Broccoli Cheese Rice & Chicken Casserole
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This Broccoli Cheese Rice & Chicken Casserole is comfort food at its best!!! I took my family favorite recipe for Cheddar’s Broccoli Cheese Casserole and added chicken to make it a main dish. Loaded with broccoli, fluffy rice, cheesy sauce and juicy chicken bites – Cheddar’s should add THIS DISH to their menu!
🔍 COPYCAT SECRETS UNCOVERED!
Cheddar’s Broccoli Cheese Casserole is their most famous dish and its actually a layered casserole with the rice staying “plain” on the bottom and then layering that cheesy broccoli mixture on top before baking! Ritz crackers & butter make the perfect top with a slight crunch in every bite!
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole Ingredients
It’s got steak and okra in it! JUST KIDDING! I mean – duh – the name pretty much tells you the ingredients – but let me add some tips along the way:
- Rice – you’ll need cooked rice for this – you can use plain white rice but I used jasmine because I like it better than short grain white rice. You can use long grain rice or even brown rice! Whatever you have and like!
- Chicken – I browned the seasoned, diced chicken breast in five minutes – so it’s very quick and easy – BUT – you could use rotisserie chicken or even frozen cooked chicken in a pinch!
- Cheese – yeah it’s Velveeta! You could also use shredded cheddar cheese if you liked – it might be a little less creamy but still very delicious!
- Broccoli – I went simple here and used a big bag of frozen – you could also use fresh if you like. It will cook in the casserole.
- Crackers – Ritz crackers are great because they are so buttery and crumble into perfect size chunks so easily! You could also use Club Crackers or even Fried Onions!
- Other Ingredients – Cream of Mushroom soup (you could also use Cream of Chicken or Cream of Broccoli), milk, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper
How to make Broccoli Cheese Rice Chicken Casserole
It’s all about the layers with this casserole! Fluffy rice, creamy chicken & broccoli and then the buttery crunch on top – it’s so decadent!!! Here’s the quick, at-a-glance of how to make this casserole:
- PRE-COOK your rice and chicken
- STIR together soup, milk & butter
- MIX chicken, soup mixture, broccoli & Velveeta
- SPOON rice across bottom of baking dish
- TOP with the chicken mixture
- CRUMBLE crackers on top
- DRIZZLE with melted butter
- BAKE for 30 minutes & serve!
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Broccoli Cheese Rice & Chicken Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook white rice according to package instructions. (1 cup uncooked rice = 3 cups cooked rice)3 cups cooked white rice
- Season diced chicken with salt & pepper1 lb chicken, 1/2 tsp coarse Kosher salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp olive oil
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken to pan and sauté until browned on all sides. Chicken does NOT need to be cooked through as it will continue to cook in casserole.
- Preheat oven to 375º and spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. (My dish isn't exactly 9×13 – but it's close in proportion – it's too much for a square dish.)
- Add cooked rice to bottom of casserole dish
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1/2 stick melted butter, cream of mushroom soup and milk.1 stick butter, 10.5 oz cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup milk
- Stir in cooked chicken, frozen broccoli and cubed velveeta. Stir to combine. Spoon broccoli mixture on top of the rice.12 oz frozen broccoli, 12 oz Velveeta
- Crush remaining cracker crumbs and sprinkle on top of broccoli mixture. Pour remaining 1/2 stick melted butter over top of casserole.1/2 sleeve Ritz crackers, 1 stick butter
- Bake for 30 minutes.
