Description
This Chicken Rice Casserole is a comforting and easy-to-make dish featuring tender chicken, creamy soup, and rice baked to perfection with a crispy buttery cracker topping. Ideal for a hearty family meal, it combines simple pantry ingredients into a delicious, one-dish dinner ready in under an hour.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken Mixture
- 3 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded or cubed, about 4 cups)
- 2 cans Campbell’s cream of chicken soup (or 1 large can)
- 2 cups Minute rice (or quick cooking rice, uncooked)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup sour cream
Topping
- 2 sleeves Ritz crackers (crushed)
- 1/2 cup salted butter (softened)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) to prepare for baking the casserole.
- Mix Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the cream of chicken soup, cooked cubed or shredded chicken breast, uncooked rice, chicken broth, and sour cream. Stir well until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
- Prepare the Baking Dish: Spread the combined mixture evenly into a 9×13 inch baking dish, ensuring an even layer for consistent cooking.
- Crush Crackers: Pour Ritz crackers into a sealable plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs.
- Butter the Crumbs: Add the softened salted butter into the bag with the crushed crackers, reseal, and shake vigorously to coat the crumbs evenly with the butter.
- Top the Casserole: Evenly spread the buttered cracker crumbs over the top of the casserole mixture in the baking dish.
- Bake: Place the casserole on the middle rack of the warm oven and bake for 40 minutes until the cracker topping turns golden brown and crispy, and the rice is tender.
- Serve: Remove from the oven and let the casserole sit for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy your hearty and creamy Chicken Rice Casserole!
Notes
- You can substitute cream of chicken soup with a homemade white sauce for a fresher taste.
- Use rotisserie chicken to save time on cooking and shredding the chicken breasts.
- For a lower-fat version, use light sour cream and reduce the amount of butter in the topping.
- Make sure to use quick cooking rice as traditional rice may not cook fully during baking time.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and reheated in the oven to retain crispiness.
