Simple and comforting ingredients help this Chicken Wild Rice Casserole bake up into the perfect weeknight dinner. Creamy, tasty and easy!
Chicken Wild Rice Casserole has been one of my favorite meals throughout my whole life. Up in Minnesota, wild rice is a big thing. Either you love it or you hate it, but it absolutely delicious here.
Now we take a little short-cut and use Uncle Bens Wild Rice mix in this recipe which makes it just a little bit easier, and a little more flavorful.
Simple and easy is the key to the recipes we make around here, and this one is perfect for weeknights, holidays or just because, there is no reason not to make this Chicken Wild Rice Casserole.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- You can use rotisserie chicken, boiled chicken, grilled chicken or even leftover turkey to make this recipe. The options are yours.
- Dumping all the ingredients together in one bowl make it simple and easy to spread out and bake up.
- You can easily double this recipe for larger crowds depending on how much you are serving and it is easily adaptable bu adding different veggies, or spices to amp up the flavor you love.
We are soon heading into holiday season and this recipe is the perfect way to use up some of that leftover turkey. My mother always would make this after Thanksgiving just to use up the bird and we never complained, it tasted delicious.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN WILD RICE CASSEROLE, STEP BY STEP:
- Cook your Uncle Bens Rice according to package directions.
- In a large bowl add rice, celery, onion, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream chicken and shredded cheddar cheese, salt and pepper.
- Mix it all together until it is completely combined.
- Pour into greased 8″x8″ or 9″x9″ baking dish and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour until browned and heated through.
This recipe comes from our family cookbook. It is recipes compiled over the years that my family have been making for decades, this one has been used so often. They actually call it Wild Rice and Chicken Hot Dish, because you know, the Minnesota thing.
One thing that I DO leave out fro this recipe is water chestnuts, I’m not a huge water chestnut fan even know it’s in the original recipe, it’s just not my thing.
There are absolutely other additions that you could add to this casserole if you’d like, carrots, peppers, almonds, etc. We love it just the way it is so this is how we make it, it comes out super creamy and delicious.
Also if you’d like you could also saute your onions and celery to soften up before putting into the casserole itself if you you would prefer a less crunchier texture of the celery or onion.
CAN I USE REGULAR WILD RICE?
Yes, if you want to make this with regular wild rice instead of the Uncle Bens that we use in this recipe you can use about 1 cup uncooked rice and cook according to package directions.
This will change the taste because it does not use spice packet inside, so I would add some seasonings that complement this dish if you want to go that route.
CAN YOU FREEZE CHICKEN WILD RICE CASSEROLE?
Yes you can, mix according to directions and then cool and cover with Saran Wrap and tin foil and place in freezer, this will store about 2-3 months.
To bake, let thaw in refrigerator and bake according to instructions or if baking from frozen add an additional 15-2o minutes to baking time to make sure everything is heated through.
This Chicken Wild Rice Casserole is a truly easy and creamy delicious weeknight meal that the whole family loves. At least ours does or it would of made it to the family cook book!
Casseroles are one of my favorite meals to make, some of my other favorite chicken casseroles include: Crack Chicken and Rice Casserole, Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole and this One Pot Chicken Noodle Casserole.
Not only are casseroles comforting, they usually are pretty simple and straightforward and just dump and bake, which is perfect if you are a family that loves easy and has little time.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING CHICKEN WILD RICE CASSEROLE:
- We use Uncle Bens Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix, but you can substitute just wild rice for this recipe (read above for amounts).
- If you want more tender veggies in this recipe, saute them a little ahead of time before adding them to your mixture.
- You can add other vegetables or spice to this recipe to suit your flavor profile, this is an easy creamy base recipe.
- This is perfect for using leftover turkey.
- You can top with additional shredded cheese before serving, the last 5 minutes add some to the top until melted.
If you’re wanting a delicious and easy weeknight dinner this Chicken Wild Rice Casserole is exactly what you want to put on your menu, easy creamy and addicting!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this CHICKEN WILD RICE CASSEROLE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 6 oz Uncle Bens Long Grain and Wild Rice Original
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups coooked and cubed chicken
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350, grease an 8"x8" or 9"x9" pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- Cook your rice according to package direction.
- In large bowl combine all your ingredients and mix well.
- Spread into prepared baking dish and bake for 1 hour until bubly and golden.
Notes
- We use Uncle Bens Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix, but you can substitute just wild rice for this recipe (read above for amounts).
- If you want more tender veggies in this recipe, saute them a little ahead of time before adding them to your mixture.
- You can add other vegetables or spice to this recipe to suit your flavor profile, this is an easy creamy base recipe.
- This is perfect for using leftover turkey.
- You can top with additional shredded cheese before serving, the last 5 minutes add some to the top until melted.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Kkadi28
Love this recipe. Have made it many times now. Whole family enjoys it. Thank you!
J
Just like my mom used to make! Thank you for sharing, the recipe had been lost. I remember she always was back and forth on the water chestnuts; eventually we also left them out.