No-Peek Crack Chicken and Rice – super easy dinner recipe! Chicken breasts, long grain rice, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, ranch dressing mix, bacon, and cheddar cheese. Mix everything in the baking dish, cover, and pop it in the oven. SO easy to make and everyone cleaned their plate! Even our picky eaters!!
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Pin This RecipeNo Peek Chicken Casserole
This No-Peek Crack Chicken and Rice Casserole is a family favorite! Easy chicken and rice casserole loaded with cheddar bacon and ranch. Comfort food at its best! This recipe is effortless to make and everyone gobbles it up! Whip up some green beans and rolls and you are set! Add this to your menu ASAP. It is sure to be a hit.
What does Crack mean?
If a recipe has crack in the title it means that it has cheddar, bacon, and ranch in the recipe. It all started with my Crack Dip way back in 2007. I made the dip for a Titans football game. Everyone went crazy over it. We couldn’t stop eating it and said it was like crack. The name stuck. The flavor combination is amazing. These crack chicken puff pastry bites are no exception. I’m obsessed!
How to Make No-Peek Crack Chicken & Rice
This chicken casserole is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. In a large bowl, combine cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, long-grain white rice, chicken broth, ranch seasoning mix, bacon, and cheese. Pour rice mixture into a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Place chicken breasts on top of the rice mixture. Sprinkle chicken with ranch seasoning. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake. Remove the aluminum foil. Top the chicken with bacon and cheddar cheese. Bake for 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- I mix everything in a bowl and transfer it to a baking dish. Feel free to mix everything right in the baking pan for less dirty dishes.
- After baking, remove the chicken breasts from the top of the casserole and stir the rice. This will help incorporate the liquid that has been released from the chicken. Place the chicken breasts back on top of the rice mix and add the additional bacon and cheese and bake.
- I use boneless skinless chicken breasts. You can substitute boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
- You can use bone-in chicken in this dish. Check for an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- Can I use frozen chicken? I haven’t made this with frozen chicken breasts, I would think that it would work fine. It may take longer to cook. Check the chicken for an internal temperature of165ºF.
- Can I use brown rice? This recipe is formulated for long-grain white rice. Brown rice has different liquid content and takes longer to cook. I have not made this with brown rice, so I can not give measurements or cooking times.
- Feel free to add some chopped broccoli florets to the rice mixture.
- You can use any flavor of cream of condensed soup. Cream of Chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, or cream of celery soup are all fine.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
- If you are sensitive to ranch seasoning, please adjust the amount to your personal preference.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix/
- I suggest using low-sodium or no-salt chicken broth.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Chicken Broth: https://www.plainchicken.com/slow-cooker-chicken-broth/
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
What to Serve with Chicken and Rice
This easy casserole recipe has become our go-to Sunday dinner. I love that I can just mix it up, pop it in the oven and forget it! We serve this with some green beans or asparagus. It is equally delicious with a green salad. Give this simple recipe a try the next time you need a meal the whole family will enjoy.
Looking for more side dish recipes? Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with casserole:
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Honey Garlic Asparagus
Honey Garlic Asparagus – quick skillet-roasted asparagus that packs a ton of flavor. Only 6 ingredients! Fresh asparagus, butter, honey,…
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No-Peek Crack Chicken and Rice
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 (10.5-oz) can Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 (10.5-oz) can Unsalted Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups regular white rice uncooked
- 1 (1-oz) package ranch dressing mix divided
- ½ cup cooked chopped bacon, divided
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, and 2 Tbsp ranch dressing mix. Stir in uncooked rice, 6 Tbsp bacon, and 1½ cups cheese.
- Pour the rice mixture into the baking dish.
- Place chicken breasts on top of the rice mixture. Sprinkle with remaining ranch dressing.
- Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Remove foil. Top the chicken with the remaining cheese and bacon. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Notes:
- I mix everything in a bowl and transfer it to a baking dish. Feel free to mix everything right in the baking pan for less dirty dishes.
- To avoid sticky rice, rinse your rice before adding it to the dish. Rinsing the rice removes excess start that causes the rice to plump and stick together.
- After baking, remove the chicken breasts from the top of the casserole and stir the rice. This will help incorporate the liquid that has been released from the chicken. Place the chicken breasts back on top of the rice mix and add the additional bacon and cheese and bake.
- I use boneless skinless chicken breasts. You can substitute boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
- You can use bone-in chicken in this dish. Check for an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- Can I use frozen chicken? I haven’t made this with frozen chicken breasts, I would think that it would work fine. It may take longer to cook. Check the chicken for an internal temperature of165ºF.
- Can I use brown rice? This recipe is formulated for long-grain white rice. Brown rice has different liquid content and takes longer to cook. I have not made this with brown rice, so I can not give measurements or cooking times.
- Feel free to add some chopped broccoli florets to the rice mixture.
- You can use any flavor of cream of condensed soup. Cream of Chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, or cream of celery soup are all fine.
- I suggest using Unsalted Cream of Chicken & Mushroom Soups in this dish to control the sodium.
- You can buy it by the case at Amazon:
- Cream of Chjcken: https://amzn.to/49n4uZE
- Cream of Mushroom: https://amzn.to/3SkpNVv
- Need Gluten-free soup? You can buy it here:
- Cream of Chicken: https://amzn.to/3MtqQ1s
- Cream of Mushroom: https://amzn.to/45WqyXY
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
- Substitute mushroom bouillon to make cream of mushroom soup.
- You can buy it by the case at Amazon:
- I suggest using Unsalted Cream of Chicken & Mushroom Soups in this dish to control the sodium.
- If you are sensitive to ranch seasoning, please adjust the amount to your personal preference.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix/
- I suggest using low-sodium or no-salt chicken broth.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Chicken Broth: https://www.plainchicken.com/slow-cooker-chicken-broth/
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Steph
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Do you think would freeze well for meal prep?
Tried this for the first time last night. Super easy to put together. Rice was delicious. Chicken was a little under seasoned with just the ranch dressing mix as only seasoning. Next time I will season with some other spices – and especially on both sides. Family enjoyed. Will make again. Thank you!
Great recipe! Cooked this last night and we enjoyed it. My rice was a little dry but tasty. I bought a pack of ranch dressing but used too much water. I will make this recipe again!
Made this last night. Talk about good. Went to get all the ingredients, only to find out I didn’t have Ranch Dressing mix. Well I winged it with most of the ingredients listed on the make your own recipe. Well it didn’t matter as it was sooooo good. Both my children said I could have left the chicken out and just eat it as the flavored rice. It was can’t have just one helping kind of meal. Really liked it a lot. Keep up the good work.
I could skip the chicken too! The rice is SOOOOOO delicious!