Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole

Sink your teeth into Ina Garten’s most delectable (and simplest!) Chicken Casserole dish, prepared with Minute Rice, broccoli, carrots, peas, chicken breast, and a deliciously creamy cheese sauce.

This article contains a wealth of information to help you make the most simply stunning chicken casserole ever.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

• Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole is the ideal comfort meal! 
• With only a few basic ingredients including chicken breasts, rice, broccoli, carrots, peas, spices, and a beautifully creamy cheese sauce, you’ll have this delectable creamy chicken casserole ready in about 40 minutes.
• This dish, in our opinion, isn’t complete without the bubbly mozzarella topping.

What is Chicken Casserole?

When you make chicken casserole, typically, you cook all of the components of your chicken dinner in a baking dish. Chicken casserole typically consists of four components:

• Pasta or rice.
• Chicken breast or thighs.
• Vegetables of all kinds!
• Sauces such as cheese sauce, roux, and more.

Ingredients That You’ll Need:

Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole is loaded with vegetables, rice, and chicken breast along with a cheese sauce. The following are the main ingredients:

• Rice: You may use either brown or white Minute Rice in this recipe. You can substitute a different type of rice if desired, but it will require a different amount of liquid and will take significantly longer to cook.
• Chicken Breast: Chop the chicken breast into 1-inch slices so that it cooks evenly. Feel free to substitute chicken thighs for the breast if you prefer.
• Veggies: Onion, carrots, green peas, or broccoli all work well in this recipe. However, green beans, celery, cauliflower, and bell pepper are among our top picks.
• Milk: Milk is used to make a delicious creamy sauce.
• Broth: Broth is an important ingredient in the sauce. Feel free to use whatever kind you want.
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese: The more cheddar, the better! If feasible, we recommend shredding your own cheese rather than buying it pre-shredded.
• Spices: Garlic powder, salt, and pepper are the spices used in this chicken casserole.

What Kind of Dish Should I Bake My Casserole In?

Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole recipe specifies that you use a ceramic casserole dish. Casserole dishes, like cast iron pans, bake foods more evenly and quickly than standard metal baking pans. However, don’t worry if you don’t have one! A baking pan or a Dutch oven would also suffice.

How to Make Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and coat a large ceramic casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Layer the bottom of the casserole dish with brown Minute Rice, broccoli florets, yellow onion, carrots, and green peas.
3. Place the broth and milk in a small saucepan and warm it up over medium heat.
4. Reduce the heat to low and stir in 6 ounces of the shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Continue to whisk until the cheese is melted.
5. Pour over the rice and vegetables and toss to combine.
6. Next, cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces and put them in the casserole dish, making sure they are well covered in cheese sauce.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.
8. Sprinkle the remaining 2 ounces of the shredded cheddar cheese and the shredded parmesan cheese on top of the casserole and bake it for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.

Recipe Tips

• Cut the chicken breast into cubes to speed up the baking time of the casserole.
• Freeze individual servings of the chicken casserole for a quick dinner on nights when you don’t feel like cooking from scratch. For directions on reheating frozen chicken casserole, see the section below.
• Because the cheese has salt, you don’t need to add very much to this recipe.

What to Serve With Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole

You can serve Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole with green beans, roasted asparagus, cauliflower rice, or broccoli on the side. Here are some serving ideas:

• Mexican Street Corn Salad
• Asian Noodle Salad
• Chicken Enchilada Soup
• Tomato Soup

How to Store Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole

In The Fridge: 

Place the chicken casserole in food storage containers or bags and then put them in the refrigerator’s coldest section. If stored correctly, they should last for up to four days.

In The Freezer:

You can store Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole in containers for up to 2 months in the freezer. After thawing it in the fridge overnight, reheat it in the oven until heated through.

We don’t advocate freezing Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole because the cheese and creamy sauce will dry up and it will alter the flavor.

How to Reheat Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole

In The Oven:

1. Place Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole in a preheated oven for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes or until the edges are bubbling.

In The Microwave:

1. Cover Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole with a microwave-safe cover (not metal or aluminum foil).
2. Heat it for 90 seconds and check to see if it is heated thoroughly.
3. If not, microwave for 90 seconds at a time until it is sufficiently heated through.

In The Air Fryer:

1. Reheat Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole in an air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through.

FAQ Section

Try More Recipes:

• Ina Garten Crab Salad
• Tuna Casserole

Ina Garten’s Chicken Casserole

Erin Table for Seven

Sink your teeth into Ina Garten’s most delectable (and simplest!) Chicken Casserole dish, prepared with Minute Rice, broccoli, carrots, peas, chicken breast, and a deliciously creamy cheese sauce.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Calories 452 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• nonstick cooking spray
• 1 ½ cups brown Minute Rice
• 5 cups chopped broccoli florets 1 full head
• ½ medium yellow onion finely diced
• 2 medium carrots finely diced
• 1 ½ cups frozen green peas
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 ½ cups 2% milk
• 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese divided
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 ½ pound boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 ounce shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and coat a large ceramic casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Layer the bottom of the casserole dish with brown Minute Rice, broccoli florets, yellow onion, carrots, and green peas.
• Place the broth and milk in a small saucepan and warm it up over medium heat.
• Reduce the heat to low and stir in 6 ounces of the shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Continue to whisk until the cheese is melted.
• Pour over the rice and vegetables and toss to combine.
• Next, cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces and put them in the casserole dish, making sure they are well covered in cheese sauce.
• Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.
• Sprinkle the remaining 2 ounces of the shredded cheddar cheese and the shredded parmesan cheese on top of the casserole and bake it for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.

Notes

• Cut the chicken breast into cubes to speed up the baking time of the casserole.
• Freeze individual servings of the chicken casserole for a quick dinner on nights when you don’t feel like cooking from scratch. For directions on reheating frozen chicken casserole, see the section above.
• Because the cheese has salt, you don’t need to add very much to this recipe.
• If you want your chicken casserole to be spicy, add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 452kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 42gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 864mgPotassium: 962mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 4658IUVitamin C: 86mgCalcium: 460mgIron: 2mg

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