No mayo, no cream soup. One pinner said “this is the BEST recipe I have made from Pinterest.” The husband got thirds.
Cheesy Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole
Serves 8-10
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 white onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 cup white rice
16 ounces wild rice
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup vegetable broth
4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Garlic salt
Salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil, onion, celery, garlic, and carrots in a pan over medium heat for 10 minutes. Prepare wild rice and white rice according to package instructions.
Stir in chicken, rices, and a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low.
In a medium pan over high heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour, vegetable broth, and a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Continue to whisk until boiling. Add 2 cups of the shredded cheddar and continue to stir until melted. Transfer chicken and rice mixture to a greased 9×13 baking dish. Pour cheese sauce over rices and top with remaining cheddar.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 white onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
- 1 cup white rice
- 16 ounces wild rice
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- Garlic salt
- Salt & pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil, onion, celery, garlic, and carrots in a pan over medium heat for 10 minutes. Prepare wild rice and white rice according to package instructions.
- Stir in chicken, rices, and a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low.
- In a medium pan over high heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour, vegetable broth, and a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Continue to whisk until boiling. Add 2 cups of the shredded cheddar and continue to stir until melted. Transfer chicken and rice mixture to a greased 9×13 baking dish. Pour cheese sauce over rices and top with remaining cheddar.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Recipe modified from Picky Palate.
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Can I use brown rice? Or will it cook differently?
Brown rice works great! I’ve been using it lately trying to be more healthy.
I have made this and it is a wonderful dish! I used all wild rice (3 cups of cooked),
And it does freeze well, freeze in whatever serving size you want, grab it out of the freezer and there’s your lunch… just saved time and money!
That’s great to know, Donna. Thank you.
Oh, just wonderful to have a casserole withoud pasta or potatoes but with rice. This looks really yummy!
That’s great! Yes, I like the healthy-factor.
Soo….2 cups each white and wild rice before cooking?
1 cup rice before cooking and 16 ounce package of wild rice, prepared according to package instructions
This has been brought up several times so I guess I’m not the only one thats confused. The recipe calls for 16 oz. wild rice, prepared. To me that means 2 cups of prepared rice, but your answer says no, 16 oz. dry rice then prepare that. Do we want 8 cups of the prepared wild rice?
I’ve edited the instructions, so I hope this is clearer!
Made this a few weeks ago and it turned out great! Do you think it would freeze well, if you did everything up until baking?
Yes, I think freezing is a great idea.
This was delicious! Even our picky 9 yr old liked it.
That’s great. I’m a picky eater too.
16oz wild rice, prepared? That is about 8 cups… should this say 6oz?
My experience was that it turned out to about 2-3 cups. I always use 16 ounces.
This looks great – just one question. Did you use wild rice or a rice medley? I am preparing this for dinner tomorrow and my wild rice to other ingredient ratio seems off compared to your picture – there is a TON of wild rice and your pictures look less brown … am I missing something?
I used wild rice. I don’t think so… Let me know how it works out for you!
Oh MY GOODNESS!! This was delish Rachel! Saturday night…I made a huge pyrex…I figured left overs, right? NOT! there was one small square left and we fought over it for breakfast! My kids were blown away! I actually used a “black rice” along with white and wow….they ate it! They licked the bowl clean! Thank you thank you and thanks again! So far this and your “Worlds best chicken” have been such a huge success with my kids! Merry Christmas…can’t wait to try the hummus chicken tonight! :)
Yes, Dave and I are the same way! We eat so much of it. Glad it was a hit!
This looks like a great recipe! Not to be obtuse, but is that 16oz of cooked wild rice (so, 2 cups?) or 16 oz of dry wild rice, prepared (which would be about 8 cups?) I wasn’t sure which way to be reading it, but from your pictures it doesn’t look like there is 8 cups of wild rice involved…
16 ounces dry. I can relate – rice measurements can be confusing!
Your instructions mention garlic salt but you haven’t indicated an amount. Please add to ingredient list. Thank you. This looks so yummy I want to make sure I have everything I need tonight.
Just a dash with the salt and pepper.
xo
rach
What do I do with the minced garlic? I already put it in the oven and realized my minced garlic was still sitting on my countertop. Lol
Great catch! It’s fixed now. Sorry about that :)
xo
rach
It was still delicious! Thanks for a great recipe! :)
You’re welcome!
xo
rach
I just made my grocery list for this recipe’s ingredients. I plan to make this for dinner tomorrow night. I’m sure my husband will love it! Thanks for sharing.
I’m checking back in, one day later. I made this for supper tonight and my husband did love it after all. It was so easy, too. Finally a casserole without sour cream, mayo, and cream of anything soup. It tasted good.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll be making this again.
Yes! That’s what I’ve been looking for too. Glad you liked it.
xo
rach
Yum! Made this tonight. Prep took me forever, but I’m extremely new to this whole cooking thing. Your recipes are helping me learn though! Thanks for another awesome night!
so glad to hear it. all the best!
xo
rach