Healthy Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli-Rice Casserole is soul-satisfying comfort food that's a little easier on your waistline!
Today I’m sharing a fabulous spin on a classic, comforting casserole – Healthy Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli-Rice Casserole!
Watch How to Make It
Light Chicken and 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!
More Cheesy Chicken Recipes
- Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Skillet
- Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice
- Cheesy Vegetable, Turkey Sausage and Rice Casserole
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Spaghetti Squash Casserole
- Easy Cheddar Cheese Sauce for Vegetables
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain brown rice
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups finely chopped broccoli florets, ~1 small head
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- salt, pepper, garlic powder
- 5 teaspoons gluten free flour, or AP flour if not GF
- 2 cups milk, divided, any kind
- 1/3 cup light sour cream
- 8 oz 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 low and cook according to package directions. When rice has 5 minutes left to cook, add broccoli and green onions (no need to stir) 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.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Has anyone tried this with almond milk?? I’m gonna make this tomorrow and was seriously considering using almond milk!!
I think it should be ok – my sister in law uses almond milk in place of cows milk in dishes like this and it turns out fine!
Thanks for the response Iowa Girl…..I’m making it right now….I’ll let ya know how it was with the almond milk!!
It turned out just fine with almond milk!!! Thanks again for sharing!! It was yummy!!!
I stumbled upon your blog looking for a recipe for tonight and my lunches for the week given the ingredients we had. We had pretty much everything on the list in the fridge. It turned out great and my husband loved it too. He also hates brown rice, so I was able to sneak this in without him knowing and he didn’t notice. Score!
Even better, we did a rough breakdown of the cost of this meal. We got the chicken breasts in bulk on sale ($5 Fridays at Randall’s!), so we figured each breast (2) was around 75 cents to a dollar. We also had a 10-lb bag of brown rice that we probably had bought for $2 some time ago – negligible cost. Used 1/2 bag of frozen broccoli, which cost about $3 / 2 = $1.50. Flour was also negligible. We had milk, sour cream, and cheese – the cheese is the most expensive but we buy generic store brands to cut down those costs too. I’ll parcel this out into four Tupperwares and that will be my lunch for the week, and there’s enough left over to feed my husband a couple more times.
Next time, I am going to cut down on the rice and up the broccoli content, just to add more veg.
I made this tonight and loved it!!! Super easy to make and totally comfort food. Made it with brown rice too and you couldn’t tell at all. I made it in two 8x8in dishes so one is going in the freezer for a different day. Thanks Love your blog!
I made this last night and my 3 year old said “You’re the best cook ever mommy.” No one has ever said that to me (or even thought it) before. Thanks for making this i-don’t-cook-momma a rockstar.
Yum! I’ve made this for dinner tonight, and put a few small dish versions ready for the freezer for my toddler. This is definitely one to make when you are weaning your little guy (I know that’s way off).
I make my cheese sauces with light sour cream all the time, I love the flavor it adds. Plus we add a little franks hot sauce to our cheeses sauces. Gives a nice kick!
Thanks for your posts, I always enjoy my weekly email round up.
I just made this and it came out perfect! There is nothing I would change. Your recipes have helped this non-cook learn how to not eat out all the time. Thanks!
Oh the things I would “tweak” a bit if I could go back in time…and I would tweak the heck out of my posts from my early blogging days! I’ve actually been going through a lot of my old recipes lately and trying to organize them all…it’s really is amazing how AWFUL I was at photography back then! Ha! Some of the dishes you can’t even see because of a lack of light! I really like this Way Back Wednesday idea! I may have to borrow it and whip my old posts into shape! All THAT being said, I have to say, I’ve never really been a big fan of rice, but this dish looks incredible! You of course had me at broccoli (and cheese)! ;)
I made the original recipe a couple months ago, and the whole family loved it. Tonight I made this “skinny” version and it was just as tasty. Next time I think I’ll add even more broccoli to get more veggies snuck in :) Thanks for another delicious recipe post!
I made this casserole last night and it was AMAZING! I love the homemade cheese sauce :)
That casserole looks so delicious – Yumm! Perfect comfort food for the whole family.
I made this last night with things I had on hand!
I substituted Trader Joe’s Brown Frozen Rice, 16 oz of Frozen Broccoli steamed in microwave, Greek Yogurt for the Sour Cream, added Smoked Paprika to the Cheese Sauce and used cheese from TJ’s that was already shredded. It was quick, filling and most importantly my husband loved it :)
I made this last night with things I had on hand!
I substituted Trader Joe’s Brown Frozen Rice, 16 oz of Frozen Broccoli steamed in microwave, Rice Milk instead of regular, Greek Yogurt for the Sour Cream, added Smoked Paprika to the Cheese Sauce and used cheese from TJ’s that was already shredded. It was quick, filling and most importantly my husband loved it :)
This dish looks super delicious to me. Comfort food for sure.
Just received the email and made it already. I cheated and bought rotisserie chicken, brown rice from Trader Joes you steam in the microwave as well, broccoli you steam. Easy to make, quick meal for after school and soccer. I know they will like it. First time I’ve made something and posted a comment. Thanks!