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.
This is a delicious meal but how many calories per serving?
Do you add the chopped green onion into the casserole, or just use as a garnish? I didn’t see an instruction for what to do with it. Thank you!
Hi Caroline! Yep, just used the green onions as a garnish. :)
We absolutely love this recipe. It is one of the few dishes that everyone in our family of five will eat. One of my daughters is extremely picky and won’t even eat rice and she will eat this! I even make it with the brown rice and nobody complains! I’ve made it several times and it’s completely fool-proof. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I’m so glad to hear the recipe is a hit with the whole family, Monica! Those are what we like to call “repeaters” in my house!! ;)
Just made this for dinner. A bit underwhelming to be honest…the flavoring is quite bland and the cheese sauce ended up very thick despite trying to thin it out with more milk. I’m hoping it’ll get better in the fridge overnight?
I have made this recipe twice now and love it! My husband said it is one of his new favorites! I used Greek yogurt for half the amount of sour cream and couldn’t tell a difference. Thanks for posting!
When do you add the chicken?
I know I’m late to the party but just found this on Pinterest and it looks awesome! I’m almost 37 wks pregnant and looking for freezer meals, do you think this can be frozen and reheated well? Thank you!
My family loves this recipe. I was wondering whether you thought it would freeze well. If so, how would you recommend thawing and cooking it? Thanks!
So glad to hear! I haven’t frozen it before, but I’d let it thaw overnight in the fridge if I did.
This recipe looks AMAZING! Do you know if Almond milk would be a comparable substitute for regular milk?
Unsweetened/unflavored should work fine!
i pre made this to cook tonight any suggestions on heating before broiling???
Maybe 350 for 15 minutes, covered with foil?
Made this for dinner tonight with leftover Christmas turkey. I made a few tweeks: no onions, used instant brown rice, and added a pound of chopped bacon. Turned out great!
If I wanted to premake and then bake what temp and time in oven would you
Suggest? Thanks!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it two and a half times. I say half because it drives me CRAZY when people review a recipe but say “I subbed this for this and this and left out this…”. SO, I made this once EXACTLY as the recipe calls for and it was divine. And right now, I am eating it as a “dump” casserole to clean out my fridge. I used leftover turkey breast and even some turkey lunch meat instead of chicken, a mixture of cheeses that I needed to use up, greek yogurt instead of sour cream…and it’s still heavenly! Very versatile!