Today I’m sharing a fabulous spin on a classic, comforting casserole – Healthy Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli-Rice Casserole!
Sauteed chicken, steamed broccoli, and fluffy brown rice are mixed with a homemade cheese sauce then quickly broiled for a fabulous, comforting meal. It’s kind of an “un-casserole” as you don’t have to let the dish bake in the oven, rather, everything is made right on the stovetop then tossed together in a casserole dish and quickly broiled.
I also tweaked a few of the ingredients from the standard Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli-Rice Casserole to make it a bit healthier. More broccoli, brown rice instead of white, plus the luscious homemade cheese sauce that brings everything together has less cheese, light sour cream, and skim milk. BOOM. This casserole ROCKS!
How to Make this Recipe
Start by cooking long-grain brown rice in chicken broth. Cooking rice in chicken broth gives it tons of flavor with minimal added calories. You could use white rice in here, but I love the hearty chew brown rice has, plus you get the whole grain benefits.
When the rice has 5 minutes left to cook, add fresh broccoli florets and chopped green onions to the pot, place the lid back on top, then let them steam until tender.
Meanwhile, cook chopped chicken breasts seasoned with garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a splash of extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat until cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate then very carefully wipe out the skillet with a dry paper towel and turn the heat down to medium.
To the wiped-out skillet add gluten-free flour (or all-purpose flour if you don’t need to eat GF) whisked with milk (I used skim,) then pour in additional milk.
Stir the milk and flour mixture continuously until thickened and bubbly, 7-10 minutes, then remove the skillet from the heat and add shredded cheddar cheese, light sour cream, plus salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Add the cooked rice and broccoli mixture plus the chicken then stir to combine and scoop into a 9×13 baking dish. Top with a wee bit more shredded cheese then broil until melted and bubbly. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes, then scoop, plate, and devour!
Similar Recipes
- Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice
- Cheesy Vegetable, Turkey Sausage and Rice Casserole
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Spaghetti Squash Casserole
- Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Skillet
free email bonus!
Dinner Made EASY!
simple yet flavorful recipes that take the stress out of dinnertime
Healthy Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli-Rice Casserole
Description
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain brown rice
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 small head)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1lb chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- salt, pepper, garlic powder
- 5 teaspoons gluten-free or all-purpose flour (dish will not be GF if using AP flour)
- 2 cups milk, divided (I use skim)
- 1/3 cup light sour cream
- 8oz shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions
- Add chicken broth to a large pot then bring to a boil and add rice. Cover then turn heat down to medium-low and cook according to package directions. When rice has 5 minutes left to cook add broccoli and green onions then replace lid and continue cooking until rice and vegetables are tender.
- Meanwhile, heat extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then saute until cooked through. Remove to a plate then set aside. Turn heat down to medium then very carefully wipe skillet out with a dry paper towel.
- In a small dish, whisk together flour and 1/2 cup milk then pour mixture into skillet. Add remaining 1-1/2 cups milk then cook mixture while stirring constantly until thickened, 7-10 minutes. Remove skillet from heat then add 3/4 of the shredded cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and then stir until smooth.
- Preheat broiler. Combine cooked rice and broccoli mixture with the cheese sauce and cooked chicken then scoop mixture into a nonstick sprayed 9x13 baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Broil until cheese is melted then let casserole rest for 5 minutes before serving.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Video
A little too much rice and not enough sauce.Next time, I think 1/12 cups rice and keep the broth the same. Otherwise, this hits the spot!
I’m glad the flavor hit the spot for you, Rachel!
I know this is supposed to be “healthier” (though how one can call a recipe healthy when it has nearly a pound of cheese in it cracks me up), but without fat to make a roux, the flour and milk just clumped up and no amount of whisking helped. I had to dump it and start the sauce over. Used the Betty Crocker thin white sauce recipe (doubled) instead which uses 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp flour, which seemed pretty close to the original, added the salt, pepper, and garlic powder when I added the flour so the spices would dissolve and be better distributed through the mix, and skipped the sour cream (by accident but in the end I think it would have been too rich if I’d remembered it). I’ll probably also add LOTS more veggies to this if we make it again. Overall, 3 stars since I had to change up a lot.
Hi Wendy. 1lb = 16oz which is half the amount of cheese that is called for in this recipe. This recipe also calls for a slurry not a roux, which is commonly used as a thickening agent in sauces. Feel free to make this and any other recipes of mine using your own substitutions or methods but please don’t fault me if the recipe does not turn out as anticipated if you don’t actually follow my recipe.
Okay, I’m confused. Step 1 says, “ Add chicken broth to a large pot then bring to a boil…”
Step 2 says, “Meanwhile, heat extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then saute until cooked through…”
I ended up sautéing the chicken rather than boiling. Turned out great. But for someone who doesn’t cook/cater like I do, this would be very frustrating.
Hi Meredith! Could you help me better understand what you found confusing about the directions? The chicken broth is for the rice, and while the rice is cooking you saute the chicken in a skillet. I’d love to make sure the directions are as clear as possible!
Have you made this without chicken and mixed in crockpot? Christmas side dish!
I made this! It was really good!! i added zucchini and mushrooms! its so gooooood!
Oh! I should have added zucchini!
Yummy!! How many calories
Made this tonight for the whole family and everyone loved it! So yummy! Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that, Sara! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Hubby doesn’t like brown rice…can I replace long grain white rice? Looks yummy!!
Definitely!
Wow! Never came back to comment before! This recipe was out of this world! (Am eating it right now!!) So healthy and so good! Perfect for a busy night when you want healthy “comfort” food.
does the cheese have to be gluten free?
love it! this looks like a much better version of my fave comfort food growing up (you know, the 70’s version with “cream of chicken” soup and Ritz crackers on top… would it be ok to cook at 350º for 20-25 min instead of broiling? I use a glass casserole dish, so don’t want to use a broiler. thoughts?
Loved it! I used pasture raised dairy, brown rice and cooked my rice ahead of time using the perfect brown rice recipe I have. Next time I plan to finely chop mushrooms to add to the sauce. Yummy meal!
Made this last night and loved it. I underestimated how long it would take to make (plan on time to cook the rice). We’ll enjoy leftovers today as well. Definitely will make this again. I really appreciate from scratch delicious recipes.
Thanks for your review and star rating, Ellen! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!