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:
- This Ina Garten recipe for Super Chicken Casserole is the ideal comfort meal combo!
- This Ina Garten chicken casserole with cream cheese and mozzarella is easy to make and oh-so-comforting!
- With only a few basic ingredients including chicken breasts, rice, broccoli, carrots, peas, chicken breast, and a beautifully creamy cheese sauce, and spices, you’ll have this delectable creamy chicken casserole ready in about 40 minutes.
- This dish, in our opinion, isn’t complete without the bubbling mozzarella topping. It’s the ideal weeknight chicken meal dish!
What is Chicken Casserole?
When you make a chicken casserole, you cook all of the components of your chicken dinner in a baking dish. For a quick “put everything into a dish and bake it” lunch, the components in your chicken casserole are usually uncooked. A chicken casserole typically consists of four components:
- Pasta or rice as a grain
- Breast or thighs of chicken
- Vegetables of all kinds!
- Sauces include cheese sauce, roux, and others.
Ingredient That You’ll Need:
Our Ina Garten chicken casserole is loaded with vegetables, rice, and chicken breast. Don’t forget about the cheese sauce. The following are the main ingredients:
- Grain: You may use either brown or white rice in this recipe. You can substitute a different type of rice We only recommend using a little amount of minute rice. Normal white or brown rice will require a different amount of liquid and will take significantly longer to bake.
- Chicken: Chicken breast is sure to use raw chicken breast and chop it into 1-inch slices so that it cooks completely. Feel free to substitute chicken thighs for the breast in a 1:1 ratio.
- Veggies: Onion, Carron, Peas in green, Broccoli. You Can substitute other vegetables feel free to add any other vegetables you want? Green beans, celery, cauliflower, and bell pepper are among our top picks.
- Sauce Milk: milk is used to make this a delicious creamy sauce.
- Broth: Broth is used to increase the amount of liquid. Feel free to use whatever you want.
- Cheddar cheese shredded: the more cheddar, the better! If feasible, we recommend shredding your own cheese.
- Spices: Garlic powder, salt, and pepper are the spices used.
Quick note: If you want to cook the chicken for this great dish at home but aren’t sure how long it will take, keep in mind that we have an article about How Long To Bake A Whole Chicken At 375.
What kind of dish should I bake my casserole in?
First and foremost, let us discuss casserole dishes! Our Ina Garten chicken casserole recipes ask for ceramic casserole plates and believe me, there is a difference. Casserole dishes, like cast iron pans, bake foods more evenly and quickly than a standard metal baking pan.
For this reason, we prefer to use a ceramic casserole dish for our chicken casserole recipes. But don’t worry if you don’t have one! A baking pan or a dutch oven may also suffice.
How To make Ina Garten Chicken Casserole?
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and coat a large ceramic casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Next, layer the bottom of the casserole dish with minute brown rice, broccoli florets, yellow onion, carrots, and green peas.
- In a small saucepan, combine the broth and milk to make the cheese sauce. Warm-up over medium heat.
- Reduce the heat to low/medium and stir in 6 oz. shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Continue to whisk until the cheese melts and the cheese sauce forms.
- Pour over 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, at 375oF.
- Then, cover the casserole dish with 2 oz. shredded cheddar cheese and 1 oz. shredded parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
- Allow the dish to sit on the burner for 15-20 minutes before serving to thicken more.
Recipe Tips
- To help the marinade coat the chicken more deeply and to speed up the baking time of the casserole, cut the chicken breasts into cubes.
- Freeze individual servings of the spinach 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 cream cheese and mozzarella should offer enough salt, keep the salt in the marinade to a minimum.
- If you want your chicken casserole to be hotter, add a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper to the marinade or mix one-half of the spices with the cream cheese before putting it on top of the chicken and spinach.
What To Serve With Ina Garten Chicken Casserole?
You can serve this best Ina Garten chicken casserole with some green beans, roasted asparagus, cauliflower rice, or broccoli on the side here are some serving ideas:
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Potato Salad Without Mayo
- Tomato Salad
- Asian Noodle Salad
- Salsa
- Gordon Ramsay Tartar Sauce
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Black Bean Soup
- Tomato Soup
- Cauliflower Soup
How To Store Ina Garten Chicken Casserole?
In The Fridge:
Remove the skin from the bones and place them in food storage containers or bags to keep Ina Garten Chicken Casserole leftovers. Put them in the refrigerator’s coldest section. If stored correctly, they should last for up to four days.
In The Freezer:
Marinate the Ina Garten Chicken Casserole and store it for up to 2 months in the freezer. After thawing in the fridge overnight, place fresh vegetables on a sheet pan before cooking.
We don’t advocate freezing this Ina Garten Chicken Casserole because the cheese and creamy sauce will dry up and the flavor will alter.
How To Reheat Ina Garten Chicken Casserole?
In The Oven:
- Place the Ina Garten Chicken Casserole in a preheated oven for 10 minutes to warm.
- Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the edges are bubbling.
In The Microwave:
- Cover the remaining Ina Garten Chicken Casserole with a cover (preferably one that isn’t metallic) and flip it askew to allow the heat to circulate.
- Check the dish after 90 seconds in the microwave with leftover Ina Garten Chicken Casserole.
- Check to verify if the pieces have been thoroughly heated.
- Microwave for 90 seconds at a time until satisfied.
In The Air Fryer:
- In the air fryer, reheat the Ina Garten Chicken Casserole.
- Cook at 400°F for 2-3 minutes, or until heated.
FAQ Section
You don’t need to prepare your chicken before placing it in a casserole if you plan to bake it for at least 45 minutes.
If you find a dish that bakes shorter time, you may use pre-cooked shredded chicken.
Trimmed chicken thighs or tenders can be substituted. If you’re using chicken tenders, there’s no need to slice them.
Feel free to substitute a deep cast-iron skillet or a dutch oven for the casserole dish! You might also use a cake pan.
Try More Recipes:
- Chicken And Sweet Potato Recipe Jamie Oliver
- Michael Symon Watermelon Salad
- Ina Garten Crab Salad
- Tuna Casserole
Ina Garten Chicken Casserole Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
- Calories 396
- Calories from Fat 230
- Total Fat 26g
- Saturated Fat 12g
- Trans Fat 0.8g
- Cholesterol 101mg
- Sodium 786mg
- Potassium 219mg
- Total Carbohydrates 23g
- Dietary Fiber 1g
- Sugars 2.1g
- Protein 18g
- Vitamin A 12%
- Vitamin C 0%
- Calcium 6%
- Iron 8%
Nutrition Facts Source: Source
Ina Garten Chicken Casserole
Description
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.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375oF and coat a large ceramic casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Next, layer the bottom of the casserole dish with minute brown rice, broccoli florets, yellow onion, carrots, and green peas.
- In a small saucepan, combine the broth and milk to make the cheese sauce. Warm-up over medium heat.
- Reduce the heat to low/medium and stir in 6 oz. shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Continue to whisk until the cheese melts and the cheese sauce forms.
- Pour over 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, at 375oF.
- Then, cover the casserole dish with 2 oz. shredded cheddar cheese and 1 oz. shredded parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
- Allow the dish to sit on the burner for 15-20 minutes before serving to thicken more.
Notes
- To help the marinade coat the chicken more deeply and to speed up the baking time of the casserole, cut the chicken breasts into cubes.
- Freeze individual servings of the spinach 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 cream cheese and mozzarella should offer enough salt, keep the salt in the marinade to a minimum.
- If you want your chicken casserole to be hotter, add a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper to the marinade or mix one-half of the spices with the cream cheese before putting it on top of the chicken and spinach.
Servings 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 396
- Calories from Fat 230
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 26g40%
- Saturated Fat 12g60%
- Trans Fat 0.8g
- Cholesterol 101mg34%
- Sodium 786mg33%
- Potassium 219mg7%
- Total Carbohydrate 23g8%
- Dietary Fiber 1g4%
- Sugars 2.1g
- Protein 18g36%
- Vitamin A 12 IU
- Vitamin C 0 mg
- Calcium 6 mg
- Iron 8 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Kathleen
Saturday 5th of November 2022
There's no marinade or spinach in the recipe, so I'm confused about why they're in the notes. One teaspoon of cayenne would make it inedible, unless you're making a batch at least 4 times this size.
Claudia Nathe
Friday 4th of November 2022
This is very confusing. Nowhere in the ingredient list is there cream cheese or spinach,yet at one point cream cheese is mentioned and the casserole is called "Spinach Chicken Casserole." It does not state whether to cook the vegetables or the rice, but the cooking time would not cook the vegetables from raw. Don't know how the raw chicken could cook that quickly either. I'm thinking this was not proofread. I'm pretty sure Ina Garten would not publish a recipe that is this incomplete and with these apparent errors. Sorry, I wouldn't even begin to try this as written here.