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Wild Rice Chicken Casserole with vegetables is a healthy, filling meal! Make it and serve to guests, or prepare as a meal prep dinner for the week.
HELLO, casserole of my dreams!
For those times you’re looking for a hearty, filling, yet clean meal, this casserole is a perfect fit! Packed with veggies, wild rice, chicken and a creamy cream-less sauce, the meal is flavorful and creamy, AND great for feeding a crowd.
It’s just so palate-pleasing and belly-satisfying!
The way I see it, this casserole is marvelous for the chilly fall and winter months. Getting cozy on the couch with a pile of delicious casserole in your favorite bowl, wearing your favorite stay-at-home sweater with a mug of tea steeping on the coffee table and a great book?
This is my idea of a wildly vivacious evening 😀
While this casserole does require a substantial time investment, I pinky promise it is well worth it. Plus, most of the time is bake time, which means you can easily multi-task as it bakes.
How about we bake it up?
How to Make Wild Rice Chicken Casserole:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the wild rice, onion, chopped carrots, celery and broth to a large casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake on the center rack of the preheated oven 1 hour and 15 minutes.
A few minutes before the rice has finished cooking, add the coconut milk, butter, flour, sea salt and garlic powder to a small saucepan.
Bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Whisk consistently until mixture has thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Once the veggies and rice have finished baking, remove the foil. Stir in the sauce and raw chopped chicken. Increase oven heat to 425 degrees F.
Place casserole back in the oven and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until casserole is bubbly and chicken is cooked through.
Top with chopped hazelnuts (optional) and chopped parsley.
Serve heaping portions and enjoy!
Recipe Adaptations:
- Add or swap out your favorite vegetables. Cauliflower, broccoli, and/or bell pepper would be great!
- Use brown rice instead of wild rice.
- Swap the butter for ghee or a non-dairy vegan butter spread to make the recipe completely dairy-free
- If you aren’t dairy-free, use 1 cup of whole milk, half & half, or heavy cream instead of coconut milk
- If you have leftover chicken or turkey, toss ‘er in instead of using raw chicken
Looking for more healthy casserole recipes? Try out these reader favorites!
More Healthy Casserole Recipes:
- Tuna Rice Casserole
- Zucchini Herb Sausage Breakfast Casserole
- Mushroom Bolognese Spaghetti Squash Casserole
- Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Creamy Cauliflower Casserole
Get wild with this chicken and rice casserole!
Wild Rice Chicken Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
- 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 5 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
- 4 Tbsp butter, or ghee
- 1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp sea salt, to taste
- 1 lb chicken breasts, chopped
- 2/3 cup hazelnuts, chopped, optional
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add the wild rice, onion, chopped carrots, celery and broth to a large casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake on the center rack of the preheated oven 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- A few minutes before the rice has finished cooking, add the coconut milk, butter, flour, sea salt and garlic powder to a small saucepan. Bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Whisk consistently until mixture has thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Once the veggies and rice have finished baking, remove the foil. Stir in the sauce and raw chopped chicken. Increase oven heat to 425 degrees F. Place casserole back in the oven and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until casserole is bubbly and chicken is cooked through.
- Top with chopped hazelnuts (optional) and chopped parsley.
- Serve heaping portions and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
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How would you adjust if you were using precooked chicken or turkey? Say leftovers- batch prepared- rotisserie ect.
Hi Allyson! I would chop up the leftover chicken or turkey and measure out 3 to 4 cups (you can adjust the amount to your personal taste/protein goals). Leave the baking time the same, because the wild rice needs quite a bit of time to cook. Let me know if you have any other questions!
This was delicious, I used homemade turkey broth, chicken thighs, and added mushrooms, I used Lundberg wild rice blend. It was a big hit. Thanks for sharing
Sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing, Colleen!
Step 2 calls for sea salt but none is listed under ingredients.
Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Jennie! I added salt to the ingredients list. I used to leave the measurement out because everyone’s preference for salt is so different. I generally specify to salt food to your personal taste. For this recipe, I use low-sodium chicken broth and about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of sea salt (I use the brand, Real Salt). For those who use iodized salt (regular table salt), I would suggest halving that amount to start out, as regular salt tastes much saltier than sea salt. Hope this helps!
If I am replacing the coconut milk with whole milk why 2 cups whole milk but only 1 cup coconut milk?
Hi Jennie! Thank you for catching that! I must have made an error, as it should be 1 cup of whole milk to replace the 1 cup of coconut milk. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, and I have fixed the post! xo
Would you bake at different temp or time for chicken thigh instead of breast?
Hi Allison! I would leave the time and temp the same for chicken thighs 🙂 Hope you enjoy! xo
I made this recipe last night and it was delicious. I am wondering how I can make it a freezer ready dish. Would I need to completely cook the dish then freeze it or could it be frozen after the addition of the raw chicken and cream mixture, then finish baking it later? Thank you for your recipe and your thoughts on making it a freezer dish.
Hi Ginger! I personally would prepare the whole recipe and then freeze it only because I would be paranoid about the chicken 🙂 It should reheat very well! Before reheating it, take it out of the freezer to bring it to room temperature. Then reheat at 350 for 30-40 minutes covered in foil. Happy cooking!
I was asked to make a housewarming/new baby dinner for a neighbor. Gluten fee, no onions, mushrooms, or garlic. Added thyme, red peppers. Then broccoli at the end of the first baking. Added thyme, Dijon, and sherry to the roux for the missing onion and garlic flavor. Raves on this recipe!
I’m thrilled to hear it, Doug! I love the idea of adding bell pepper, so I’ll have to do that the next time I make the casserole. Thanks so much for the feedback! xo
Hi Doug, Any idea how much thyme, Dijon, and sherry you added?
This isn’t a gluten-free recipe if it contains flour. Flour contains gluten. Either the recipe needs to be adjusted by using a different thickener, or you need to delete the gluten-free in the recipe (title). It’s not always an easy swap out of the flour for a GF flour mixture, or to use cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
My apologies – your recipe does say GF flour – I read the instructions rather than the ingredients. Sorry! But it looks like others have had difficulty with the sauce being too thin. I’m hesitant to try it because of that.
For what it’s worth, I used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour and it thickened up beautifully!
Ghee is clarified butter and NOT dairy free. It’s lactose free
Thanks a bunch for the input 🙂