thaw; pour mixture into casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and stir, being sure to scrape any rice that has collected along the sides and mix well. (DON’T SKIP THIS PART!! If desired, sprinkle with 1/2 cup crushed cracker crumbs and drizzle 2 tablespoons of melted butter over crumb mixture. Return to oven and bake at 400 degrees for additional 45-50 minutes.

Easy Freezer Chicken & Rice Casserole

This oh-so-easy one dish meal is sure to be a family favorite for young and old alike!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Freezer Chicken & Rice Casserole
Prep Time 7 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 28 minutes
Servings 8 people

Ingredients

  • 3-4 cups cooked chopped chicken a deli rotisserie chicken works well
  • 1 sweet onion
  • 4 cans condensed cream of broccoli soup
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • 1 16 oz container sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 10 oz packages yellow rice
  • 1 16 oz bag frozen broccoli
  • 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Chop onion; set aside.
  2. In large bowl whisk together soup, milk, water, sour cream, salt, pepper, chopped onion and garlic powder until well blended.
  3. Mix in rice, chicken, broccoli, and cheddar cheese.
  4. Divide mixture into 2 gallon size freezer bags (be sure to label bags first); freeze until needed.
  5. Thaw; pour mixture into casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and stir, being sure to scrape any rice that has collected along the sides and mix well.  

  6. If desired, sprinkle with 1/2 cup crushed cracker crumbs and drizzle 2 tablespoons of melted butter over crumb mixture. Return to oven and bake at 400 degrees for additional 45-50 minutes.

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PIN FOR LATER

Ruth Soukup

Ruth Soukup is dedicated to helping people everywhere create a life they love by follwing their dreams and achieving their biggest goals. She is the host of the wildly popular Do It Scared podcast, as well as the founder of Living Well Spending Less® and Elite Blog Academy®. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including Do It Scared®: Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Obstacles, and Create a Life You Love, which was the inspiration for this book. She lives in Florida with her husband Chuck, and 2 daughters Maggie & Annie.

View Comments

  • Hello. I'm wondering if raw cubed chicken can be substituted for the cooked chicken? Since the rice is raw will this work?

    Thank you.

  • Does it get divided into 2 1 gallon size bags or 2 2 gallon size bags?

  • I just made this last night (froze one bag and cooked the other right away) and it is SO good! One question/observation: I feel like the yellow rice was a little undercooked, it tastes a little crunchy. Any suggestions on how to soften the rice? Or maybe a substitution? It tastes good but if I was going to feed anyone other than my fiance and I, I would definitely wouldn't want them to think it was undercooked ;)

    Thanks!

      • The recipe definitely doesn't say to cook the rice first, and that would be a whole lot of liquid to mix with already cooked rice. I'm wondering if Jamie missed the part where it goes back in the oven for 40-50 minutes and just cooked it the initial 30? I almost did that since it comes after "If desired..."

        • You can partially cook the rice before or use instant rice. I hope this helps!

  • Does the rice need to be cooked?

  • This looks amazing. I wonder if subbing cream of mushroom for cream of broccoli would work? Or a mixture of cream of mushroom & cream of chicken? I keep a stock of those two for my freezer meals.

  • Would it still cook as long if it was never frozen? Say if I wanted to just prep it and throw it in the oven, do I still follow the same time? Thank you!

    • Since it should be thawed before cooking, the cooking time would remain the same!

  • What about that mysterious chopped onion from Step 1? I'm assuming it just gets mixed in with the rest, but the directions never mention it again, so I just wanted to be sure. Recipe looks great, can't wait to try!

    • Hi Stephanie,

      Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Yes, you would add the chopped onion to step 2. :)

  • Can it be put in crock pot???? How long would it need to cook??

  • Could you substitute quinoa for the rice?? Thanks so much?

  • Would love to see the nutrition facts for these recipes

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Ruth Soukup

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