Do you ever find yourself craving Thanksgiving dinner? This made-from-scratch chicken casserole delivers all those nostalgic flavors without the hassle of wrestling with a gigantic bird and cooking for days on end!
You’ll find lots of casserole recipes out there that are chock-full of canned soup, but not this one. A quick white sauce does the trick, along with a hefty handful of fresh herbs.
The result is a comforting dinner you can feel good about serving to your family—and that’s a big win in my book!
Making Chicken Casserole without Canned Soup
OK, so let’s face it canned soup is a regular but unhealthy ingredient in chicken casserole recipes. It’s not only packed full of salt but there are also a ton of nasty artificial ingredients or things you’ve never even heard of before.
By making this chicken casserole from scratch it not only tastes 100x better but it’s healthy and wholesome because you know exactly what’s in it.
Another thing, it’s super easy!
How to Make Chicken Casserole
1. First, saute onion and garlic with a little melted butter.
2. Add more butter and flour and stir until thickened (this is the base to a thick and creamy chicken casserole).
3. Add milk and chicken broth and stir until thick and creamy
4. Stir in cooked rice, chicken and herbs.
5. Once combined transfer to a casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs and bake.
Variations to Try
Add in extra veggies – this chicken casserole is the perfect way to use up veggies or sneak them into a comfort food dish. Mushrooms work extremely well as do cauliflower or broccoli but it’ll work with almost any veggie you like!
Switch up the herbs – you don’t need to stick to the herbs I’ve used switch it up and use your favorites or just pick one. Tarragon is a great fresh herb to mix with chicken. Tip: always go for fresh herbs and not dried for best results.
Add different seasoning – if you want to add a little kick why not try adding different seasonings such as curry powder or paprika.
Top Tips for Making this Creamy Rice & Chicken Casserole
- Any type of cooked chicken will work in this recipe; you can use a shredded rotisserie chicken from your grocer’s deli or roast your own.
- To roast your own, drizzle two chicken breasts with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 375°F on a rimmed baking sheet until cooked through 35 to 40 minutes.
- Use any type of cooked rice you like; just be aware that some brown and wild rice blends contain extra seasoning and salt, so taste the casserole filling before adding more salt.
- Customize the herb blend to suit your taste. I used a blend of ½ cup parsley, 3 tablespoons thyme, and 1 tablespoon sage.
- Not a fan of breadcrumbs? Stir 2 cups crushed crackers with butter and use as a topping instead.
More Casserole Recipes You Might Like;
Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 Tbsp. butter divided
- 1 cups chopped yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, sage, and thyme, plus additional for garnish
- ½ tsp. kosher salt plus additional to taste
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 6 cups cooked rice
- 3 to 4 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add another 4 tablespoons butter; let met.
- Stir flour into butter and onions. Cook, stirring, 2 minutes.
- Whisk in milk and broth until combined.
- Cook, whisking often, until mixture comes to a simmer and has thickened, about 7 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir in herbs, salt, and pepper.
- Gently stir in rice and chicken. Taste for seasonings; add salt ¼ teaspoon at a time to reach desired flavor.
- Transfer to an 11x7-inch casserole dish.
- In a medium bowl, stir together breadcrumbs and remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs over casserole. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 15 minutes.
Notes
- Any type of cooked chicken will work in this recipe; you can use shredded rotisserie chicken from your grocer’s deli, or roast your own.
- To roast your own, drizzle two chicken breasts with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 375°F on a rimmed baking sheet until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Use any type of cooked rice you like; just be aware that some brown and wild rice blends contain extra seasoning and salt, so taste the casserole filling before adding more salt.
- Customize the herb blend to suit your taste. I used a blend of ½ cup parsley, 3 tablespoons thyme, and 1 tablespoon sage.
- Not a fan of breadcrumbs? Stir 2 cups crushed crackers with butter and use as a topping instead.
Hello John! I’m debating I’m making this casserole and add broccoli or make the broccoli casserole you have and add chicken! They are both similar but I think the broccoli casserole features more dairy. What do you think would be best for thanksgiving? Taking the easy road this year!
Love your spin on classic recipes John! Find myself coming here a lot lately! It’s crazy cold here in southeast Texas this past week–going to make this for dinner tomorrow-with mushrooms 🙂 Looks so delicious and perfect for cold weather.
I did make it! With mushrooms, sliced carrots and the last of the sugar snap peas. Omg, just fantastic! So creamy and flavorful-just the right proportion of sauce to rice. The breadcrumb topping is soo crispy and the perfect finishing touch. Thank you 🙂
Delicious! And so super quick and easy! Thanks for a great recipe.