I was at the grocery store earlier this week and saw a can of organic cream of mushroom soup in a display at the checkout. The moment saw the cream of mushroom soup, I got the biggest craving for an old school chicken and rice casserole. I don’t cook casseroles often but I sure do like them a lot!
I thew the can in my cart and came home to create my version of an old favorite. I jazzed it up with the addition of broccoli, sundried tomatoes, some herbs and cheese.
I didn’t have time to precook the chicken and the rice, and those steps just kind of seemed unnecessary, so I cooked everything together in one skillet and it worked out perfectly. I browned onions, chicken and garlic and then added the rice, broccoli, sundried tomatoes, spices and cooking liquid and let it cook with the lid on.
This chicken and rice skillet is (around) a 30 minute meal that cooks on the stovetop. I appreciated that I didn’t have to bake it like a traditional casserole and that the overall prep and cooking time was much shorter.
Note, there is an optional step to stick the skillet under the broiler to brown the cheese.
Another note, many of the recipes that I consulted called for frozen broccoli florets. I do not love the taste of frozen broccoli + I had two crowns of fresh broccoli on hand so I used fresh broccoli and it cooked up perfectly in the skillet with everything else.
I used white rice in this dish but I know I’m going to get questions about brown rice. I’m sure you could do it but you’d have to increase the cooking time quite a bit. I made no guarantees that your chicken might not be overcooked or your broccoli pretty mushy. If you try it, let me know!
This chicken and rice skillet is everything I wanted it to be and more! Creamy, comforting, flavorful and much lighter than a traditional casserole. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tonight!
And just as I expected, Finn loved it too. I put it in bowl for him and he was scooping handfuls of it into his mouth. So sweet.
I hope you guys love this simple and delicious chicken and rice skillet with broccoli and sundried tomatoes as much as we did!
CHICKEN AND RICE SKILLET WITH BROCCOLI AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES
PrintChicken and Rice Skillet with Broccoli and Sundried Tomatoes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Comfort
Description
A recipe for a simple comforting chicken and rice skillet with broccoli and sundried tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- Salt and pepper (option to use lemon pepper if you have it…I did!)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 can organic cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup white rice (I used basmati)
- 2 broccoli crowns, chopped
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
- 1 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Juice of 1/4 lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup shredded cheese of choice (I used mozzarella because it’s what I had…of course you can add more!)
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet that has a lid and at least 2-3 inch sides. While oil is heating, season chopped chicken breasts with salt and pepper or lemon pepper.
- Add onion and chicken to skillet and let cook for 4-5 minutes until onion begins to soften and chicken begins to brown (chicken will not be cooked through at this point). Add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add butter and stir until melted. Then add the cream of mushroom soup and stir.
- Next add the rice, broccoli, sundried tomatoes, seasonings, lemon juice and stock and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, or until rice has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Add the cheese and return the lid to the pan until the cheese has melted. At this point, it’s ready to enjoy but If you’d like to brown the top a bit, put the skillet under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn.
Do you like casseroles? If so, what are your favorites?
This looks really tasty. I love sundried tomatoes. My favorite casserole is poppyseed chicken casserole. It has crushed ritz crackers on top. Yum!
This looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing.
-Kate
I’m 3 weeks post partum and this looks like a fantastic one pot solution to dinner!
This looks really good. I might try this with some rotisserie chicken just to really simplify weeknight life! Thanks for sharing and have a good weekend!!
looks delicious! Pinning this for later!
This casserole looks so yummy Jen and it will be great for the summer months…no oven! It will even be a great dish with different proteins too! Win! Win!
Have a great weekend with Finn and your girls! ??
I made this for dinner last night and it was awesome! My husband said, “definitely add this to the rotation!”
My modifications:
I used cream of chicken soup instead of mushroom (had it on hand)
I accidentally added 1/4 cup of lemon juice instead of the juice of 1/4 lemon – the end result was nice and lemony.
I had less shredded cheese than I thought – probably about 1/2 cup – and it was plenty.
Can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch today.
I made the recipe, in fact I doubled it. It was wonderful and made great leftovers.