Recipe Ritzy Chicken Rice Casserole

[The Late Night Gourmet]

If you want to make something easy, you can’t get much easier than a casserole. Even though I took the time to prepare the chicken and broccoli, you can make this even easier by using prepared chicken and frozen broccoli.

It’s hard to screw this up. The crispy layer of the crackers on the top seals the moisture in. And, swimming in soup and stock helps.

Other crackers work here, too, but Ritz crackers add a buttery quality (that I lean into with more butter). And, I love the effect a cast iron pan has on the flavor of what you cook in it.

And, the family liked it.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
2 pounds chicken breast
Poultry seasoning (I use Zehnder’s)
Smoked garlic seasoning
Florets cut from a head of broccoli
Cream of Mushroom Soup, condensed, 10.5 ounce can
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white rice
8 tablespoons butter
2 sleeves of Ritz crackers (64 total)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a cast iron pan on medium heat. Season the chicken liberally with poultry seasoning while the pan heats. Sprinkle smoked garlic seasoning on chicken. Cook chicken for 2 minutes, until it browns, then flip over. Don’t worry about cooking fully, since it will finish in the oven. Remove chicken and set aside.

2. In the same pan, add some chicken stock and scrape up any loose bits from the pan. Add broccoli florets, sprinkling smoked garlic seasoning. Heat and stir broccoli until softened.

3. Cover the bottom of a casserole pan with chicken. Cover chicken with the broccoli.

4. Stir condensed soup, stock, and rice together in a bowl. Pour mixture evenly over the contents of the pan.

5. Crush crackers; I used the casserole pan to crush them in the pack. Melt butter. Mix crackers with the butter.

6. Evenly spread the cracker mixture over the top of the casserole pan. Cook casserole in oven at 350°F (176°C) for 25-30 minutes.

 

[kaneohegirlinaz]

I was waiting for that!
CMT!!!

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I was waiting for that!
CMT!!!

I have a bad habit of waiting until I have time to make an elaborate recipe. I’m glad I decided to change that up here.

 

[msmofet]

Thank you for the recipe. All I need are the crackers.

One question: The rice is added uncooked?

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Thank you for the recipe. All I need are the crackers.

One question: The rice is added uncooked?

Yes...the stock gets absorbed by the rice as it cooks. When I make a pot of rice, I bring the water to a boil, then add the rice and let it simmer for 20 minutes, and it comes out perfectly every time. I was a little bit nervous about it working out that way here, because I've never made a casserole with rice before, but it worked out.

 

[JAS_OH1]

This looks like a great family casserole to make after a long day at work when short on time. My kids would have adored this growing up.

Must get some smoked garlic seasoning sometime soon. I have been living under a rock!