Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at work and thinking about what I had at home to make for dinner. Adam was coming over and he told me he didn’t want Chili, which is what I was planning to make, so it was time to get creative. I knew I had a frozen chicken breast that was enough to feed both of us, so I started cruising some of my favorite websites to find a good idea.
I decided to go with a recipe I found from Kristin at Iowa Girl Eats and I slightly adapted it a little. The original recipe calls for white flour, and since I am eating clean, I chose to go with whole wheat flour, I added red bell pepper, omitted the scallions, switched up the cheese, and halved the recipe.
This casserole is a healthy version of the original “cream of whatever” chicken, broccoli and rice casserole but tastes even better. You would never know you created such a healthy dish, and neither will the people you serve it to! The best part is that this casserole came together in under 30 minutes, so it is a great weeknight meal!
- Start by bringing your chicken broth to a boil, chopping the broccoli and red bell pepper, and adding the rice.
- I have quick cooking brown rice, so I added the vegetables as soon as I added the rice.
- Place a lid on the pot and let this cook for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, cube your chicken and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Cook over medium heat in a large saute pan. You will need this pan after the chicken is cooked, so make sure it is big enough to make your sauce.
- Once the chicken is done, remove from heat and onto a plate off to the side.
- Let this cook for about 5 minutes, until it gets thick and bubbly. Once this happens, add the cheese and sour cream and whisk to combine.
- Give it a taste here. I added more salt and pepper. Once the vegetables and rice are ready and the sauce is ready, put the chicken in with the vegetables and add the creamy sauce.
- Stir it all together and try not to just stick a fork in it now 🙂
- Take the time to put it in a casserole dish. It will be worth it.
- Top with the additional cheese (the best part!)
- Broil for about 5 minutes, but keep checking on it. The cheese can burn fast! I checked on it at least 4 times before removing. As they always say, never step away from the broiler! When it’s ready, remove from the oven and look at your beautiful casserole!
- Scrumptious. It looks and smells fantastic! Serve up a portion, I just make it into 3 servings since it was a smaller casserole dish. If you served something else along side it, it could have been 4. Unless you have hungry people. Then you might only get 2…
- You would never know this is not only healthy for you, but it is made with good ingredients and a lot of love!
- The worst part about this is the cheese, and come on now… cheese really isn’t all that bad for you. But the cheese is necessary, it forms the magical crust on top!
Enjoy!
Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice uncooked
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 cups broccoli cut into florets
- 1 whole red bell pepper chopped
- 1 large chicken breast, cubed
- 2.5 tsp 100% whole wheat flour
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 5 oz shredded 2% colby jack cheese
- Garlic powder salt and pepper to season the chicken
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to the Broil setting.
- Bring your cup of chicken broth to a boil. Chop the broccoli and red bell pepper. Once the chicken broth is at a boil, add your rice and simmer. When the rice has about 10 minutes left (or if it is quick cooking 10 minute brown rice) add the broccoli and red bell pepper directly to the rice to steam.
- Next, cube the chicken and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook in a skillet that can later be used to create your sauce. Once done cooking, remove from the heat onto a plate.
- In the same pan, add 1 cup milk and 2 1/2 tsp whole wheat flour and whisk until combined. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is thick, but still a little runny. Add 5 oz cheese and sour cream and stir to combine. Add additional salt and pepper to the cheese mixture.
- Once the rice and vegetables are done cooking, add the chicken to the pot and pour the sauce on top. Stir everything well to combine. Pour into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle with the remaining ounce of cheese.
- Broil just until the cheese is melted and browing slightly on top. Remove and serve!
