It’s not even fall yet, but there’s a chill in the air in Chicago which means one thing: CASSEROLE SEASON. I mean, what could be better than chicken an rice casserole? Something, warm, creamy, sometimes cheesy and always full of carbs…except not this time. You see, this girl has a figure to maintain, and while I love all things ridiculous when it comes to food, I wanted to create a classic that wouldn’t put extra el-bees on the scale, but was still as satisfying as I had it as a kid.
I came up with this because I wanted something simple, but went with a mix of classic recipes, my great aunt’s recipe and my very own twist. Now I’m not a big fan of throwing a bunch of processed food in a dish and call it a meal, so I added fresh vegetables into the mix and it didn’t disappoint. I ended up with a creamy, mushroomy meal that really set off those autumn vibes I’ve been craving for the last couple of weeks. Check out the recipe below. You won’t be disappointed by this classic with a fresh veggie twist.
Easy Chicken & Rice Casserole
Calories: 400
Servings: 4
Fat: 3.2
Carbs: 66.5
Protein: 34.4
Ingredients
- 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 cups of baby bella mushrooms, diced
- 1 cup of yellow onions, diced
- 1.5 cups of white rice, uncooked
- 10.75 oz. can of cream of mushroom soup
- 8 tbsp of onion soup mix (I use Lipton’s)
- 2.5 cups of water
- Olive oil cooking spray
- Optional: parsley or fresh scallions to garnish
Directions
- First things first, grab a large casserole dish and a large bowl. Spray casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray. Make sure your casserole dish is large enough to ensure that all of the chicken and rice cook evenly.
- Preheat your oven to 375.
- Add uncooked rice and half of the onion soup mix into the casserole dish. Mix until evenly dispersed and set aside.
- Add can of cream of mushroom soup of a bowl. I used Campbell’s this time, but feel free to use any kind of you like, or make your own!
- Add 2.5 cups of water to the cream of mushroom soup and whisk until it’s evenly dispersed. Set aside.
- Dice onions and mushrooms. Saute in a pan with cooking spray until soft, but not quite done.
- Cut chicken breast into 4 even, 4 oz. portions. My package had 2 chicken breasts, so I simply cut both in half.
- Add chicken to the casserole dish.
- Add second half of the onion soup mix to the chicken and rice mixture, evenly coating the chicken.
- Add mushrooms and onions to the casserole dish.
- Add water and cream of mushroom soup to the casserole dish with chicken and rice.
- Cover dish with tin foil and send it away to your oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Feel free to check on it once you hit the hour mark and stir the rice or add more water, if necessary. Once your chicken hits the safe temperature of 165 degrees and your rice is cooked through, it’s time to eat!