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Chicken Wild Rice Casserole will make you love casseroles again! Easy, fast, delicious and comforting, your whole family will love this recipe!
I have been making this Chicken Wild Rice Casserole for years and it never disappoints. It’s a simple mixture of chicken, wild rice, frozen vegetables and cheese that is mixed together and baked until hot and melty. Simple enough for a weeknight but hearty enough to fill you up (with leftovers for the next day, too!) It’s one of our favorites.
My Favorite Rice Casserole!
I’ve been making casseroles for years because they never get old, they’re baked in one dish and everyone likes them (hiiii Creamy Ranch Chicken Casserole, Breakfast Casserole and Taco Casserole). This is no exception to the rule. This is one of my family’s favorite dinners. We love love love this Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice so much that I decided to base this entire recipe around it. Make a package of this rice according to package directions, stir it together with the rest of the casserole ingredients and bake. Make it ahead or bake immediately…works both ways perfectly.
A list of Simple Ingredients
This Chicken Wild Rice Casserole recipe has a list of relatively simple ingredients. I’ve listed a few other options if you wanted to switch things up based on what you have on hand, but generally, everything on this list should be readily available in your cabinets or easy to find at your local grocery store.
- Wild Rice– like I mentioned above, this box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice is the basis of this recipe. Make it according to package directions. Don’t forget the seasoning packet! That is where a lot of the flavor comes from for this recipe.
- Precooked Chicken– Any kind of chicken you have is perfect for this recipe, as long as its already cooked. Rotisserie, boiled and cubed, canned or leftover grilled chicken would all work.
- Onions and Celery– I cook diced onion and celery in a little butter to add more flavor.
- Frozen Vegetables– The pictures show that I used a simple pea/carrot combo, but any frozen veggie mix is great! As long as you like it, it should work just fine.
- Cream of Chicken Soup– A lot of the moisture and flavor for this rice casserole is from a can of condensed soup. I used cream of chicken but cream of mushroom or even cream of celery will work. As long as you like it, it will work!
- Heavy Cream or Milk-Because we bake this casserole, we want to add moisture to keep the casserole from drying out. Cream adds an overall creamy flavor but milk works in a pinch, too.
- Cheddar Cheese– This is optional, but makes a delicious topping!
How to make Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
There are about 20-25 minutes of active cook time with this recipe, but the remainder is pure baking time. This is why every mom loves casseroles. Really really simple! Actual recipe increments and more specific directions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cook box of rice according to packaged directions.
- Saute onion and celery until softened.
- Stir all casserole ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread into a baking dish. Top with cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees for at least 20 minutes. Serve warm.
What should I serve with this casserole?
My go-to side dish for any casserole including this Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole would be some kind of raw or cooked vegetables. Salads are great in the summer, warmer veggies are great in the fall and winter! Here are some of my favorites:
- Chinese Cabbage Salad
- Watermelon Mint Salad
- Ambrosia Salad
- Simple Greek Salad
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Maple Glazed Carrots
So, there you have it! A simple wild rice casserole that has your veggies, protein and grain all wrapped up in one creamy, dreamy dish! I hope you love it as much as we do!
Happy Cooking!
Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 10.5 oz cream of chicken soup* 1 can
- 2 cups cooked chicken cubed, or any other meat
- 1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables peas and carrots recommended but any are fine
- 1/2 cup cream or milk
- salt
- pepper
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Cook box of rice according to packaged directions.
- In skillet, melt butter and sautee onion and celery over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Once cooked, add rice and cooked onion and celery into large bowl. Add cream of chicken soup, diced chicken, vegetables, cream and salt and pepper. Mix well. Spread into a lightly greased casserole dish. (9x9 glass dish is fine too.)
- Top with cheese. Cover with foil and warm thoroughly at 350 degrees for at least 20 minutes (and up to 60). Serve warm with a side salad.
Family loved it so we’ll be using this recipe often! I don’t eat meat or dairy so I didn’t taste it but that led to me being heavy handed with the salt. I forgot that the processed soup, rice packet and cheese all had tons of salt so I should not have added it. Two of them practically ate the whole pan so I guess they didn’t care! I’ll remember for next time. 🙂
Just made this tonight with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Delicious and easy!
Good.. Quick. Easy. Made first time following recipe. Next time added water chestnuts & small can (drained) whole kernel corn. Served with crisp green salad & mixed berries for dessert both times. Hits the mark!
What would you change if using cubed raw chicken? Would it make the whole dish watery, and would you have to be careful of the rice overcooking to ensure the chicken gets done? Sounds amazing – just hoping to make it more of a dump and bake recipe! Thanks!
I don’t think the chicken would make it watery unless you’re using frozen chicken in which case it would get watery. Good luck with the dump and bake! Sounds yummy!
Yum
Very tasty !
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Didn’t have Swiss cheese on hand. Did anyone use Parmesan or mozzarella for this recipe? Will try making it with one of those!
Yes, either of those would be fine!
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I thought this sounded good but was shocked at how much my husband loved it. He raved all through dinner and then ate the leftovers for breakfast. He wants me to make it again this week- it’s a total winner.
When do you add the milk?
Hmmm. How’s about some Durkee onions on top‼️
[…] 3.5.3229 Recipe adapted from Lauren’s Latest. […]
I accidentally grabbed a bag of uncle Ben’s that is meant to be cooked in the microwave for 90 seconds! Nooooooooo! Ugh! Will that still work?
this looks absolutely delicious and easy to make! I’m going to make this tonight!
How many cups of uncooked rice do I use ?
Very good. I added a can of cream of chicken soup. Increased baking temp to 375 and added crushed garlic Ritz to the top as well. Very good.
This is a new family favorite! Thanks for an easy go to recipe my kids will actually eat!
This looks delish! Question…do I cook the rice with the seasoning packet? Also, what size casserole dish? 8×8? 9×13?
Yes, you cook the rice with the seasoning it comes with. Any sized casserole dish you have will work. Doesn’t really matter.
This was great and delicious, but 300 degrees just wanted high enough. I baked it at 350 for 15 min. covered and 10 with the foil removed.
I made this tonight for dinner and my family loved it! Even my 6 year old asked for seconds. It was so simple and quick to whip up. I cheated and used uncle bens 90 second ready rice. Super yummy. Thanks!
What size box of rice? Thanks
This is one of the best dishes I have ever made. My husband said “why haven’t you been making this all along?” Well…I just found this recipe!! The only thing I changed was the vegetables. I substituted fresh sliced mushrooms which I sautéed with the onions and celery to add to 1/2 cup of frozen peas instead of frozen veggies. Absolutely delicious.
My child is mushroomphobic. SO I use cream of chicken. JUst as yummy!
This was a big hit at my house tonight! And so easy. Thank you for sharing!!
Try adding fresh sliced mushrooms and water chestnuts!
This was totally fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing this! It is a Must try for anyone, you can’t go wrong!
I increased the temp to 325 for 30 mins removed the foil for 10 mins more then under the broiler (keep a close eye when broiling) that nicely roasted the almonds and perfectly browned the cheese.
Looking for last minute ideas to use up fresh rotisserie chicken and veggies in fridge.,.bingo. Flavor profile looks good along with ingredient ratios, should be a winner. Will let you know. Love wild rice!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it with a pound of shrimp too. My family scarfs it up!!
This was amazing. A bit salty so I did not add salt and pepper when I prepared it. It definitely is a recipe I will use again
It sounds delicious. In South Africa we don’t get Uncle Ben’s rice. What quantity is 1 box?
6oz or 170g
could it be placed in a crock pot? my thoughts are to cook the rice as instructed then just add everything to a crock pot for a few hours. right before serving put the cheese on top and then cover with the almonds. Anyone think this would work?
Yes, this would totally work!
Yes!! I am doing this now and it’s so simple and delicious. I will add mozzarella cheese and durkee onion in about an hour to top off
Love this, it’s dinner this Friday.
This is fantastic, I don’t keep instant rice on hand, so I made a mix of wild, brown, and long grain white rice and just guessed as to the quantities. It will be a repeat, thanks for posting it!
Will these freeze well for later?
I made similar last week with the remains of an oven stuffer roaster. I added some sour cream to make it a little more creamy. so yummy!
Delish! My husband just asked me to make again after we had couple of weeks ago. Yay! Thanks!
I made this last night. SUPER easy and yummy. I used fresh carrots as I had on hand, sauteed with the onion and celery. I deglazed the pan with a splash of white wine. I then added frozen peas as my other veg. This all fits in a smaller casserole dish (I think it’s a 3 Qt. I have had it for 25 years)
How many cups of rice? if I substitute another kind of rice?
Hey… what size box of rice? 🙂
You can also add water chestnuts for crunch…thanks for sharing
A friend just posted this to her facebook page. I am making this for dinner tonight. I can’t wait! So easy and yet so yummy. I’ll never say no to anything smothered in cheese. MMMM
Do we follow the soup directions and add water in the or just the soup itself?
Just served this amazing dish! It will go into my favorite recipe file! So yummy and a great comfort dish. Can’t wait to share this with my loved ones!
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