Cracked Out Chicken and Rice Bake – chicken, cheddar, bacon, Ranch and rice – quick and easy weeknight casserole! Use rotisserie chicken and this comes together in 5 minutes! SO good! We make this at least once a week!!
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Pin This RecipeI’ve been on a rice casserole kick lately. We’ve made several versions of it and loved them all. I was looking through my recipes and realized that I didn’t have a “Cracked Out” Chicken and Rice Bake version. OMG! I had to remedy that situation ASAP!
This was SO good. I mean, seriously delicious! It might be my favorite Chicken and Rice Bake on the blog. We ate this for dinner and had leftovers for the next day for lunch. It was great both times. Use some rotisserie chicken (my weeknight secret weapon), and this casserole is ready for the oven in 5 minutes. Serve this with some quick green beans and you have an easy weeknight meal in under 30 minutes!
*I used instant white rice in this dish. You can certainly use brown rice. Make sure to follow the preparation directions on the package of brown rice. Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice.*
Cracked Out Chicken and Rice Bake
Ingredients:
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups instant white rice
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken
- 1 (10.5-oz) can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 (8-oz) container sour cream
- ½ (1-oz) package dry Ranch Dressing Mix
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup cooked chopped bacon
- ½ cup chicken broth or water
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add instant rice, cover and turn off heat. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, until all water is absorbed.
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, chicken soup, sour cream, Ranch dressing mix, cheddar cheese, bacon, chicken broth and cooked rice. Spread into prepared pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Notes:
Steph
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Did anyone else have to bake it longer than instructed? I’m at 40 mins at 350 right now, and it is not quite done yet.
How could it not be done? You are simply heating it up. Everything in the dish is already cooked. You just need to cook it until it is hot. Maybe check your oven? The heating element might be off.
My husband is addicted to this recipe! He likes a blend of brown and wild rice & likes double amount of rice. He requests this quite often. We like french fried onions over top 😋
I left the bacon out and sauteed 1 cup chopped carrots and 1 cup sauteed celery in olive oil and added it to the rice mix. Tasted delicious!!
If you wanted to make this without chicken (because we’re grilling chicken on the side) how does this change the recipe/cooking time?
I made this for dinner, tonight. It was super easy and delicious! Should I have covered the dish while heating it in the oven?
I don’t cover it
what sides would you recommend with this
Can you double the recipe if you use bigger casserole dish ?
Absolutely!
I added baby bella mushrooms and broccoli florets, as well as chopped onion. Came out absolutely awesome. Thank you!
I'm attempting to make this into a crock pot recipe by using raw chicken and regular uncooked rice. Starting at 4 hours on high and giving it a whirl. Going to add the cheese and bacon towards the last 30 of cook time. I've incorporated extra water/stock for the rice to cook with the chicken in the crock pot all together. This looks great and tasty, but I'd rather not precook everything and then still heat up the oven, so I really hope this works out. Will let you know.
How did it turn out?
I made this with long grain rice but used spicy ranch dressing mix. I also added some cumin, chili powder, chili seeds, pepper, onion salt and just to make it spicy enough for my husband 1/4 cup hot pepper sauce. It was delicious. I will definitely be making this one again.
Is this something that can be frozen and reheated? If so, what temp and time would you reheat it for? Thanks!
It could be frozen unbaked and baked according to the directions once thawed.
This looks great! Can you sub out the uncooked instant rice for uncooked regular rice? Is there a reason you prefer instant rice over regular rice? Would it be the same amount of instant rice v. regular rice? Thanks!
I prefer instant rice because it only takes 5 minutes to make. I don't want to spend a lot of time making the casserole. 2 cups of instant rice = 4 cups cooked rice.
Is there a reason to use instant rice over regular uncooked rice? If I were to do regular uncooked rice what would the measurements be?
I prefer instant rice because it only takes 5 minutes to make. I don't want to spend a lot of time making the casserole. 2 cups of instant rice = 4 cups cooked rice.
I just made this for dinner and it is AMAZING! Thank you so much for the recipe!
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Does the rice measurement refer to cooked or uncooked? For example, should I put 2 full cups of uncooked instant rice into the boiling water, or should I put enough uncooked instant rice into the boiling water so that when it is fully cooked, it will result in 2 cups of cooked rice?
Put 2 cups of uncooked instant rice into the pot.
What can I use instead of dry ranch dressing, They dont sell that where I live in the Canary Islands.
What can I use instead of dry ranch dressing, they dont sell that where I live. (Lanzarote, Canary Islands )
Oh no! I completely overlooked where it says to add "cooked" chicken and I added raw chicken! Will this affect it at all?? Just threw it in the oven and got to looming at the recipie and noticed it 🙁
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I might add mushrooms to this and a bit of red pepper for some kick.
I like the sound of that!
This is very good. Very easy to make. Tasty and easy – my mind of recipe. Thank you.
I made this last night. It was super easy and delicious. I had purchased a rotisserie chicken and shredded it over the weekend. Which made this really easy to throw together. Will definitely add this to my rotation!
I used canned chunk chicken and real bacon bits. Since I am not crazy about instant rice I used two rice pilaf mixes and baked for an hour. It was so easy to pull together and the taste was AHHHHMAZING!!! The whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing this–it's a keeper for sure!!! 🙂
This was great! I love recipes that are quick, easy, and delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
If I were to use already cooked long grain white rice, would you say maybe 4 cups?
I'd also like to know. Have a pantry full of various rices, but no instant. Approximately how much cooked rice do you need?
I'd like to know also. I have a pantry full of various rices but no instant. How much cooked rice should be used?
Yes – 2 cups of instant rice = 4 cups cooked rice.
I'm curious, Stephanie. . .what do you mean when you say, "cracked out"? –Rocquie
I "think" it's because of the ranch dressing mix, cheddar cheese, and bacon – she has a "crack" dip with those ingredients too 🙂