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This ranch chicken and rice casserole recipe has only 5 ingredients and is incredibly easy to make! The rice is so creamy and comforting.
Try my Easy One Pot Chicken and Noodles for another quick family meal on busy weeknights.
A lot of these types of chicken casseroles use “cream of” soups. I don’t cook with it too often… not because I’m on some health crusade, but because I just don’t love it, and there’s plenty of other recipes out there that use it. This one’s for you if you want to try a slightly different method of making chicken and rice casserole. It took me a couple of tries to get it right (I originally started with too much liquid), but I like the way this recipe turned out!
The combination of the sour cream and ranch seasoning gives this dish a fabulous slightly tangy ranch flavor and soft and creamy rice. I just love this rice. I could make a meal of the rice alone.
Prep time is minimal – it takes me about 5 minutes. Pop it in the oven and you can take care of other business while it cooks. Perfect for busy weeknights. Casseroles are definitely not the prettiest dishes, but they’re easy to throw together and tasty. I tried my best on the photos. 😛
This recipe is fairly similar to my Instant Pot Chicken and Rice – give that a try if you’ve got an electric pressure cooker.
How to make this chicken and rice casserole
Grease a 9×13 baking dish then add the rice, chicken broth, ranch seasoning, and sour cream to the baking dish. Whisk it all together until it’s well combined. You then place the chicken on top and give it a stir until it’s coated in the sauce. Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and then bake in a 350F oven for 55 minutes. Super easy, right? Full ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below.
What kind of rice to use in chicken and rice casserole?
I tested this with long-grain white rice and jasmine rice. The long-grain white rice takes an extra 10 minutes or so to cook. I have not tested this with brown rice because it turns it into a different recipe due to the difference in cooking time and liquid requirements.
Recipe notes & tips:
- I tested this casserole in a 9×13 metal baking dish (pictured in the photos). If you use a glass baking dish, you may want to reduce the oven’s heat by 25F and cook it for a little longer than the recipe suggests. If you’re using a different size than 9×13, cook time may also vary/it may not work as well.
- This is one of those recipes where you can gauge how your specific baking dish and ingredients work and adjust the recipe timing as needed if it’s not perfect the first time around.
- Use low-sodium chicken broth if sensitive to salt.
- Can’t get ranch seasoning packets? Try making your own homemade ranch seasoning or try using bottled ranch dressing.
Other comforting chicken recipes you’ll love:
- Easy Chicken Stew
- Crockpot Chicken and Gravy
- Cream of Mushroom Soup Chicken Bake
- Easy Ranch Chicken
- Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup
I hope you will enjoy this chicken and rice casserole!
Questions? Made this recipe? Leave me a comment below. And, as always, tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram so I can see your creations. 🙂
Ranch Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
- 1.5 cups chicken broth
- 1 (1 oz.) packet ranch seasoning I used Hidden Valley
- 8 ounces sour cream I used full-fat
- 4 large chicken breasts boneless/skinless
- Pepper optional, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and move the rack to the middle position. Grease a 9x13" baking dish (I used Pam spray).
- Add the rice, broth, ranch seasoning, and sour cream to the baking dish. Whisk it all together until smooth.
- Place the chicken breasts on top and rotate them so they're coated in the liquid. If you want, add some pepper on the top of each chicken breast.
- Tightly wrap the baking dish with foil and place it in the oven.
- Bake for 55 minutes. Ovens and baking dishes vary, so it may take a bit more or less time for the rice to cook through. Simply re-seal it and add it back to the oven for another 5-10 minutes if the rice is still a bit crunchy.
- Give the rice a stir prior to serving. You can either serve the chicken as-is or cut it up and mix it in the rice. The rice is meant to be soft and creamy.
Notes
- Serves 4-6 depending on how much people eat. If you cut up/shred the chicken and stir it together, it can definitely make more than 4 portions (like if you're feeding kids or serving something else with it). I use around 2 pounds of chicken.
- I also tested this recipe with jasmine rice, and I found it took 10 minutes less than the long-grain white rice, so keep that in mind. If you're cooking this recipe for 45 minutes or less, I suggest using an instant read thermometer to ensure the chicken is cooked to 165F. I found after 55 minutes, the chicken was more than plenty cooked.
- Use low-sodium chicken broth if sensitive to salt.
- You can use a "cream of" soup in place of the sour cream, but I haven't tested it.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I can’t wait to make this, but I live in Texas where the temperatures are not compatible with health and well-being right now. I’m wondering if this would work in a crock pot? Would love your thoughts. 😊
Hi Rebecca! Honestly, rice is super tricky and even tested oven recipes sometimes don’t work for readers in their own ovens, so your guess is as good as mine on how to adapt this for the slow cooker. I would probably just google a tested slow cooker rice casserole as I would hate for you to waste ingredients. 🙁
I used to make a similar recipe but it didn’t have sour cream, however I lost that recipe so I thought I’d try this one. This is WAY better! This has to be one of my new favorite go-to dinners (wish I would have tried this recipe sooner)!! Thank you for sharing, it is delicious!
I’m so happy to hear that, Ben!! 🙂 Thanks for your review!
I’m going to try this for dinner tonight, I’m going to try it with cream of chicken instead! I bet it will still be good, I’ll let you know 🙂
Enjoy! 🙂