Chicken and Rice Casserole

This casserole is certainly nothing fancy but it’s one of Jimmy’s favorites.  The kids love it too.   I’ve made it for years and made a few changes along the way.  For one, I always use brown rice.  It’s healthier and we love the nutty taste.  This is a recipe that can easily be adjusted for the size casserole you need by either reducing or multiplying the ingredients.  I typically make a 9 x 13 size, but a smaller family could get by with the 8 x 8 size.  The ingredients below will make the 9 x 13 size.

I often cook chicken breasts on the weekends and either refrigerate or freeze if I am going to prepare something with chicken during the coming week.  It saves time and you’re that much closer to having dinner on the table.  I cooked this chicken on Sunday afternoon and refrigerated them, then assembled this casserole for dinner on Tuesday evening.

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1 onion, diced

2-3 stalks of celery, diced

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup slivered almonds

2 cups long grain brown rice (or white rice if you prefer), cooked, this will yield at least 4 cups of cooked rice

1/2 stick butter or margarine 

1-2 tubes of Ritz crackers, crushed

Directions:

Cook rice as package directs.

While rice is cooking, place diced onions and celery in a microwaveable bowl with 2 Tbls. butter and cook in microwave until they’re tender, 3-4 minutes.

Dice up the chicken.

When rice is done, place it in a large bowl along with the chicken.

Add cooked celery and onions, and almonds.  I also add some black pepper.

Add the cream of chicken soup.

Stir to combine, then spoon into a greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.  Place 1-2 sleeves of Ritz crackers in a large ziplock bag and crush (I always let one of the kids do this job)  Add the 1/2 stick or so of butter and mush all together in the bag to coat the crumbs with the butter. 

Sprinkle the crumbs over the top of the chicken and rice and spread evenly.

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until good and hot.