{"id":55213,"date":"2025-04-23T20:22:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T20:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/?p=55213"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:44:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:44:04","slug":"chicken-broccoli-casserole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/2025\/04\/23\/chicken-broccoli-casserole\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken &#038; Broccoli Casserole"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Yield: 8 to 10<\/h4>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\">Adapted from: Delish<\/h6>\n<p>Chicken and broccoli casserole is a meal that many people grew up eating, and this recipe will make you feel like a kid again. This creamy, cheesy, Ritz cracker-topped casserole is packed with chicken, rice, and freshly blanched broccoli with the quintessential cream of mushroom soup.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes:<\/strong> With bread, salad and dessert, total cost is approximately $35.<\/p>\n<p>Oven only method takes longer than expected to cook the rice. Do the initial cook of the rice and sauce on the stove top and then mix with the chicken &amp; broccoli and put in casserole dish.<br \/>\nThe original recipe also called for saut\u00e9ing the chicken with Lawry&#8217;s Seasoned Salt. I used plain salt and don&#8217;t see any need for the Lawry&#8217;s. Certainly an option though<br \/>\nPrep: 10 Cook: 90<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">4<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">TBS unsalted butter, divided, plus more for greasing<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">24<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">oz cooked <a href=\"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/2022\/11\/03\/sous-vide-chicken-breasts\/\">Chicken Breasts.<\/a> I used sous vide to get nice tender chicken<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">TBS AP salt (use Lawry\u2019s Seasoned Salt on chicken instead of regular salt during cooking)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">2<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">TBS neutral oil <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">large yellow onion, finely chopped <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"id-ingredient-name\">Kosher salt<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">4<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">garlic cloves, finely chopped <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1\u00bd<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">cups long-grain white rice, rinsed <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">3\u00bd<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">cups chicken broth <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">2<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">(10-oz) cans cream of mushroom soup <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">2<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">heads of broccoli, cut into florets<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1\u00bd<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">cups crushed Ritz crackers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">\u00bc<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">tsp garlic powder <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">\u00bc<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">tsp freshly ground black pepper <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"quantity\">1\u00bd<\/span><span class=\"ingredient-name\">cups shredded cheddar, divided<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nPrepare chicken:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Shred or cut cooked <strong>chicken<\/strong> into bite sized pieces.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prepare Broccoli:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fill a medium saucepan with <strong>water<\/strong> and bring it to a boil, than salt the water.<\/p>\n<p>Place <strong>ice cubes<\/strong> in a medium bowl and fill with <strong>cold water.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cook <strong>broccoli<\/strong> in boiling <strong>salted water,<\/strong> stirring occasionally, until bright green and slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer <strong>broccoli<\/strong> to <strong>ice<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>water<\/strong> to stop cooking. Drain and transfer <strong>broccoli<\/strong> to a bowl with <strong>chicken,<\/strong> season with \u00bd tsp <strong>salt.<\/strong> Cover and refrigerate if not making casserole the same day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stovetop Rice Cooking:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn a large pot over medium heat, melt 2 TBS <strong>butter.<\/strong> Add <strong>onion,<\/strong> season with \u00bd tsp <strong>salt.<\/strong> Cook, stirring occasionally, until <strong>onion<\/strong> begins to soften, for about 5 minutes. Add <strong>garlic<\/strong> and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add 1\u00bd cups rinsed <strong>rice<\/strong> and stir to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, until <strong>rice<\/strong> is lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 3\u00bd cups of <strong>broth<\/strong> and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pot. Bring to a boil.<\/p>\n<p>Stir in 2 cans of <strong>cream of mushroom soup.<\/strong> Set heat to simmer or low, cover and cook, stirring after 15 minutes, cook until <strong>rice<\/strong> is almost completely cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes total.<\/p>\n<p>Preheat oven to 375\u00b0F.<\/p>\n<p>Grease a 13\u2033 x 9\u2033 baking dish with\u00a0<strong>butter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Prepare cracker topping:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn a medium heatproof bowl, microwave 2 to 4 TBS <strong>butter<\/strong> until melted, about 30 seconds. Add 1\u00bd cup (1 sleave) crushed <strong>Ritz<\/strong> <strong>crackers<\/strong>, \u00bc tsp <strong>garlic powder<\/strong>, \u00bc tsp <strong>pepper<\/strong>, and \u00bd cup <strong>cheese<\/strong> and toss with a fork to combine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Finish:<\/strong><br \/>\nAdd <strong>chicken<\/strong> and 1\/2 to 1 cup of water to skillet, cover and heat over medium heat until water is boiling. Add <strong>broccoli<\/strong> to skillet on top of <strong>chicken<\/strong>, cover and heat for 1 minute, turn off heat. \u00a0Set covered pan aside until rice is done. Drain water from skillet and add chicken and broccoli and remaining 1 cup of <strong>cheese<\/strong>\u00a0to casserole dish, pour rice and sauce over and mix to distribute. Top with <strong>cracker topping.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Place <strong>casserole<\/strong> in oven, uncovered, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, until bubbling slowly and <strong>topping<\/strong> is slightly browned. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nStorage and re-heating:<\/strong><br \/>\nLet <strong>casserole<\/strong> cool to under 90\u00b0F, then cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.<br \/>\nRemove from refrigerator, cover with foil and heat in a 350\u00b0F oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove foil and heat uncovered for 10 to 20 minutes, until contents are hot and <strong>topping<\/strong> is browned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yield: 8 to 10 Adapted from: Delish Chicken and broccoli casserole is a meal that many people grew up eating, and this recipe will make you feel like a kid again. This creamy, cheesy, Ritz cracker-topped casserole is packed with chicken, rice, and freshly blanched broccoli with the quintessential cream of mushroom soup. Notes: With bread, salad and dessert, total cost is approximately $35. Oven only method takes longer than expected to cook the rice. Do the initial cook of&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/2025\/04\/23\/chicken-broccoli-casserole\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,14,15],"tags":[57,286,200],"class_list":["post-55213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casseroles","category-poultry","category-rice-couscous-spaetzle","tag-broccoli","tag-chicken-breast","tag-rice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/04\/ChickenBroccoliCasserole.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55213"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56075,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55213\/revisions\/56075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nowellfamily.org\/cookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}