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Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

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A skillet with chicken breasts in a wild rice casserole with mushrooms

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole with tender, flavorful chicken nestled in a bed of wild rice and mushrooms.

If you’re longing for a memorable dish that’s filling, uniquely flavored and delicious, look no further! This chicken wild rice casserole is absolutely terrific and perfectly satisfying. The casserole has a nice nutty bite from the wild rice and a deep rich flavor from the mushrooms, wine and broth. If you love wild rice and comfort food, this casserole is for you!

 

 

A bowl of uncooked wild rice blend

What kind of rice can you use in this chicken wild rice casserole?

Our chicken wild rice casserole is easily adapted to your favorite rice, or rice blend. You can even use all white or brown rice for this recipe, but I highly encourage you to use at least some wild rice to get that unforgettable nutty flavor. Wild Rice is usually sold in boxes in the rice section of the grocery store, but it’s really a whole grain aquatic grass!

I like to purchase a wild rice blend from the bulk bins at my local store. It keeps for a long time and has a wonderful combination of long grain brown rice, sweet brown rice, wild rice, and black Japonica brown rice. According to Healthline, wild rice has an impressive amount of several key nutrients, including protein, manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc.

Wild rice also contains more protein than other types of rice, but has the same amount of fiber as brown rice. Add a little wild rice to all your favorite rice dishes!

Be sure to follow the directions for the wild rice, or rice blend you are using for this dish. Some may require a longer cooking time or more moisture.

 

A skillet with chicken breasts, mushrooms and wild rice casserole

The idea for our chicken wild rice casserole came from an old recipe I used to make with a boxed rice mix and canned mushroom soup.

As you probably know, people are trying to move away from pre-packaged foods as much as possible. I’m not saying that canned soup and boxed rice mixes are bad. I try to make homemade from scratch, whenever possible, if only to cut down on the sodium and eliminate preservatives. We love whole foods!

Back in the day I used to make a box rice mix like Rice-A-Roni or Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice and pour it into a casserole dish. I topped the rice with chicken then poured a mixture of canned soup and white wine over the top. That dump and go casserole is easy to make and was on regular rotation at our house, especially when the kids were little. I wanted to transform that old casserole into a homemade version, and I did!

You can still use shortcuts like canned soup in place of the white sauce, or rotisserie chicken in place of the breasts or thighs. But when you can, try this recipe as written. I promise you won’t be sorry. The homemade white sauce gives this dish a risotto-like quality with a nice creamy texture. This chicken wild rice casserole will fill your belly and make your house smell like the most amazing chicken dish ever. I’m over the moon for this casserole and hope you will be too! This is Sunday supper at it’s finest 🙂

 

a plate with broccoli, sliced chicken breast and wild rice casserole

What kind of mushrooms should you use in this recipe?

Honestly, you can use any kind of mushrooms you want, except canned. You can use Baby Bella mushrooms, white, button or brown. Pick whatever mushrooms look terrific at your store.

How do you properly clean mushrooms?

To prepare the mushrooms for cooking use a wet paper towel and wipe off any dirt. Try not to get the entire mushroom wet as they’re already loaded with water. They don’t need to be soaked. Trim any tough ends off the stems and slice into thick pieces.

When cooking the mushrooms spread them out into a single layer if possible, and cook undisturbed until well browned on one side. Stir and flip the mushrooms and continue cooking until the moisture is released and then evaporates. This cooking method will keep the mushrooms from watering down your casserole and enhances their delicious earthy flavor. Click HERE to read a good article about how to properly clean mushrooms.

 

Chicken and wild rice casserole with mushrooms in a large skillet

Can you add more chicken breasts or use other pieces in this wild rice casserole?

Yes you can! I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts all the time, but bone-in, skinless pieces work well here too. If you have more people coming to dinner you can simply increase the amount of chicken in the recipe. Whatever will fit into your oven-proof skillet or casserole will be fine. I love making this chicken wild rice casserole in our inexpensive enameled cast iron covered skillet featured above. Click HERE to get more information or to purchase from Amazon.

 

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A skillet with chicken and mushrooms in a wild rice casserole

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4.58 from 14 votes

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Yield: 4 - 6 servings
Course: Main
Author: Tricia
PRINT RECIPE
Tender, flavorful chicken nestled in a bed of wild rice and mushrooms. 

Ingredients

  • 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 10 ounces mushrooms, tough stems removed, sliced
  • 1 ½ cups wild rice blend
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth (2 cups)
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 cup whole milk

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large ovenproof skillet (or Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned on one side, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a plate and cover, browned side up; set aside.
  • Add 2 tablespoons butter to the now empty skillet along with the onions and celery. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are crisp tender. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
  • Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet and add the mushrooms. Cook, undisturbed, until the mushrooms are well browned on one side. Stir and turn the mushrooms and continue cooking until the moisture is released and evaporated, and the mushrooms are well browned.
  • Add the vegetables back to the skillet with the mushrooms along with the dry wild rice blend. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then add the chicken broth and white wine to the skillet. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium. Cover the pan and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. (NOTE - you may want add 10 minutes if using a different kind of rice blend that requires longer cooking - check the cooking directions for your variety. The rice should still be a little soupy and starting to soften)
  • While the rice is cooking, make the white sauce. In a small saucepan melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Add the flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, onion powder and thyme. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the milk, slowly, whisking to combine. Cook until the sauce is thickened.
  • Once done, remove the rice from the heat. Pour the white sauce over the top of the rice and stir lightly to combine. Place the chicken in the skillet on top of the rice and push down lightly leaving the tops uncovered. Transfer to the oven and bake, uncovered, until chicken registers 160°F (for breasts) on an instant read thermometer, about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
  • Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Recipe Notes

  • Substitute chicken tenders or thighs if desired, or use skinless bone-in pieces. Bake the chicken until cooked through or 160 degrees F on an instant read thermometer for breasts.
  • You can also cut the chicken into smaller pieces or chunks and stir into the rice before baking. Substitute rotisserie chicken cut into bite sized pieces if desired.
  • Substitute more chicken broth for the wine if desired.
  • In place of the white sauce use 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup combined with a little wine, broth or milk to thin, if desired.
  • I use an inexpensive Chardonnay for this recipe.
  • If you feel the rice is still too chewy after 20 minutes on the stove-top, continue cooking another 5 to 10 minutes. The rice will continue to cook in the oven.

Here are a few more recipes you might also like:

Chicken and wild rice soup topped with bacon

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup  – this delicious soup checks all the boxes for a perfect bowl of fall comfort food. It’s creamy and hearty with a nutty bite from the wild rice and a wonderful, flavor packed broth. Click HERE to get the recipe.

 

A bowl of wild rice and mushroom soup

Earthy, hearty and seriously comforting, this Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup is just the ticket for our rainy fall days. Click HERE to get the recipe.

 

A bowl of wild rice and mushroom pilaf

Wild Rice and Mushroom Pilaf – An easy and delicious make-ahead side dish. Loaded with a variety of mushrooms, this pilaf is deliciously filling with a nutty flavor from the wild rice blend. Click HERE to get the recipe.

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40 Comments

  2. Andy says

    5 stars
    I’ve been craving chicken and wild rice for about 15 years now. This hit the spot. It has been added to my go-to recipes. Thank you so much!

    I did, however, sub a few things. All we had was Irish butter, so I ended up only needed about 6 table spoons worth, and I didn’t have celery, so I used celery salt wherever regular salt was called for. For white wine, all we had was Sherry, and I was a little worried about it being overpowering, but I think it worked.

    reply to this comment >

  4. Jaime says

    5 stars
    This recipe is amazing!! I have made it twice now. I use my le crust dutch oven and the crispy/crunchy rice bits on the bottom and edge are a treat. Tonight I swapped out Madeira for white wine to add more depth of flavor. Both equally delicious. I also used heavy cream (didn’t have whole milk) and it was really good. Thank you for this recipe, it’s a family favorite now.

    reply to this comment >

  5. Brittany says

    Thank you!!! I haven’t used Canned cream soups in many years (child with several major food allergies). It’s so nice to see easy recipes not requiring cream soup but I also love you included adaptations for those that are pressed for time. Will be trying this recipe this week!

    reply to this comment >

  7. Melissa in San Jose, CA says

    5 stars
    I had precooked wild rice in the freezer. I wanted to use what I had on hand so I substituted carrots for celery and dry hard cider for white wine.( it’s just Me and I already had my favorite Old Vine Zin open.) Soul satisfyingly good for this bizarre lightning fueled Fire smoke filled air we have in NorCal right now!

    reply to this comment >

  8. Rosemary McCully says

    5 stars
    My husband and I loved this casserole. I brined the chicken breasts for 30 min.and patted them with paper towels. They were very tender. Don’t know if it was due to the brining or not. But I did have to cook the wild rice blend for much longer than 15 min. to reduce the liquid. Even with that the rice was not quite done or maybe it was the slightly crunchy wild rice. Worth all the effort(always takes me longer prep time than given). But it makes 2 dinners for 2 persons.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Thanks for trying the recipe Rosemary! I adore wild rice, and love the nutty, chewy texture. I guess wild rice blends are all different so cooking longer to reduce the liquid makes sense. So glad it turned out and was worth the effort. And, thank you for taking the time to let us know!

      reply to this comment >

  10. christi says

    2 stars
    This one didn’t turn out for me. I made it exactly as stated, the only change I made was that I halved the recipe. My rice was still very much crunchy at the end. I ended up having to put the cooked chicken on a plate, scoop out the rice mixture and continue cooking it in a pot with more bone broth. Took about 20-25 mins for it to finally finish cooking. If I do make this again I would add a whole lot more bone broth to the rice cooking step in the recipe and leave it to cook till almost done before putting it in the oven with the chicken.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Sorry you had trouble Christi. The only thing I can offer is perhaps there was a math mistake when you halved the recipe. The rice cooks in several steps so it should have been done. Maybe you used too much rice, or forgot to half the amount. The texture of wild rice is a little crunchy. The only other thing is perhaps you used a different kind of rice blend that needed more water. I hope you enjoyed the flavor anyway.

      reply to this comment >

      • Tricia Buice says

        Hi Beth – thanks for the feedback. Good idea to use the pre-cooked rice as a shortcut but not sure it will work with the full 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of wine. You may need to adjust the liquid ingredients. Various rice blends probably cook differently but with 15 minutes on the stove top then another 25 in the oven, it’s always been more than enough time for my rice to cook. Wild rice is very chewy anyway – perhaps that’s what gave you the impression it was undercooked? Thanks for trying the recipe and for taking the time to let us know what you thought.

        reply to this comment >

  11. Kara says

    5 stars
    Loved this! I substituted the milk with coconut milk and the flour with Almond flour. I also added some cayenne pepper and season salt. It was so freaking good! Oh I also left out white wine, and just did 1 cup of rice because of that!!

    reply to this comment >

  14. Mimi says

    You’re so right about wild rice. A little goes a long way. If you use all wild rice, it feels like you’re eating little sticks! Love this recipe. It’s perfect for fall. Hopefully our weather cools down soon.

    reply to this comment >

    • Mads says

      Hey, it seems very likely you’re using a different variety of wild rice than some of your commenters are; you might want to specify that in the recipe. Some types of wild rice, when not in a blend, take up to 50 minutes to cook. I know mine takes that long. I tried to make my rice cooking time + oven time equal to the directions on the package.

      reply to this comment >

      • Tricia Buice says

        Hi Mads – I agree! However I have noted that information in the notes section of the recipe. I agree that some kinds of wild rice take longer to cook, and that’s why the rice is cooked on the stovetop first for 20 minutes, then finished in the oven for another 20 to 25 minutes for a total of 40 to 45 minutes. Hope you give this a try!

        reply to this comment >
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