Take a walk on the wild rice side!
The name “wild rice” is kind of misleading. It’s not really rice at all. It’s from a completely different plant, and it has a completely different taste and texture. Chewy on the outside, tender on the inside, with a kind of earthy flavor that you definitely won’t get from plain old white rice.
Wild rice is way more nutritious than the regular kind, too. It has more than twice as much fiber and lots more protein, plus all kinds of good vitamins and minerals. Sure, it’s a lot more expensive than white rice…but it’s soooo worth it.
I’ve posted lots of recipes with plain rice here, but I’ve never done one with wild rice before. So, I figured it was time I finally took a walk on the wild side. My new Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole combines wild rice (or a wild rice blend, which is a bit cheaper) with cooked chicken, veggies, and a rich, creamy sauce, with a little parmesan cheese on top to give it a nice coating.
It comes out of the oven looking golden brown and smelling exquisite. It’s a true gourmet experience that you’ll never get from “tame” rice.
Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups chicken, cooked, shredded or diced
4 cups of cooked 5 grain medley rice (or any wild rice you have available)
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 celery stalks, chopped
½ onion, diced
½ cup sour cream
¾ cup chicken stock
1 tsp garlic, minced
¼ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
as desired salt and pepper (I suggest 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a fry pan, sauté celery, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, soup, sour cream, water or stock, and sautéed celery and onion. Mix well. Add the rice, a cup at a time to make sure it incorporates well.
3. Pour into a 9 x 11 greased baking dish. Smooth out the top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for approximately 30 – 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
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Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken cooked, shredded or diced
- 4 cups of cooked 5 grain medley rice - or any wild rice you have available
- 1 10.5oz can condensed cream of chicken soup -
- 2 celery stalks - chopped
- ½ onion - diced
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp garlic - minced
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese - shredded
- as desired salt and pepper - I suggest 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a fry pan, sauté celery, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, soup, sour cream, water or stock, and sautéed celery and onion. Mix well. Add the rice, a cup at a time to make sure it incorporates well.
- Pour into a 9 x 11 greased baking dish. Smooth out the top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- Bake for approximately 30 – 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Video
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Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Alyssa Morrison says
Hi Cory! This looks delish! How big of a can of cteam of chicken are we using here?
Thanks!
Karen Corso says
Hi Alyssa,
I have not made this yet, but when I do, I think I would use the 10.5 oz. can of cream of chicken soup. There is sour cream and chicken stock in the recipe as well, so I think one 10.5 oz. can would be good.
Perhaps, by now, you have already made this. If so, let us know what size can you may have used, and how it turned out!
Karen
Corey says
Yes Karen,
It is a 10.5 oz 🙂 I hope you love it!
Corey says
Sorry this comment slipped through the cracks! Yes, it is for a 10.5 oz. can. I will add that in the recipe card. I hope you love it!
Gloria Bradburry says
Making this for the first time this evening. Wondering if the leftovers will freeze well…
Susan Evans says
This looks more exotic and flavorful than the chicken and rice I make.
Vanessa says
Do you bake uncovered or cover with foil and uncover at the end for 5 min or so to brown the cheese? I would think baking it uncovered the entire time would burn the cheese…
Natalie Bynum says
Has anyone ever made ahead, thus all ingredients are cooked, refrigerated overnight, then “reheated” to serve the next day. This is what I have done, and now I am worried about overcookung it. I am thinking I will try 350 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, then adding the parmesan and finishing it of to 10 minutes. We shall see how this goes. It smelled heavenly yesterday. ❤️
Wouldn’t let me give it 5 stars… hmmm…
Natalie Bynum says
In iPhone I could not adjust the stars. Is there any way to correct it? I wanted to give it five!!
It is letting me give 5 now.
Brooke says
HOLY COW. Amazing! I did a slight adjustment with the bake time, 30 mins at 350 and then a high broil for 3 mins since I used hard parmesan from the deli which is hard to melt/brown. I wish there were left-overs for tomorrow….my family devoured it 😉
Kelly says
I’m making it tonight, do you cover it or not?
liz says
my mom used to make a dish called calico chicken. i found this while searching for a similar recipe. just made it, and it’s very similar to her recipe and absolutely lovely!
to cook the chicken, i poached breasts with some white wine, garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, thyme and parsley. in the future, i think i would spice/salt everything with a heavier hand than i did this time, but overall, totally delicious and will be devoured tonight! hubs loves it too – i’ll definitely be making it again! 🙂
Brittany says
Does anyone know if this would be a good freezer meal? Or how to go about making it one? I’ve made it fresh before and love it. Trying to make a bunch of freezer meals before baby arrives! Thanks!
Monica says
Please tell me what brand of wild rice medley you used? Thank you.
Corey says
I used the generic brand from Target 🙂
Angelina says
Corey….Should this be baked covered or uncovered? Several of us would like to know.
Marissa says
I’ve made this several times. Uncovered is best.
Paula says
Thank you for this delicious recipe! It has quickly become a family favorite, and it is great for church potlucks, too.
Corey says
So happy you loved it Paula
Julie says
Should we bake it covered with foil, or uncovered?
Corey says
Uncovered. The rice is already cooked, so there is no need to cover.
Jen says
How would you modify this without cooking the rice first? Add more broth? Cover when baking and extend cooking time?
LL says
This was so fab. I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream.
Corey says
So happy you love it!
Terrence McGovern says
Wonderful recipe. I tried it with a cream of celery soup once, which I liked best, and then with a cream of mushroom, as well. I also took a rotisserie chicken (which the two of us never eat all of) and diced about a third of that and saved myself the trouble of cooking chicken.
Sarah G says
Made this tonight for dinner. I wanted something good and didn’t want to have to go to the store for anything (self-quarantining). It’s in the oven now and I’ve been “taste testing” while I’ve been mixing it all together. I think this will be amazing.
Joan L. says
Family favorite recipe! Never have any left overs this dish is soooo good! Thank you!
Kari s. says
I’m going to make this tonight. Just curious what the celery and onions are sautéed with and how much?
Corey says
We love to use about a tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper
Kori Stolte says
This was a good recipe. I have celiac, so I used one can of Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup, omitted the sour cream and used 1/2 the amount of chicken stock since the soup was not condensed. Came out really well!
Heather King says
So delicious! I cheated with rotisserie chicken and microwave wild rice the second time I made it and it was just as good in half the time. Thanks for a great recipe.
Carole says
I love wild rice. Made this with half wild and half brown. Added 1/2 tsp. rosemary, thyme and sage, and no salt products so I added a pack of chicken Herb Ox. (tip– Wild rice only takes 25 min. in the instant pot.). So good! Wow!
Carole says
Would canned chicken be good in this recipe? I really love wild rice and the medley sounds very good since I also love whole grain rice. So I don’t want to waste all that good expensive rice if the canned chicken would ruin it. Thank you for the recipe.
Corey says
Yes, I think canned chicken would work just fine.
JANE says
This reminds me of a childhood recipe with canned green beans — and my favorite part — crunchy water chestnuts! I might have to try this with my extra ingredients …
Linda Watt says
I made this recipe on Christmas Day and it turned out delicious, everyone loved it!!!