Marry Me Chicken and Rice Casserole

This marry me chicken casserole takes the sun-dried tomato, parmesan, and cream sauce from the skillet version and bakes it with raw rice and boneless chicken thighs in one 9×13-inch dish, so the rice cooks in the sauce instead of being served under it.

There is no canned cream of chicken soup here, because hot broth, heavy cream, parmesan, and the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar give the rice everything it needs to come out creamy on its own.

Thighs are the cut to use, since they stay juicy through the hour the rice needs, where breast on top of a casserole dries out by the time the grains are tender.

Start to finish is about an hour and 25 minutes, with 10 minutes of that hands-on.

Why You’ll Love It

• Raw rice cooks in the same dish, no stovetop step
• No canned cream of chicken soup
• Boneless thighs stay juicy through the hour-long bake
• One 9×13-inch dish, 6 servings
• About 10 minutes of hands-on prep
• Leftovers reheat with a splash of broth and taste richer on day two

Ingredients

For the Rice Base

1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice (not instant), rinsed and drained

2 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, heated until steaming

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped, plus 1 tablespoon of the oil from the jar

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan, from a block

3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For the Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)

1 tablespoon oil from the sun-dried tomato jar

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the Top

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan, from a block

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C), grease a 9×13-inch ceramic baking dish, and heat the broth in a 4-cup glass measuring cup in the microwave until it steams, about 3 minutes.

2. Rinse the rice in a 8-inch fine mesh strainer under cold water until the water runs clear, which pulls off the surface starch that would otherwise turn the bottom of the dish gluey.

3. In the baking dish, whisk together the hot broth, cream, sun-dried tomatoes with their 1 tablespoon of oil, garlic, 1/2 cup parmesan, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

4. Stir in the rinsed rice and the spinach, which will look like far too much spinach until it wilts to almost nothing in the oven, and spread everything into an even layer.

5. Pat the thighs dry with paper towels, rub them with the remaining tablespoon of tomato oil, and season both sides with the smoked paprika, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

6. Lay the thighs on top of the rice in a single layer, pressing them down so they sit about halfway into the liquid.

7. Cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil, crimping it hard around the rim, because the trapped steam is what cooks the rice and any gap leaves crunchy grains at the edges.

8. Bake covered for 50 minutes without lifting the foil.

9. Uncover and check a few grains at the edge, and if they still have a hard center, add 1/4 cup of hot broth, re-cover, and bake 10 minutes more.

10. Once the rice is tender, sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan over the chicken and rice and bake uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cheese melts and an instant-read thermometer reads at least 165°F (74°C) in the thickest thigh.

11. Let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes, since the sauce thickens and the rice finishes absorbing as it sits, then scatter the basil over the top.

Helpful Tips & Substitutions

Heating the broth first is the step that decides whether the rice is done at 50 minutes, because cold liquid has to come up to temperature in the oven before the rice starts cooking and that adds 15 to 20 minutes and leaves the center behind.

If the rice is still crunchy when you uncover it, the foil seal leaked, and the fix is the 1/4 cup of hot broth and another 10 minutes covered, not a longer uncovered bake.

Use long-grain white rice or basmati, since instant rice turns to mush, brown rice needs about 2 hours and another cup of liquid, and arborio works but turns the dish into something closer to a baked risotto.

Chicken breast can be used if you cut it into 2-inch chunks and push them down into the rice so they are covered by liquid, then check at 45 minutes, because exposed breast dries out long before the rice is done.

A glass or ceramic dish runs 5 to 10 minutes slower than a metal pan, so if you use metal, check the rice at 40 minutes.

Grate the parmesan from a block with a microplane grater, since pre-shredded parmesan is coated in starch to stop clumping and it never melts smoothly into a sauce.

Half-and-half makes a thinner sauce that still works, but whole milk curdles against the acid in the sun-dried tomatoes, so do not go lower than half-and-half.

Frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry, works at 1/2 cup in place of the fresh, while kale does not soften enough in this cook time.

The sun-dried tomato oil is doing real work on the chicken, since it carries the tomato and herb flavor from the jar, so use it rather than plain olive oil.

Serving Ideas

Spoon the rice into shallow bowls, set a thigh on top, and finish with more basil and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Something green and sharp balances the cream, and Garlic Parmesan Green Beans can roast on a sheet pan below the casserole during the uncovered stage.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze work the same way, and the vinegar in the glaze cuts the richness.

If you want the same sun-dried tomato cream sauce on a weeknight without the hour in the oven, Marry Me Shrimp Pasta gets there in 25 minutes.

A squeeze of lemon over leftovers brightens the cream after a night in the fridge.

Make-Ahead & Storage

Do not assemble the full dish the night before, because rice that sits in liquid overnight absorbs it unevenly and the bottom layer bakes into paste.

Instead, season the chicken, chop the tomatoes, garlic, and spinach, and grate the parmesan up to 2 days ahead, and store them in separate containers so assembly takes 5 minutes.

Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days.

Reheat portions in the microwave with a tablespoon of broth, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes, or reheat the whole dish covered with foil at 350°F (175°C) for about 20 minutes.

To freeze, portion the cooled casserole into containers and keep for up to 3 months.

Thaw frozen portions overnight in the fridge, and expect the cream sauce to look slightly separated until it is fully hot and stirred, at which point it comes back together.

A whole baked casserole can be frozen in the dish once cooled, thawed overnight, and reheated covered at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, then uncovered for 10 to re-crisp the cheese.

The rice keeps drinking up the cream and tomato oil as it sits, so day-two leftovers are richer rather than drier, as long as you add that splash of broth when reheating.