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This One Pot Chicken and Rice Casserole Recipe is a simple go-to chicken dinner that’s full of flavor and only uses one pan. My family loves the flavor and I love that it only takes 45 minutes to prepare!
If you’re hungry for chicken, try some of our other favorite chicken and rice casseroles for dinner, like Easy Chicken and Rice Bake and Arroz con Pollo.
Table of Contents
Skillet Chicken and Rice Casserole
Chicken and Rice Casserole is just one of those easy, comforting meals that I love to make all year long. It has a great combination of flavors with lots of garlic infused.
This meal is simple with very little prep time. It’s not super complicated and uses basic ingredients that you can find just about anywhere.
If you like saving time in the kitchen (and who doesn’t?), this One Pot Chicken and Rice Casserole is going to quickly become a favorite. Be sure to try our other One Pot Meals, like my One Pot Mexican Chicken and Rice recipe, Easy One Pot Ham Fried Rice and One Pot Chicken Alfredo.
Ingredients Needed for Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Chicken breast – I use tenderloins or thin cutlets. You can also use larger pieces and just cut them up. Chicken thighs are an option, but you’ll need a longer cooking time so it’s possible that you could overcook the rice. I’d recommend cutting thighs into smaller, more bite-sized pieces.
- Rice – You need long grain white rice, or Jasmine rice. I have not tested this with brown rice, but if you want to use it, the time will need to be increased and could end up drying out the chicken.
- Chicken broth – for cooking the rice and adding flavor.
- Onion – diced finely.
- Garlic – I used 4 minced cloves and also added garlic powder.
- Seasonings – Salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder and red pepper flakes. These can easily be adjusted based on your tastes or what you have on hand.
How to Make One Pot Chicken and Rice
- Heat a large skillet and cook the onion until translucent, then add and cook the garlic. I use olive oil, but you could use butter instead, or a little of both.
- Add the uncooked rice to the skillet and toast it for a couple of minutes. Season the chicken and then nestle it into the rice. Pour some chicken broth all around (but not over) the chicken.
- Bring the broth to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat for about 20 minutes. Don’t touch it! The rice needs steam to cook so leave that lid on.
- Remove the lid and stir the rice mixture. Pour in the rest of the chicken broth, and sprinkle on some more seasonings. Replace the lid and cook for another 15 minutes or until the liquid is fully absorbed and the rice is nice and tender.
- Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh minced parsley if desired.
FAQs
No. The rice is added to the pan or pot uncooked (raw) and will cook in the steam from the chicken broth. This is why it’s so important to resist opening the lid to peek – you don’t want to risk the steam escaping.
To get good flavor from anything you’re cooking, proper seasoning is so important. I added 4 cloves of garlic to this skillet meal to make it taste amazing. I also added paprika, onion powder, and red pepper flakes.
As long as you heat the chicken to a safe temperature (it should be 165 degrees), it’s totally fine to cook them together. In this chicken and rice recipe, we’re bringing everything to a boil, which will kill any potentially harmful bacteria.
Serving Suggestions
Because this dish can be a little bland in the color department, I recommend serving with a green vegetable of some sort.
Serve with some fresh Roasted Broccolini, Garlic Green Beans or Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus, or a crisp Caesar Salad.
Variations
You can also throw in a big cupful of parmesan cheese right at the end of cooking, and it adds such a nice salty, nutty bite. Even a little cheddar cheese would be delicious.
If you want to add some veggies, broccoli or mushrooms are great options for cooking in the pan with the chicken and rice. Or, throw in some cooked peas and carrots (frozen and heated) at the end.
For freshness, add some herbs like parsley or thyme.
What to Do With Leftovers
Keep leftover chicken and rice in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last 3-4 days if properly stored. Freezing is not particularly recommended, but it can be done. You can reheat in the microwave; just add a little water to help rehydrate the rice.
Expert Tips
- I use thin-cut chicken breasts in this recipe or you could use chicken tenderloins. I prefer not to use large chicken breasts because I worry that they will not cook through. If that is all you have in the freezer, just cut them into 2-3 strips or you could cut them in half to make them thinner.
- While I love cooking with all types of rice, I really only recommend long grain white rice for this recipe. Any substitutions will affect cook time and you may end up with dry chicken or mushy rice, so stick to long grain for this recipe.
- My best tip for cooking flavorful rice is to lightly toast the rice before adding any liquid for another layer of flavor.
More One Pot Meals
- One Pan Creamy Tortellini and Smoked Sausage
- Sheet Pan Lemon Dill Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes
- One Pan Cheesy Beef & Tomato Pasta Skillet
- One Pot Pizza Pasta
- One Pan Taco Macaroni and Cheese
Skillet Garlic Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins or thin chicken breasts
- 1 ½ cups long grain white rice
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock divided
- 1 medium onion diced fine, about 1 cup
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder divided
- 2 teaspoons salt divided
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet (one with a lid) over medium heat. Add onion to the pan and season with ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, about 5-6 minutes or until translucent.
- Add the minced garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the rice and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, or until lightly browned and toasted.
- Meanwhile, combine 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, paprika, onion powder, and pepper. Season chicken on both sides, and set aside.
- Nestle the chicken into the rice and add 3 cups of the chicken broth, careful not to pour over the chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook undisturbed for 20 minutes. Resist the temptation to lift the lid as it will release steam which is necessary for cooking the rice.
- Remove lid and give it a good stir. Pour in the remaining cup of chicken broth, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and red pepper flakes if using. Cover and cook another 10-15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. If rice is not done, continue to add small amounts of chicken broth until tender.
- Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh minced parsley if desired.
Made this last night. I doubled the recipe and it made a ton, enough for hungry company. I used two large chicken boneless chicken breasts which I cut in half horizontally and then cut each half in 4 slices on the diagonal. I did everything else according to the recipe but did find that I had to add another cup of chicken broth as the liquid was quickly absorbed. I also grated a cup of pecorino cheese to incorporate so maybe that’s why I needed more liquid. Everyone agreed it was delicious.
I served it with a tossed salad of mixed greens, apple, toasted almonds, feta cheese and dried cranberries. Italian crusty bread. Thanks for this recipe, I always use to think I had to brown up chicken before adding to anything, this was very tender.
Delicious recipe!! My go to recipe for sure! Boyfriend loves it.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Monica.
K.
Delicious! I will make this dish again!
Nice! Thanks for stopping Deborah.
Made this with 2 bone-in chicken breasts, no need to add that last cup of broth. I let it sit covered after cooking for 20 mins, perfect!
Love the feedback Sue! Thanks for stopping by.
Can I use instant rice if that’s all I have?
Instant rice wouldn’t need to cook the same, so for a one skillet dish like this you really need to follow the recipe.
Looks and sounds good. I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you Rebecca! Thanks for stopping by.
I made this tonight, it was really delicious and super easy. I ended up using chicken breast that I cut in tenders. I didnt have any chicken thigh on hand. I also added some chicken buillion to really kick up the flavor. My husband loved it.thank you so much! I cant wait to try more of your recipes!
Fantastic feedback Beatris! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Recipe calls for one onion — what size, please? Or how many cups?
Hi Bonnie, I’ve updated the recipe card to reflect the amount. You want about a cup of diced onion, so a small-medium onion.
Thanks for the clarification, Kristin.
Is it chicken broth or chicken stock? Ingredient said stock so I got stock and then I start cooking and it says broth.
Stock and broth are often used interchangeably. But to your point I will update the recipe to keep the language the same.
I made this tonight. OMG it was so good. On a scale of 1 to 10 Hubby gave it a 10 and he is a very picky eater. It was very flavorful. I followed the recipe to the tee. My granddaughter (20) was happy I included the crushed red peppers. We will definitely be having this meal many more times.
That’s awesome Crystal! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Eating this meal AS I write this review! It’s honestly great. I made some modifications and I think I made it worse. It seems like it would’ve been really amazing without my modifications. I’ll try again in the future!
Great Feedback Kelsi! Thanks for stopping by.
I made this tonight and the flavor was phenomenal! I added a side of roasted green beans & mushrooms. I do have to recommend going by when your rice is done though. I should have stopped after 20 min but added the last of the stock and it made the rice mushy. Check the chicken after 20, and remove from rice if one of them needs to keep cooking. Enjoy!
Thanks for the tip, Brittany!
I cooked this tonight. Procedure wise I think 20 minutes for the white rice is definitely sufficient as when I went to go finish the rest of the recipe after 20 minute timer, the rice and chicken were all cooked through. Loved that the chicken cooks quite tender so I could cut through it with my cooking spoon. I added the additional cup of broth/garlic powder, but did not see a need for an additional ten-fifteen minutes. Seemed to add a creaminess to the dish, personally, which i like since I’m dairy free on most meals I make. I did add 1 tsp Italian seasoning into the spice mixture used to coat the chicken with. Taste wise this is seasoned perfectly. The spice measurements are pretty spot on. Thanks for an easy recipe!
Fantastic feedback Sara! Thanks for stopping by.
Good and simple. I added 1/2 cup of white wine to chicken broth.
Awesome feedback Carmen! Thanks for stopping by.
Very yummy! The seasoning is perfect and is now my go-to seasoning mix for chicken! This recipe could feed a family for sure- I had a lot of leftovers when I made this for my boyfriend and myself.
Awesome feedback Kahler! Thanks for stopping by.
So cook the chicken before adding it into the rice?
No, the chicken goes into the pan uncooked/raw.
I made this today for supper, it turned out wonderful. I made some salsa to go on top, yum
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Patrice.
Just wondering if I can Use Brown Rice instead?
The recipe instructions are for white rice. Brown rice requires a much longer cooking time which would dry out the chicken.
Thank you! I’m about to try this one.??
You are so welcome Lisa!
Should I slice the chicken tenderloins before hand? They are about 6-7 inches.
No you can leave them as is.
Is the chicken raw when u add it to the rice
The chicken cooks with the rice.