One Pan Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole, served with brown rice, carrots and peas, is healthy, flavorful and involves almost no clean-up!
Healthy Chicken and Rice Casserole
One Pan Chicken Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole recipe will delight you with its ease and quick cleanup anytime you are tired of cooking! I spent a weekend retesting, reshooting and double checking every bit of this chicken and brown rice recipe!
Chicken thighs baked in brown rice with chicken stock, butter and carrots bake up into a fluffy chicken and rice bake. Right when you take it out of the oven you pour on some frozen peas and mix. The heat of the dish will warm them without making them mushy. Dinner is prepped in 10 minutes, an hour in the oven and you have a healthy easy meal people will fight over!
How to Make this Chicken and Rice Bake
To make this Chicken and Rice Casserole with brown rice and veggies, preheat oven to 375 degrees. The perfect size baking pan for this recipe is 13 inches by 9 inches. Scatter rice on the bottom of the pan. Layer chicken on top. Season the whole pan generously with salt and pepper. Remember this will be seasoning the whole dish, not just the chicken. Scatter the carrots between the chicken pieces. Scatter bits of the butter around the pan. (optional)
Pour the boiling hot stock on top gently. Wrap tightly with foil and cook for 60 minutes. 
Right when coming out of the oven, toss with frozen peas. Let sit for 3-4 minutes. Enjoy your Chicken and Rice Bake! 🙂 
Want dinner on the table in 30 minutes? If you swap the brown rice for white rice in this chicken and rice casserole, the meal will be done in 30. The meat won’t be quite as soft and tender, but it will still be delicious! 
CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE RECIPE NOTES (UPDATED) 7/12/2016:
Some of you had left me comments that the timing wasn’t working in this Chicken Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole recipe so I tested it once and it worked well but I did notice an extra 5 minutes didn’t hurt so I am updating it with the new time. Here is a not so fancy screenshot on my iPhone (excuse the not Pinworthy photo) of my original remake the way we do it every week (no edits, 375 degrees, exactly 60 minutes) and it was definitely a tender rice bake, not soupy: 
Then I decided to test this baked chicken and rice recipe a couple of more times because with 3 of you saying the same thing I knew there was a disconnect between what I was seeing/tasting and what you all were experiencing and I knew it was more than a five-minute difference.
Adjusting the Chicken and Rice Bake Cooking time
Here is what I came up with…
- I use 3-4 ounce skinless thighs (this time in July 2016 I used 4-ounce bone-in skinless thighs). I realized this may have been the biggest issue that may have presented itself. When I went to the store and bought some more chicken I got some of the normal chicken thighs that were on sale, both bone-in and boneless. The boneless ones were almost 6 ounces each, bone in was closer to 7.
- The larger boneless thigh (6 ounces each) batch took 1:30 minutes to cook. The bone in (7-ounce thighs) batch took 1:45 (I think this may be where most of the discrepancy was)
- Second, I noticed that between my normal chicken and the larger thighs that they seemed slightly frozen in the middle. I don’t know if anyone else’s chicken was like this, but that may also add to the timing issues. If they are at all frozen it just means it will take even longer since the colder the chicken is it will just make the boiling stock get cold quickly which will also add to the cooking time.
- I know no one mentioned this but I think it’s worth mentioning if you peel back the foil to take a peek during cooking you are letting all the steam out which will make the cooking time go way up.
- This is totally not meant to insinuate anything but I would also just test the temp of your oven. I have a thermometer that lives in there so I know my oven is pretty spot on but you never know.
- Final note: The biggest difference in your cooking time will be the temperature of your chicken and the temperature of your water. If your chicken is fully defrosted and you use boiling hot water/stock and you wrap tightly with foil, you should have a fully cooked, non soupy meal in 65 minutes.
If you guys have any other notes, I am happy to answer in any way I can. I didn’t realize how much larger the chicken in the store would be! My apologies to those who had fails, I wish I could deliver you a tray of this Chicken and Rice Casserole cooked through, I made four trays of it in the last three days determined to get to the bottom of this… (Thank goodness this dish freezes well!).
Ingredients
- 6 4 ounce boneless skinless chicken thighs** (Please read the recipe notes: you can also use bone in, but don't leave skin on, it will get oily)
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice
- 3 cups chicken stock (boiling hot)
- 2 tablespoons butter (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 lbs sliced carrots
- 1 bag (12 oz.) frozen peas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Scatter rice on the bottom of the pan.
- Layer chicken on top.
- Season the whole pan generously with salt and pepper.
- Remember this will be seasoning the whole dish, not just the chicken.
- Scatter the carrots between the chicken pieces.
- Scatter bits of the butter around the pan. (optional)
- Pour the boiling hot stock on top gently.
- Wrap tightly with foil.
- Cook for 65 minutes (If your chicken pieces are larger please refer to the notes for updated cooking times).
- Right when coming out of the oven, toss with frozen peas.
- Let sit for 3-4 minutes.
- Enjoy 🙂
Notes
Nutrition
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Easy and delicious!
The rice, carrots and peas were perfect! I used large bone in chicken thighs, 4 thighs 2 pounds from local farmer. I removed the skin and baked fir 1 and 1/2 hours. The chicken tasted too dry. I’m going to make it again and either use smaller boneless thighs.
Thanks for the 5 star review Candace but I want to make sure you are absolutely satisfied. Here’s what I learned after testing this recipe a few times. I apologize in advance if it’s too much detail!
Adjusting the Chicken and Rice Bake Cooking time. Here is what I came up with…
I use 3-4 ounce skinless thighs (this time in July 2016 I used 4-ounce bone-in skinless thighs). I realized this may have been the biggest issue that may have presented itself. When I went to the store and bought some more chicken I got some of the normal chicken thighs that were on sale, both bone-in and boneless. The boneless ones were almost 6 ounces each, bone in was closer to 7.
The larger boneless thigh (6 ounces each) batch took 1:30 minutes to cook. The bone in (7-ounce thighs) batch took 1:45 (I think this may be where most of the discrepancy was)
Second, I noticed that between my normal chicken and the larger thighs that they seemed slightly frozen in the middle. I don’t know if anyone else’s chicken was like this, but that may also add to the timing issues. If they are at all frozen it just means it will take even longer since the colder the chicken is it will just make the boiling stock get cold quickly which will also add to the cooking time.
I think it’s worth mentioning if you peel back the foil to take a peek during cooking you are letting all the steam out which will make the cooking time go way up.
This is totally not meant to insinuate anything but I would also just test the temp of your oven. I have a thermometer that lives in there so I know my oven is pretty spot on but you never know.
Final note: The biggest difference in your cooking time will be the temperature of your chicken and the temperature of your water. If your chicken is fully defrosted and you use boiling hot water/stock and you wrap tightly with foil, you should have a fully cooked, non soupy meal in 65 minutes.
I plan to make this tonight but with white rice. How much broth should I use and what’s the cooking time going to be?
You would have a harder time making this dish with full thighs with white rice. It would overcook before the thighs were done. We do have an alternate chicken and rice casserole on the site with smaller chunks and white rice though.
Very good and healthy recipe with few ingredients. I added pan-fried mushrooms and turned it on broil for the last 5 minutes since I prefer keeping the skin on. But the outcome was better than any recipe I have tried before.
Turned out perfect!!
I cooked this using boned chicken thighs with skin removed for 1 1/2 hours and it was perfect. Delicious, and I will cook this again. Thanks for sharing this recipe. A keeper for sure.
I have just read the recipe for One Pan Baked Chicken & Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole. I wish to try it shortly. I have only one question! may I use ghee instead of butter for baking? I have read that baking with ghee is a safer option because of ghee’s high smoke point. Any suggestions, friends?
https://milkio.co.nz/baking-with-ghee/
I am trying to figure out how to use this recipe with cooked chicken.
Loved it! The top about seasoning the whole dish and not just the chicken was great advice. It was a hit with the family
I haven’t prepared this dish yet, but there seems to be some confusion in the amount of chicken in the recipes when one switches from on level of servings to another. I was planning to make 2 recipes with 3 x 4 oz chicken legs each and another one with 4 x 7 oz chicken thighs. Along the way I thought about splitting the 4 thighs into 2 separate dishes, because I’m just cooking for one.
So, I was reviewing the recipes for 2, 3 and 4 servings. I think I can’t go back to explain exactly where the discrepancy is without losing what I’ve already typed, but I recall one recipe stating 12.5 oz chicken and another requiring 6 x 4 oz thighs (which would be 24 oz), and I think the one calling for 12.5 oz was a larger number of servings than the one with 6 x 4 oz thighs. I would kindly, and humbly, ask that you recheck the changes between the different serving size recipes. Thanks jw
I made this tonight with chicken breast instead of thighs. Fantastic! 65 minutes was very accurate cooking time. For reference, I cut up the chicken into approximately 1 inch pieces.
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for the review!
For the chicken and rice dish that goes in the oven, does the rice get cooked first? I’m using the brown rice that cooks on the stove top for 45 minutes.
This recipe has everything cooking together in the oven. No need to cook the rice separately.
The recipe could use some more liquid. It did not says if you need to use water with the stock.
I only used 3 cups of boiling hot chicken stock for this recipe.
Wow! What a great recipe! I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and after an hour, the chicken was nice and tender. The rice was perfectly cooked as well. I decided to use my Dutch oven since the lid seals the pot very well.
I’ve made this Several times now w boneless thighs n bone in skin on was still delicious . It cooks Perfect everytime . It’s very important to seal it up w foil Tight n let it cook . My boys dont like rice and they all Loved this . Thank for such an easy yummy recipe ?
Glad to know it’s such a hit, Rana. Thanks for the 5 stars.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and tried everything under the sun to get the rice to cook. I finally made it work! Here’s my alteration:
Put the rice and the stock on the stove to boil and cook with lid on for 15 minutes. Add to a Dutch oven!! (Eliminates the need for foil and hoping it’s sealed enough) Then proceed as written (with chicken, carrots, and seasoning). Turns out beautifully and delicious!! I love it.
I used deboned, skinless chicken breasts with this recipe. Chicken came out well but rice was not done and dish very soup. I removed chicken and added in a can of cream of chicken soup and cooked at 325 for another hour. If I try again, I’ll add in the soup at the start and see what happens.
Made 1/2 recipe and chicken was delicious, rice was still crunchy and carrots not done. Note I started with defrosted, average size boneless, skinless thighs and brown rice, boiling chicken stock. Not sure what happened but such a disappointment to have crunchy rice (back in the oven now while we already consumed chicken).
THERE IS NO green peppers in a Philly cheesesteak !!! Never has never been ! I’ve live in south philly whole life !! It’s steak cheese and onions and if you don’t like onions then just cheese !!!! Why why why do people that don’t live in this area put green peppers on a cheesesteak and call it a PHILLY cheesesteak ????
? Karen, I mean Carolyn
I just made this and it turned out fabulous! I used boneless skinless breasts and instant brown rice because that’s what I had at home. I skipped boiling the stock because I knew the instant rice would over cook. However, I would definitely not skip this step if you aren’t using instant rice. I added a little garlic powder and onion powder along with salt and pepper. I cooked it covered at 375 for 50 minutes and it was cooked to perfection. I added the peas as directed. The chicken is moist and the flavor is amazing. I’ll be serving this again in the near future.
So, did you use any stock at all? I will also use instant rice and wondering what you used to cook rice?
Made this in a med, magnalite roaster, browned chicken thighs, in bacon grease on stove top, then removed, and added chopped onions, carrot chunks,celery chunks, and rice, and quickly stir-fried veggies and rice in the bacon grease, then added 2-c chicken broth, and 1-can cream of chicken soup and 1-can of cream of mushroom mixed and brought to boil placed chicken back in hot mix, and put on the lid, put in 350 degree pre-heated oven 30 mins with lid on, then added 1lb. cut in half button mushrooms, baked another 25 min. with lid removed.
delicious baked chicken….I used boneless skinless breasts because that is our preference.
The meat was juicy and flavorful, the rice was done to perfection and I loved the peas and carrots. I’m probably going to try this same recipe with other veges sometime in the near future.
This was a taste of my mom’s comfort food but without the cream soup!
Loved it!
This recipe is a keeper! It was so easy and so good. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs. Thank You!!
Can I just cook in casserole dish with lid on instead of foil and chicken breasts because had in fridge?
I’ve not tested it that way but if you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out.
Made this tonight for dinner. Turned out delicious. The chicken was fork tender, and it was so easy to make. Thanks for the recipe! This is definitely a keeper.
Hi sabrina just finished dinner by accident i bought frozen Brussel sprouts in stead of peas. Well I didn’t use them. My dinner came out great, I missed the peas though. Next time I’ll get the peas, and still use the mushroom.
So glad it turned out and that you enjoyed! Definitely let me know how you like it with the peas!
Hi sabrina, I’m making this dish as I type this. The only thing I did different was to add mushrooms. I hope your not mad, I’m sure it will be delicious. I pick yours among the test.
That sounds absolutely delicious! I love mushrooms!
I cannot rate this dish, b/c I have not yet made it, … but after reading this entire post, I plan to follow the recipe ‘exactly’ as written. I can then modify it – if I wish to do so. It sounds PERFECT to me, just as it’s written. I’m sure that my family & I will love THIS! For me, chicken, rice & veggies are the ‘perfect meal’. Thanks, Sabrina 🙂
I’d love to hear how it turns out for you! Hope you enjoy!
This was a game changer!! I used bone-in chicken thighs, baked for 1hr 15min. I also used seasoned salt. One pan, super fast prep, and clean-up was a breeze! I loved that it used brown rice. My husband & 4 yo son loved it. I even scooped some into my blender and made it into baby food for my 6 month old. He loved it too! I’ll be making this often. Thank you Sabrina! I can’t wait to try your other recipes now.
So glad you liked it. What a great idea to make some of it into baby food – everyone got to eat great! Let me know how you like other recipes!
Thank you for all of your testing. I actually just grabbed my cell phone to quickly look up the timing for a chicken and brown rice bake for use with a recipe of my own. Glad I read the comments, because I did have big bone-in thighs and they were a little frozen in the middle. The time you took to research it certainly helped me out a lot.
Aw, thank you for coming back to share this. It always feels great to know I’m appreciated. Thank you so much!
This healthy one pan dinner turned out great as written!
Have a question — why do your pictures go to black and white when we print them? They are done so beautifully and look so inviting — but the black and white they give us is a real disappointment!
I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like it could be something with your browser but I admit, I’m not a tech expert – I just haven’t experienced this on our end.
What can of white rice should I use?
If you use white rice, it requires half the cooking time as brown rice so you chicken might not be as tender since it’s not cooked as long. Just a heads up. Enjoy!
The chicken seemed to cook faster than the rice for me. This is a very simple recipe, I almost would prefer to just cook the chicken and rice separately and then combine once both are cooked.
Hi could you please advise the difference in method for chicken drumsticks? Thanks
Unfortunately this recipe won’t work using drumsticks. There’s less meat on them than thighs and the rice would take much longer to finish than the drumsticks. You’re better off just making everything separate.
Can I use wild rice in place of brown rice for this recipe? I am looking forward to trying it.
I haven’t tested it but you may need to add about a cup and a half more stock to account for wild rice vs brown rice. The cook time should be the same. Enjoy!
How much salt should I put? Sorry, I just need exact measurement coz I don’t want it to get too salty or bland. Thanks.
No worries. I would suggest 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper. Hope this helps!
Can this be Cooke with chicken breasts rather than thighs? Would the cooking time then vary??
You’ll end up having to make everything separate because the chicken breasts wouldn’t take as long to cook. Sorry.
Hi can you use white rice instead? If so, what would be the directions for cooking it??
Thanks.
Yes, you can use white rice instead. It’ll take about half the cooking time though your chicken might not be as tender since it’s not cooked as long. It’s still really good. Enjoy!
Now, this is what I’d call a perfect recipe—common ingredients, quick to prepare, one pan meal and delicious! I made this tonight and even though I forgot to add the peas, it was soooo good. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Debbie!
This dish is fantastic! I have made it at least half dozen times already. Kids are grown, so it’s just my husband and I, so I cut the recipe in half. I use chicken thighs as suggested, carrots, and I buy the box of Uncle Ben’s long grain wild rice, the slow cooking kind, not quick cooking. I use the flavor packet from the rice and mix it with the boiling chicken stock. My husband requests this often and it’s a plus for me because it’s so quick, no pots and pans to wash, Just my little covered roaster.
Thank you for all your great recipes, you never fail me!
Hi, I followed the recipe and don’t know what happened. My rice stayed hard. Any suggestions? Where might I have gone wrong?
Oh no! Next time, you’ll want to make sure you’re using boiling hot water/stock and make sure that it’s wrapped tightly with foil. It’ll help keep the heat in and cook it. Hope this helps.
This dish is fantastic! I have made it at least half dozen times already. Kids are grown, so it’s just my husband and I, so I cut the recipe in half. I use chicken thighs as suggested, carrots, and I buy the box of Uncle Ben’s long grain wild rice, the slow cooking kind, not quick cooking. I use the flavor packet from the rice and mix it with the boiling chicken stock. My husband requests this often and it’s a plus for me because it’s so quick, no pots and pans to wash, Just my little covered roaster.
Thank you for all your great recipes, you never fail me!
Have you tried this with drumsticks?
I don’t think I would recommend it because the rice needs more cooking time than the drumsticks would because there’s less meat on them than thighs. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
Is this instant brown rice or the regular? I’m guessing that makes a difference and o can’t find anywhere where it’s said
I used regular brown rice and not instant for this recipe. 🙂
So I am desperately wanting to make this but only eat chicken breast and am trying to stay away from white rice. I was thinking what if I cook the chicken with seasonings/veggies in oven and cooked brown rice in rice cooker and then combined them for the last 5 minutes? Not all in one pot, but….. maybe???? What are your thoughts?
If you’re making them all separate, I would think you should just combine them all on your plate to get as close to the original as you can with the substitutions. Enjoy!
I only use chicken breast and my family only likes white rice. Would this work if I used chicken breast and white rice – cooked for 30 minutes versus 60 minutes?
I haven’t tested it but if you’re using chicken breast, it might work. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out.
I just finished dinner, the chicken was excellent. I used boneless skinless thighs and cooked for a hour and a half. They were very moist with great flavor, some of the best chicken I have made. I used Minute Brown Rice, it turned out sticky. What type of rice do you use? This is a easy and great recipe. I want to attempt it again with the correct rice. Thank you
So glad you enjoyed it! I used plain organic long grain brown rice for this recipe.
This is very easy to make. Haven’t ate it yet but the recipe calls for 2 lbs of sliced carrots. Is that incorrect as that is a lot of carrot?
It’s the correct amount but you can cut back if that’s too much for your liking. 🙂
I am thinking of making this but before I do, I read how some people have issues with the timing… what may be one of the problems is the type of brown rice used. It makes a big difference. So many types of rice now, which is nice but you have to pay attention to the different cooking times of each type of rice and water absorption.
How many does this recipe serve
I’d say 4-6 servings.
I loved the baked chicken brown rice veggie casserole. We take dinners to people in our church for certain occasions and I’ve taken this twice to two different families and they have loved it. I also have made a smaller amount for just my husband and also for company! Thank you!
You’re welcome Dorothy!
Made this in the crockpot and it turned out great!