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Table of Contents
- Is Wild Rice and Black Rice the Same Thing?
- Are Freezer Meals Safe?
- How Long do Freezer Meals Keep?
- Freezer Friendly Options
- Creamy Chicken with White and Wild Rice Casserole
- Copycat Milton’s Creamy Chicken with White and Wild Rice Casserole Recipe
- Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Cheesy Ham and Potato Bacon Casserole
- Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Teriyaki Chicken Casserole
Is Wild Rice and Black Rice the Same Thing?
Wild rice holds its long shape with cooking and has a nutty texture.
It is commonly mixed with other rices to create blends or mixed as an added ingredient to various dishes such as salads.
Black rice is from the rice family.
Historically grown in China, black rice is a short grain.
It’s a casserole much like my mom’s cheesy ground beef and rice casserole or her cheesy chicken and rice casserole that has taken over our site. We get more traffic for our casserole recipes than anything else. This one is more like the version you all have been waiting for as so many of you have asked for us to reinvent one of those casseroles into something new.
Making a casserole that’s an awesome make ahead freezer meal is not something I take lightly. When I was thinking about what to do Cade reminded me that we had always wanted to make a copycat of that Milton’s casserole because it would be just as easy to freeze our own, or even just make it fresh.
Are Freezer Meals Safe?
The United States Department of Agriculture says keeping food frozen at zero degree constantly will always be safe.
Only the quality suffers with lengthy freezer storage.
Freezing preserves food for extended periods because it prevents the growth of microorganisms that cause both food spoilage and foodborne illness.
How Long do Freezer Meals Keep?
The short answer is this: most food items will keep 3-6 months, if wrapped and stored properly.
We literally went to Costco, bought a bunch of these, read through every ingredient and tested until the thought of eating more casserole made me sick. We turned leftovers into soups, burrito fillings etc just to mix things up, but in the end, these are the ingredients listed on the package and this is the real copycat recipes. Ignore the others made with cheese, peppers etc.
You’ll start out with uncooked rice. UNCOOKED. That’s right. You didn’t misunderstand. We get so many questions about that casserole wondering if we made a mistake, but the rice really will cook in the liquid you add.
Next, make a homemade version of cream of mushroom soup. It takes about 5-8 minutes which isn’t bad at all.
We prefer to use a rotisserie chicken as it packs more flavor, but cooked chicken breasts will work too. The general rule is 350 for 30 minutes, or 6 minutes per side on stove top at medium high heat.
That’s really it. Season everything, stir the liquid, soup, rice (both white and wild and yes, we picked through a casserole to decide on ratios and it was not 50/50) chicken, and veggies. Cover with foil if you want, or just pop it in the oven to bake for, I know, 90 minutes. Sorry, that’s the long part. But while it’s baking you can go anywhere you want.
Freezer Friendly Options
To freeze this dish, you have a few options. You can partially bake the dish, allow to cool and wrap tightly with saran wrap then foil and freeze right in the pan. To bake, remove the coverings, bake for 1 hour.
Or, you can bake the whole thing, wrap in saran wrap then foil and then remove from freezer, remove saran wrap and just bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes when you’re ready to eat it.
read more: Looking for easy casserole recipes? Try our Baked Pork Chops with Cream of Mushroom Soup and Rice as well!
Creamy Chicken with White and Wild Rice Casserole
Copycat Milton’s Creamy Chicken with White and Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Clove Garlic, minced
- 1/4 Cup Onion, minced
- 1/2 Cup Celery, minced
- ½ Cup Mushrooms, minced
- ¼ Cup Flour
- 1 Cup Milk
- ½ Cup Chicken Broth
- 2 Cups Cooked Chicken, chopped *see note
- 1 1/4 Cup Peas, frozen
- 1 1/4 Cup Carrots, diced
- 2 Cups Water
- 2 Dashes Tabasco
- Salt and Pepper, to taste *see note
- 2/3 Cup White Rice
- 1/3 Cup Wild Rice
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the butter until melted, and then add the garlic, onion, celery, and mushrooms.3 Tablespoons Butter, 1 Clove Garlic, 1/4 Cup Onion, 1/2 Cup Celery, ½ Cup Mushrooms
- Stir occasionally for 1-2 minutes then quickly whisk in the flour.¼ Cup Flour
- Allow to cook for 30 seconds more.
- While whisking, add the milk and broth, continuing to whisk until it begins to simmer.1 Cup Milk, ½ Cup Chicken Broth
- Cook 2-3 minutes or until thickened.
- Spray an 8×9" baking dish with nonstick spray then add the chicken, veggies, water, sauce and rice.2 Cups Cooked Chicken, 1 1/4 Cup Peas, 1 1/4 Cup Carrots, 2 Cups Water, 2 Dashes Tabasco, 2/3 Cup White Rice, 1/3 Cup Wild Rice, Salt and Pepper
- Stir to combine, sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper and maybe a dash of paprika if you’d like and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until rice is tender.1 teaspoon Paprika, Salt and Pepper to taste
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Chicken and Rice Casserole
I didn’t like ground beef growing up so my sweet mom made a chicken and rice version of her famous cheesy ground beef and rice casserole just for me.
Cheesy Ham and Potato Bacon Casserole
Every year I try to think of a new way to make this awesome casserole, but it really is perfect just as it is.
Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole
Sometimes I want tacos but I don’t want to take the time to make each separate component so a casserole is the answer!
Teriyaki Chicken Casserole
The recipe that has been heard around the world, teriyaki chicken casserole and yes, it’s as good as it looks.
Can this be made with raw chicken?! And just popped in the oven?!
Hi Christina! In theory that should definitely work, though I have never tried it. If you try it, just make sure the chicken in cooked through before you dig in and start eating! You might also miss a little of the flavor that comes with using a rotisserie chicken or pre-cooking the chicken before adding it in.
I tried making this and was extremely disappointed. It tasted nothing like it and lacked flavor. It was very bland. I feel like it needed a cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup. Something was needed for more flavor and to make it less dry.
Hi Dion! It shouldn’t be bland at all with the onions, celery, and garlic in there and then if you salt and pepper to taste. I’m so sorry you were disappointed!
I had to cook it an hour and 50 minutes and some of the wild rice still wasn’t cooked. It came out very dry and not enough creamy texture. I think it would’ve been better with additional chicken broth or doubling the cream base.
Hi Ashley! I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out as expected! I haven’t ever had it come out dry, but adding more chicken broth should do the trick!
Tastes great, but needs to be tightly covered when baking, for best results. Also, step #7 references “additional broth”, but only 1/2 cup is listed in the ingredients, and that’s added in an earlier step. I added bullion to the 2 cups water to make broth, instead of adding plain water.
Thank you so much for the feedback Tena! I don’t know how that “additional broth” snuck in there, but it has been removed. Adding bouillon is a great idea to add more flavor! So glad you enjoyed it!
Two questions:
If I were to substitute a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup, which ingredients do we omit from your recipe?
Also, do you add the water or milk to the canned soup?
Thank you for all the work it must have taken to recreate this! I’ve been holding onto the carton label for years, literally, trying to find it again!
Hey Christine! Omit the garlic, onion, celery, mushrooms, milk and broth. All of those ingredients are used for basically making a cream of mushroom from scratch. So I would go with cream of mushroom soup, and you don’t need to add the water or milk to it. Enjoy!!
They have nailed this recipe! My 6 y/o loves the Milton’s Chicken and Rice, but our Costco is hit and miss on carrying it, so I took a chance. It was perfect! Thank you! For those reading, when it says season it with salt and pepper don’t skimp! We will be making again as well as putting some in the freezer.
Kris! You have made my day! So glad you love this as much as our family does!
I haven’t made it yet, but I’m excited to try it… I hope this is helpful though. When I first looked at the recipe, I thought it was weird because it seemed to be calling for 11/4 (eleven fourths) cup of peas and carrots… Then I realized that it’s actually 1 & 1/4 cup… there isn’t much of a space between the 2 ones. Above in the recipe, with the flour and chicken broth measurements, the fractions in those have small numbers above and below the fraction line. I know, it’s probably just me being dumb, but it might help if you modify the recipe to have all the fractions with the small (half sized) numbers above and below the fraction bar 😬
Thank you so much for the feedback Jani! I totally agree with you. Unfortunately the recipe cards are generated automatically. Enjoy this recipe!
I have a large amount of leftover cooked brown rice that I would love to try to use in this recipe, is there any way that’s possible? What adjustments would I need to make?
Hi Lucy, unfortunately the cream mixture cooks into the rice so I’m not sure it would work to use already cooked rice. However, our fried rice recipe uses leftover rice!
Hi! I am looking forward to trying this. A few questions… do you use minute rice or regular? Also could you use a can of cream of mushroom instead of making your own? And if so how much?
Hi Kami,
It’s just minute rice and you certainly can! Just use one can of cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup!
Hi Carrian! This looks so yummy. I have a couple questions for ya. Would it work with straight brown rice or would it have to cook longer since brown rice takes longer to cook anyway. Also, hubby is on a low sodium diet so I can’t use a lot of salt. Do you have any suggestions for other herbs and spices that I could use to season it?
Hi Carol!
We’ve definitely used brown rice and you’re right, it needs longer to cook and sometimes a little more liquid. If you want to skip the salt for the hubby I’d turn this into an Italian dish with Italian Seasoning. It will give great flavor and work really well with the veggies. 🙂
Have you ever tried to cook your Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice recipe in a slow cooker? Sounds like it might work if add the sauce at the end. What are your thoughts?
Hi Nathan,
We cook a similar rice recipe https://ohsweetbasil.com/slow-cooker-chicken-alfredo-rice-casserole-recipe/
You’ll basically follow the same instructions, but you would need to prep the veggies and sauce separately or use a can of cream of chicken soup instead of the sauce. 🙂