Broccoli Rice Casserole with Chicken:
If you’ve got leftover turkey or leftover rotisserie chicken, I’ve got the best creamy, comforting casserole for you. This broccoli rice casserole with chicken comes together with just fridge ingredients, plus it lacks condensed soup! It’s not that I’m fundamentally against condensed cream-of-something soups–it’s just that I hardly ever keep them in my house. And you know I’m not heading to the store just for one ingredient to make a meal come together! However, I always have eggs and sour cream in my fridge, so this casserole is within reach! Another chicken casserole you might like is my warm chicken salad bake!
My creamy casserole technique comes from my friend Heidi Swanson, who has a recipe for wild rice casserole full of mushrooms and fresh thyme in her cookbook that has become our favorite. Her casserole relies on plenty of eggs and cottage cheese for creaminess and fluff; here, I’m using eggs and sour cream. I also love that this recipe doesn’t require you to make a roux. If I’m repurposing leftovers, it’s because I don’t want to cook again, you know what I mean? I’m almost positive that you know exactly what I mean–dinnertime should be easy! I want to toss everything together in one big bowl, and then bake it to make an easy dinner.
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole:
This is a real dump and stir casserole recipe. Everything comes together in one bowl, and you just pour it in a greased 8x8" casserole dish. The last time I made this cheesy chicken broccoli rice casserole, my husband was using the oven to bake a loaf of bread. So, I slid the 8" square pan into the toaster oven, and while it barely fit, I was so happy with the results! The cheese on top become just shy of crispy, and it was the perfect lid on top of the casserole. As you can see from the photos, I used a mix of brown rice and wild rice because I had it in the pantry, but this recipe is great with 100% brown rice. If you’re going for a mix of both, either use a packaged mix or ¾ cup of brown rice with ¼ cup of wild rice.
This is a great way to use up leftover Turkey after Thanksgiving, or leftover shredded rotisserie chicken! It would be a great meal to bake and freeze, too. Check out my freezer meals for two here. The final reason I love this casserole is because it uses broccoli florets, straight from the freezer! When broccoli hits the oven frozen, it maintains a crispness in the final dish that can’t be beat. No more soggy casseroles! You would also like my Cajun Rice Crab Casserole.
*If you want to use all brown rice, use 1 cup of brown rice and omit the wild rice. Only use 1 cup of uncooked rice total. Be sure to measure the cheese after grating.
8" Square Casserole Pan
