This Cheesy Baked Chicken with Cream of Chicken Soup is the ultimate comfort food! Chicken (thighs or breasts) is seasoned perfectly then cooked with rice in a cheesy, creamy sauce and topped with crisp, fried onions! There is no chopping in this recipe and it all comes together in one pan! Dinner=DONE!
This recipe is near and dear to my heart because it’s a version of Campbell’s One Dish Chicken and Rice Bake…which was the first real “recipe” I made back in college that turned out halfway decent!
I remember being super shocked that I threw everything in the baking dish, baked it for an hour, and BOOM! Good eats! I continued to make this dish for years to come!
Fast forward 25’ish years later and I still love the idea of this dish (5 minutes of prep, no chopping, super simple), but I have given it LOTS more flavor, without adding more steps or making it fussy!
This updated Cheesy Baked Chicken still uses cream of chicken soup, and gets rave reviews from the whole family! It’s an updated classic that will become a family favorite!
For more updated classic recipes, try my Sloppy Joes on Texas Toast, this amazing Beef Stroganoff, and this Tuna Mac and Cheese! And if you love this recipe, you’ll also love my Cheesy Chicken Casserole with Doritos!
What you’ll love about this recipe:
- An upgrade on a delicious, CLASSIC CHICKEN BAKE DISH.
- Great recipe that can be MADE AHEAD and popped in the oven on a busy weeknight!
- An easy recipe that requires ZERO CHOPPING and MINIMAL PREP TIME.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this Creamy Baked Chicken Recipe:
INGREDIENT NOTES
Chicken: I highly recommend boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they stay super juicy with the long oven cooking time. I have also used boneless skinless chicken breasts, and they work just fine, too. I just feel the thighs are more flavorful.
Cream of Chicken Soup: If you don’t want to use a can of soup, you can make homemade soup with this recipe.
HOW TO MAKE BAKED CHICKEN WITH CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP: STEP BY STEP
Here are some quick visual instructions. Remember that full instructions with exact ingredients will be in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Season chicken on both sides with spices.
Step 2: In your baking dish, stir together cream soup, rice, cheese, and Worcestershire sauce.
Step 3: Place chicken on top of the soup mixture. Bake covered, at 375°F for 55-60 minutes until rice is tender. Uncover, add remaining cheese and fried onions, and bake for 10 minutes more.
Step 4: Let the dish rest 5-10 minutes. Then, remove the chicken. Give the rice a big stir. Add chicken back in and serve right away.
RECIPE TIPS & TRICKS
- I like mixing all of my spices together in a small bowl before seasoning the chicken–just to ensure all of the spices are nicely mixed
- After the dish rests for a few minutes after coming out of the oven, remove the chicken and give the rice a big stir. Then place the chicken back in the pan of rice.
- Cooking time may vary depending on your oven. The key to remember is the rice needs to be tender! Start checking at about the 50-55 minutes mark. At this point, the rice should be nearly cooked. It will continue to cook for a few minutes after you add the cheese and onions.
Confidence Tip
Does your rice seem too “soupy” when it comes out of the oven? NO WORRIES! As long as the rice is tender, you are good to go! The sauce will thicken up as it rests. Then, you’ll give everything a big stir and you’ll have perfect, creamy rice!
STORAGE & REHEATING
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also tightly cover the casserole dish with a couple of layers of aluminum foil to store.
- Reheating: Leftovers are great just reheated in the microwave for a minute or so until the chicken is warmed through.
- Freezing: You can make this creamy chicken and rice casserole ahead of time and freeze it! Leave off the cheese and onion topping. Freeze in a freezer-friendly container like this one. Freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to enjoy, thaw overnight in the fridge. Then bake as directed. You may need to bake the casserole for an additional 10-15 minutes to account for the dish being cold out of the fridge.