Creamy Chicken Mushroom Rice Casserole

Delicious, creamy, cheesy rice casserole made with lots of mushrooms and chicken. This casserole will make a perfect family dinner that everyone will love.

I’m not just talking about kids, we all know that kids tends to be super picky when it comes to food, I’m talking about our older family members. For me, my husband has been a culinary challenge for the past 15 years. He’s come a long, long way from the super picky guy I’ve met, but he is still not even close to be an adventurous foodie.
It’s very unlikely that he will ever be an adventurous foodie like I am, but I am still very proud of how far along he’s come. When I first met my husband, he ate so few things and I could count them on my two hands. I distinctly remember him refusing to eat simple ingredients like tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, along with most other veggies.

The first time I made my Chicken Stroganoff for him, his first instincts was to pick out the mushrooms and not touch them. But, since we just started dating, he didn’t want to hurt my feelings so he tried them. That was the first dish that started opening his eyes to more food and ingredients he thought he hated. He polished off every single bite and definitely started trusting me with food

Through the years, I’ve “cured” most of his food fears, except for seafood. I just can’t get him to even taste anything that is seafood related or has been around seafood.
Years ago, my husband would not touch this mushroom chicken and rice casserole because it’s loaded with mushrooms. But now, he devoured every single bit of it and even all the mushrooms I had extra on top. If fact, everyone loved this simple, creamy rice casserole. This simple, comforting dish will definitely satisfy even picky eaters. (It may even change the mind of a few picky people as well.)

 Delicious, creamy, cheesy rice casserole made with lots of mushrooms and chicken.

• Course dinner, Main Course


• Cuisine American


• Keyword casserole, chicken, mushroom


• Prep Time 15 minutes


• Cook Time 45 minutes


• Total Time 1 hour


• Servings 6 (4-6 servings)


• Calories 380 kcal


• Author Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

•     3 cups cooked rice


•     1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil for cooking


•     5-6 chicken tenders


•     8 oz baby bella mushrooms


•     Salt


•     Fresh cracked black pepper


•     1 tsp Garlic powder


•     1 cup chicken stock


•     1/2 cup heavy whipping cream


•     2 tsp fresh thyme


•     1 Tbsp corn starch


•     2 cups shredded Italian cheese mix

Instructions

•     Slice mushrooms and set them aside until ready to cook.


•     Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9x9 casserole dish.


•     Preheat a cooking pan over medium heat. Add some oil and let it heat up.


•     Cook chicken tenders, seasoned with some garlic powder, salt, and pepper, until just done. Take out the tenders and set aside.


•     Add mushrooms to the pan where you cooked the chicken. Season with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder and mix well. Saute mushrooms until just done as well. Take the mushrooms out of the pan.


•     Dice cooked chicken tenders and add it to a mixing bowl. Add cooked rice and mushrooms to the bowl as well. Add 1 cup of shredded Italian cheese mix and mix well.


•     In the same pan where you cooked chicken and mushrooms, heat up chicken stock and heavy whipping cream.


•     Combine corn starch with a splash of chicken stock and stir until combined. Quickly stir the corn starch mixture into the stock/heavy cream mixture.


•     Stir in salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring to simmer and take off heat.


•     Combine the sauce with the rice mixture in the bowl. Stir well and transfer into the prepared casserole dish.


•     Spread the casserole mixture evenly and top off with remaining cheese.


•     Bake for 18-20 minutes.

RECIPES AND IMAGE ADAPTED FROM https://www.willcookforsmiles.com