This Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole is my absolute favorite casserole. It’s creamy, comforting and a full meal in one baking dish. The recipe has a rice-base. I like to cook Minute Rice early in the day, let it cool to room temperature then pop it in the refrigerator. You want to measure three cups of the uncooked rice then cook. I know with rice it can be confusing whether you’re measuring before or after it’s cooked and expanded. WIth this recipe, measure before. Cook and cool. You’ll use all the cooked rice in the recipe.
This casserole has two more cooked elements; the broccoli and onion. Cut three small to medium broccoli crowns into bite-size florets and steam until bright green and barely fork tender. I like to cook in a pot with an inch of water in the bottom then place the broccoli in a steam basket in the pot. You can also use thawed frozen broccoli. The onion takes about 10 minutes to get caramelized. You can cook the onion, broccoli and rice ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator. The rotisserie chicken has to be shredded which can also be done ahead of time. Substitute 2-3 shredded chicken breasts if you don’t have a rotisserie chicken.
The rice, chicken, cooked onion and broccoli get mixed with cold diced butter, diced Velveeta, salt, pepper and cream of chicken soup. The goodness doesn’t stop there as the entire dish is topped with buttered Ritz cracker crumbs then baked until golden perfection. The casserole is creamy with pockets of oozing cheese that complement the chicken and broccoli perfectly. It’s a perfect casserole that will feed a hungry crowd.
Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 c rice cooked, cold
- 1 rotisserie chicken shredded
- 1 onion diced, cooked
- 3 heads of broccoli cut into bite size florets, cooked
- 1 lb American cheese Velveeta, cubed
- 1 stick salted butter cold, diced
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 1/2 salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 sleeves Ritz crackers
- 5 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Cook rice. Bring to room temperature then refrigerate until cold. I like to use Minute Rice for this. Measure 3 dry cups then cook.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Dice and cook onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until caramelized. Set aside.
- To a large mixing bowl add rice, a shredded rotisserie chicken, cooked onion, salt, pepper, Velveeta, butter, steamed broccoli, and cream of chicken soup.
- Mix well before pressing into a buttered 9x13 dish or pan.
- Create crumbs with two sleeves of Ritz crackers in a gallon ziploc bag. Pour in melted butter and mix until all the crumbs are wet. Pour over the casserole and spread out.
- Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.