Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole (from SCRATCH!) Recipe
This can be a dump-and-bake Chicken Rice Casserole with broccoli that’s constructed from scratch. It’s creamy, tacky, comforting and tastes like a risotto however a lot simpler to make! It’s the final word emergency meal – utterly easy however doesn’t sacrifice flavour for comfort.
NO CANNED SOUP!!!
The way to make Chicken Rice Casserole – my Emergency means!
This can be a dump-and-bake rice casserole that’s constructed from scratch.
And anybody who is aware of something about cooking will (rightfully!) increase their eyebrows once they see how this emergency model of Chicken Rice Casserole is made:
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Dump UNCOOKED RICE in pan
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Sprinkle with flour and seasonings
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Combine with liquids (broth and milk)
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High with RAW chicken and RAW broccoli
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Bake
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Stir in cheese, soften cheese, serve.
And that is what comes out: a CREAMY Chicken Rice Casserole with PERFECTLY COOKED rice with JUICY SEASONED items of chicken! 🙌🏻
What this Chicken Rice Casserole tastes like
It actually tastes like everyone’s favorite risotto – besides you haven’t been slaving over a sizzling range for 20 minutes. The rice is coated with a creamy tacky sauce that’s made with milk and flavoured with chicken broth/inventory plus inventory powder.
It’s good and creamy somewhat than stodgy like many rice casseroles are, and comes out of the oven with a bubbly golden tacky high.
Many of the chicken has some browning on it, and the chicken stays juicy and isn’t overcooked.
The broccoli is on the comfortable facet, however most undoubtedly not cooked into mushy oblivion. You could possibly steam it individually and stir it by means of on the finish, however I selected comfort for a comparatively small compromise!
What you want
Right here’s what it’s good to make this Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole:
The important thing ingredient right here that makes an actual distinction to the tastiness of this recipe is inventory powder, often known as bouillon powder. I exploit this in lieu of salt on this recipe as a result of it’s salt with flavour.
Use chicken or vegetable inventory powder – my favorite is Vegeta which is a vegetable one, pictured beneath. Crumbled bouillon dice will work simply nice too – it’s the identical factor, in dice type!
We’d like this additional flavour enhance to compensate for skipping the same old flavour base step of sautéing onion and garlic in butter and searing the chicken till golden brown like I do with my stovetop Chicken Rice Casserole!
Different makes use of for Vegeta?
I’m an enormous fan of Vegeta, it’s my secret ingredient for nice soup broths, similar to for from-scratch Do-it-yourself Chicken Noodle Soup. It’s additionally my trick to make a extremely nice QUICK clear soup broth for Chicken Rice Soup and sooner Chicken Noodle Soup, and a extremely terrific creamy sauce for Chicken Pot Pie.
NO CANNED SOUP!
I’d’ve beloved to name it the WORLD’s best – however I do know for a truth it isn’t!
The world’s best chicken rice casserole is made with simply chicken, rice and canned soup that’s dumped in a pan and baked, and you’ll by no means see that recipe on my web site.
I don’t choose (you’re speaking to she whose mother and father would crack an egg over rice, add a drizzle of soy and name that dinner!) however utilizing canned soup to make shortcut casseroles simply isn’t the best way I cook dinner. 😇
However I do actually imagine this to be the best Chicken Rice Casserole that’s constructed from scratch as a result of we by-pass the same old roux making course of whereby melted butter is blended with flour and used to thicken milk to make a creamy sauce for a great deal of issues from Mac and Cheese, the Béchamel Sauce for Lasagna to Chicken Pot Pie.
And I promise you – it’s 100% scrumptious. Not “hmm, it’s fairly good”. It’s SERIOUSLY scrumptious. Creamy, tacky, comforting, can’t-stop-eating-it-good!!! – Johnsat x
PS That is the rice model of the Extremely Lazy Chicken Broccoli PASTA Bake and the baked model of this 30 minute stovetop Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, each of that are reader favourites!
Watch the best way to make it
Ingredients
- 500g (1 lb) chicken thighs or tenders (tenderloin) , cut into 1.5cm / 2/3" pieces (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder (granulated bouillon) (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) milk , any fat %
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 3)
- 1/4 cup (35g) flour , plain / all purpose
- 1 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder (granulated bouillon) (Note 2)
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tbsp (30g) unsalted butter
- 2 broccoli heads (large!), cut into florets (Note 4)
- 2 cups (200g) shredded cheese
- 2 green onions , finely sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F (180°C/350°F fan/convection).
- Mix Chicken Ingredients.
- Heat chicken broth and milk until hot using any method (stove, microwave). Can combine together in saucepan. (Note 5)
- Spread rice in 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" ceramic or glass baking dish. (Note 6)
- Sprinkle with flour, stock powder and garlic.
- Add the hot chicken broth, stir until flour dissolved (some small lumps ok).
- Add milk, swish rice to spread out evenly.
- Spread broccoli on top, then chicken, then plonk butter on (anywhere).
- Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. (Might get some browned skin on surface, that’s ok)
- CHECK rice before stirring – should be JUST cooked (Note 7).
- Add half the cheese, stir through, being sure to get rice in the corners and edges of pan. Should be creamy and quite loose (see video).
- Top with cheese, return to oven for 5 minutes until just melted.
- Sprinkle with green onion, if using, then serve!
Notes
1. Chicken – boneless thigh or tenderloin best for juiciest chicken with required cook time. Breast also works but not quite as juicy!
2. Stock powder (aka granulated bouillon / bouillon powder) – this is bouillon cubes in powder form. Any brand or type of chicken or vegetable works fine here, has more flavour than salt which is needed for this shortcut recipe. I like using Vegeta (blue can, vegetable stock powder, sold in herbs & spices aisle, also the secret ingredient Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, fab easy Chicken Rice Soup and Chicken Pot Pie).
Crumbled bouillon cubes will work just fine too! They are essentially the same. The good ones crumble easily into powder. If it doesn’t, dissolve in some of the hot liquid then add.
3. Rice – recipe works best with long grain white rice. Will also work with medium or short white rice grain, “standard” (unspecified) white rice, jasmine* or basmati rice*. Recipe as written won’t work with: brown rice, wild rice, risotto, paella rice, quinoa.
* These types may take 10 minutes or longer during first bake to cook through, make sure to check before stirring rice!
4. Broccoli – use 2 big heads! About 4 – 5 heaped cups, 400g / 14 oz – it can even take more. Frozen broccoli can be used but thaw and drain off excess liquid first (don’t put frozen in because it will bring down the temp of liquids = uneven rice cooking).
5. Heating liquid ensures rice cooks evenly and without going gluggy. Heat separately in microwave (I do this) or mix together in same saucepan & heat on stove. It doesn’t matter which order they go into the baking pan, it’s just easier to pour some liquid in first to dissolve flour, then the rest.
6. Ceramic or glass pan – this is what I always use for good control of heat. Heavy duty cast iron or similar will also work. Flimsy/thin metal pans won’t provide even heating as well and may affect how evenly the rice cooks.
7. Cooked rice – rice should be cooked at 40 minutes. But if not, cover with foil and stick it back in the oven. Make sure you check rice before stirring – even cooking of rice depends on remaining submerged under liquid.
8. Scaling recipe (slide scaler) – If you scale down to half, please use a smaller pan (say 8″/20cm). If you scale UP, it should scale up ok by about 25% in the same pan, but any more and I’d recommend using a separate pan to ensure rice cooks evenly.
9. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings (generous quantities!)
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