Review: Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

[eks]

I am on a role with the CL Complete Cookbook. The Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole turned out great. I wasn't sure what kind of multigrain cracker to use, but I used Harvest Crisps and they worked well. There is nothing fancy about this simple casserole, yet it tastes really good and it is perfect "comfort food".

[MrsReber]

You go, eks! I keep reading the CL cookbook reviews and then making the recipe! This one was on my list to make ahead and freeze. I already have all the ingredients. I hope it freezes well.

[valchemist]

Is this the recipe you are talking about? If so, what is that first ingredient? Who makes it? Is it easy to find in the grocery store? Thanks. -Valerie


* Exported from MasterCook *

Creamy Chicken-and-Rice Casserole

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Cooking Light 1995 Poultry


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 (6 7/8-ounce) package one-third-less-salt chicken-flavored
rice-and-vermicelli mix with chicken broth
and herbs
1 tablespoon margarine
2 1/4 cups hot water
Vegetable cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds skinned boned chicken breasts -- cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup presliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup nonfat sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, reduced-fat and
reduced-sodium -- condensed, undiluted
1/4 cup crushed multigrain crackers -- (6 crackers)
1 tablespoon margarine -- melted
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Cook rice mix in a large nonstick skillet according to package directions, using 1 tablespoon margarine and 2-1/4 cups hot water. Remove mixture from skillet; set aside.

Wipe skillet with a paper towel.

Coat the skillet with cooking spray, and place over high heat until hot. Add chicken, mushrooms, and garlic powder; sauté 6 minutes or until chicken loses its pink color.

Combine rice mixture, chicken mixture, sour cream, pepper, and soup in a bowl; stir well.

Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray.

Combine cracker crumbs, margarine, and poppy seeds; stir well, and sprinkle over chicken mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

(serving size: 1-1/3 cups)

Source:
"Cooking Light, Jan/Feb 1995, page 62"
Copyright:
"© Cooking Light"

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 339 Calories; 8g Fat (21.8% calories from fat); 26g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 59mg Cholesterol; 438mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : Make-Ahead Tips: You can assemble the casserole ahead of time, omitting the cracker-crumb mixture; cover and chill in the refrigerator or freeze (thaw frozen casserole overnight in refrigerator). Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes; top with cracker-crumb mixture, and bake as directed.

[clairea]

valchemist,

the first ingredient is Rice-a-Roni. I didn't have any trouble finding the low-salt version (although the box has been sitting in my pantry for several months since I have never gotten around to making this casserole).

[valchemist]

a-haa...rice-a-roni! I feel dumb now. I have never used rice-a-roni so I wouldn't recognize it by a generic description like the one given in the recipe.

[tuff2000]

I know this is an older thread, and this recipe has been brought up over and over. But, tonight was the first time I had ever made it, and it definitley will not be the last. Today was a day that we needed comfort food. It was cloudy and rainy here, so I thought a creamy casserole would be perfect. I used the broccoli flavored rice-a-roni and therefore I added sauteed broccoli to the chicken mixture and baked it all together. This is simple comfort food and we all highly recommend it

[funnybone]

I made this the other night and we thought it was really good. It's ironic that I even wanted to make it because I am not a big fan of canned Cream of Mushroom soup. However, I decided to give it a try because I needed something I could make ahead and I found it in MC. I had most of the ingredients, besides the soup and vermicelli mix, on hand, but they were easy to find of course. I hadn't read any of the reviews until I did a search just now and am glad to see others enjoyed it too. I had Breton Multigrain crackers and used them. Dh had two servings too.

[brownie12]

I didn't see any comments about how well this freezes, so I wanted to throw my 2 cents in. I have made this for years, and always try to make an extra one to freeze. It defrosts and bakes well, without any funny changes in texture or flavor. I make this one a lot to take to new parents, or someone who needs a dinner brought over, because kids love it, too.

[doggerham]

Thanks for the revival of that thread. This has been one of those unplanned, didn't-get-to-the-store kind of weeks, so I've relied heavily on the bb for quick, but yummy meals!

I made this, but doubled the mushrooms, which is pretty much SOP for me. I can see all sorts of easy possiblities. I don't normally keep RiceARoni or condensed cream of X soups around, but I can see why just having them on the shelf would be a nice thing.

Since there's just the two of us, I split this into two casseroles and froze one of them for future use. Thanks for the reassurance that this will work well. And doggone it, I just remembered that I left the leftovers I planned on for lunch at home! Oh well, since it IS Friday, maybe I'll splurge and go out for lunch.

Oh, and I used panko for the topping. I love how nice and crispy it gets!

[pschambers]

I missed this thread earlier. Thanks for the reviews! This sounds like dinner tonight as I am home with a sinus infection. Sound ssimple and I have the CL Complete book.

Patti

[newcook]

I made this casserole for supper tonight and thought it was really very tasty and really easy to make. I used fried rice flavoured Rice-a-Roni (it is not easy to find Rice-a-Roni around here) and Triscuits whole wheat crackers. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for posting the recipe.

[SueK]

This reminds me that I've made this before and it freezes wonderfully. I thought rice wouldn't freeze that well, but it did and it's a great casserole to have in the freezer for a quick meal.

[MaryH]

Because of this thread, I made this today and thought it was excellent. (I confess I am leery of anything that calls for Rice-a-Roni because I had such an aversion to it as a child.)

I made a couple of substitutions: used a can of corn instead of mushrooms and a can of cream of chicken soup because of the mushroom deletion. When I cooked the chiken I sprinked it with Penzey's Red & Black and minced garlic. Because of this I omitted the pepper. Finally, I subbed black sesame seeds as I did not have poppy seeds. This is very similar to one my mother used to make with a Ritz cracker topping. Definite repeater in this house.