Baked Rice Casserole with Chicken and Vegetables Recipe
Baked rice casserole with chicken and vegetables is a one-dish oven meal, a bit like a simple Polish-style pilaf. Raw rice cooks through in stock together with sautéed chicken and vegetables, so it stays fluffy and full of flavor. The cheese-browned top adds crunch and helps the dish reheat beautifully.
This is a very Polish, home-style take on pilaf: instead of being cooked on the stove, everything bakes together in one dish in the oven. It’s a popular way to stretch a small amount of meat with rice and vegetables into a filling family meal that reheats well the next day.
It’s a home-style, one-dish version of pilaf made with easy-to-find vegetables and chicken breast. Everything comes together in a single baking dish, so after a short time on the stove the oven does the rest of the work. The casserole slices and reheats well, making it ideal as a two-day dinner or for lunchboxes.
Why this version works
- The rice bakes from raw in stock, so it absorbs the flavor of the chicken and vegetables instead of going mushy in plain water.
- Searing the vegetables and meat before baking brings out their sweetness and creates a deeper, roasted flavor.
- A controlled amount of stock and a tight cover guarantee fluffy rice instead of an overcooked, sticky mass.
- A short uncovered stage with cheese on top lets excess moisture evaporate and creates a lightly crisp, golden crust.
Chef's tips
If you’re using stock made from a cube, add extra salt only after tasting, as it’s easy to overdo it and end up with overly salty rice., Aim for the moment when the rice is soft but each grain is still separate, and there’s only a thin golden edge around the sides of the dish, not dark brown burnt spots., When I plan dinner for two days, I add 50–80 ml more stock, because the rice will absorb more liquid as it cools and is reheated.
How to serve
Serve straight from the oven with a salad of pickled cucumbers, cabbage, or a simple green salad with lemon to add acidity., It pairs well with homemade fruit compote or a light white wine for a relaxed weekend lunch., Portions are easy to pack into containers and reheat the next day at work in the microwave or in a pan.
Watch out for
- Don’t skimp on rinsing the rice – excess starch will make the finished casserole dense and heavy.
- The stock should only just cover the rice; too much liquid will turn the casserole into a soupy stew.
- Don’t bake uncovered for too long, or the top layer of rice will dry out, becoming hard and brittle.
Ingredients
- rice white long-grain - 200 g
- chicken breast - 400 g
- carrot - 2 piece
- bell pepper red - 1 piece
- frozen peas - 100 g
- onion - 1 piece
- vegetable or chicken stock - 500 ml
- oil vegetable - 2 tablespoons
- paprika sweet ground - 1 teaspoon
- garlic, granulated or fresh - 0.5 teaspoons
- salt
- pepper black ground
- cheese yellow, grated - 80 g
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (top and bottom heat). Lightly grease a baking dish with oil, including the sides, so that after baking the rice and cheese form a golden, not burnt, crust.
- Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold running water until the water is almost clear. Set aside for a few minutes to drain well – the grains should be loose, not clumped together.
- Cut the chicken breast into even cubes. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic, and massage the spices in thoroughly until every piece is evenly coated and slightly moist from the marinade.
- Dice the onion finely. Peel the carrots and slice into thin half-moons, and cut the pepper into cubes. The carrot pieces should be thin so they have time to soften while baking.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 3–4 minutes until soft and translucent but still pale – it should not be brown or scorched.
- Add the carrot and pepper and fry for 3–4 minutes until the vegetables soften slightly and start to smell sweet. Transfer them to the baking dish, spreading them in an even layer over the bottom.
- Add the drained rice and frozen peas to the dish. Gently mix so the rice is evenly distributed among the vegetables and doesn’t form one thick layer on top.
- In the same pan, heat the second tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken and fry for 4–5 minutes until it turns white on the outside and is lightly browned in spots; it can still be slightly raw in the center.
- Transfer the chicken to the dish with the rice and vegetables and gently mix everything together. The pieces of meat should be evenly scattered so each portion has a similar amount of chicken.
- Heat the stock and taste it; if it’s not very flavorful, season with salt and pepper. Pour it into the dish so that the liquid just comes above the level of the rice but doesn’t form a thick layer on top.
- Cover the dish tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and place in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is soft at the edges and slightly al dente in the center.
- Carefully remove the cover and fluff the top layer of rice with a fork. If it is still clearly hard inside, add 2–3 tablespoons of hot stock. Sprinkle the top with grated cheese and bake uncovered for 5–10 minutes, until the cheese melts and turns lightly golden brown.
Storage
Once cooled, the rice sets more firmly and portions are easy to slice, but after reheating with 2–3 tablespoons of water it becomes soft again. Reheat covered in the oven or in a pan so the chicken doesn’t dry out and the edges of the casserole don’t burn.
I most often make this casserole on Mondays when I have leftover rice from Sunday dinner – then I can assemble everything in a few minutes and immediately have a portion ready for my lunchbox.
