One-pan no peek chicken and rice is sure to become a favorite family meal! Wild rice, soup, and chicken are combined in a single baking dish then baked to creamy chicken and rice perfection!
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I’ve seen a few variations on the one-pan no peek chicken and rice but this is definitely one of my favorite no peek chicken recipes for two main reasons.
One, all the ingredients are mixed and baked in the same 9×13-inch baking dish, which means minimal dishes to clean (especially if you serve the no peek chicken on paper plates). And two, it is loaded—and I mean loaded—with rich, hearty flavor.
The old version of this one-pan creamy chicken and rice dish recipe found in my ginormous recipe binder had plain ol’ white rice. And while that might be something my kids prefer, sometimes you’ve gotta ignore what the kids want and make something you like.
It’s a way to encourage their taste buds to mature, right?
This one-pan chicken recipe uses five chicken breasts, so it easily feeds a family of six, especially if the chicken breasts are solid pieces of poultry. We found a half chicken breast plus a solid helping of wild rice was plenty per person.
You could also try using chicken tenders if you’re in a bit of a hurry. Using smaller pieces of chicken when making this no peek chicken recipe would make for a shorter bake time so perhaps try cutting it down by 20 to 30 minutes.
If you pair this chicken dish with an easy salad like this super easy salad recipe and some light and fluffy one-hour dinner rolls, you could easily serve 10 people!
If the flavor is a bit too mushroomy, use a can of cream of chicken soup instead or try doubling the cream of celery. You could also use only one packet of onion soup mix and this no peek chicken will still be delicious, trust me.
A little on the salty side? Try using reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup. Or cut back the onion soup packets to just one or half a packet.
Some of my readers have even used panko bread crumbs or french fried onions instead and said it was just as yummy!
If you end up with leftover chicken, I bet you could dice it and throw it in this creamy chicken and rice soup. In fact, I’m going to have to try that next time!
And of course I’ll be serving it with my famous best ever dinner rolls (not to be confused with the aforementioned one-hour dinner rolls).
One-Pan No Peek Chicken & Rice
Ingredients
- 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 boxes Zatarain's Long Grain & Wild Rice Mix, (7 oz each)
- 1 can cream of celery soup, (10.25 oz each)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup, (10.25 oz each)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/4 can water, (soup can)
- 1 box Lipton Onion Soup Mix, (2 packets)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine rice mix, cream of celery soup, cream of mushroom soup, garlic powder, and water in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Mix well.
- Place chicken evenly on top of rice mixture. Sprinkle with onion soup mix. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 1 hour 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes.
- Note: DON'T open the oven to peek at the chicken and for sure DON'T remove the foil!
Notes
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 440 Total Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 1g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 3g Cholesterol: 50mg Sodium: 3409mg Carbohydrates: 69g Fiber: 3g Sugar: 2g Protein: 25g
vanessa
this was delicious, easy to make, and smelled delicious while cooking! hard to not peek!! i swapped cream of chicken soup in place of the mushroom. i used thin cut chicken, but after thinking about it, a standard cut of chicken breast would probably be even better.
Emily Hill
I am so very glad you liked it! That makes me so happy!
Joanne
Says 6 servings but recipe only uses 5 chicken breasts.
Emily Hill
Most chicken breasts are fairly large and so a full chicken breast is more than a single serving. With our family, you can get at least six servings when using five good-size chicken breasts. You may even be able to get more if you use half a chicken breast as a serving. :)
Alyssa
Super easy, and makes a great dish to take to a new mom!
Emily Hill
I didn’t think about it being a great dish for taking to families. You’re so right!
Grandma
I’m making dinners for my son and daughter for after their baby is born. Can this be frozen unbaked and cooked later? Or should I cook first and then freeze so they can warm it up later?
Emily Hill
I’ve never frozen it pre-cooked so I’m not sure. You could totally freeze it after cooking for easy reheating, though!
Chris
Can’t beat chicken & rice and your version looks absolutely delicious!!
Emily Hill
It’s delicious AND easy!
Heidy
I am a huge fan of chicken and rice, so this would be a perfect recipe for me. Adding to my menu and pinning!
Emily Hill
I hope you like it! We thought it was so good!
Diana
Love this casserole made with organic cream soups. Really easy and flavorful!
Emily Hill
So easy and so flavorful. Definitely a keeper!
Morgan
I bet it’s hard not to peek when you know it’s going to be so delicious. Looks great!
Emily Hill
Especially when it makes the entire house smell good!
Julie
Such a beautiful fall infused dish!
Emily Hill
Thank you! It’s delicious too!
Kim - Today's Creative Life
This is one of my favorite comfort foods!
Emily Hill
I love hot, one-pan chicken dishes like this in winter!
Anna
The name of this dish makes me giggle! So fun! This chicken is bound to be a hit!
Emily Hill
Sometimes you need that little reminder not to peek!
mary
Anyone notice the sodium per serving????????? Amount Per Serving:CALORIES: 440……. SODIUM: 3409mg
Emily Hill
Yes, it’s quite high in sodium due to the rice mix and the soup mix. Those both have quite a bit of sodium due to the flavor packets. You could get low-sodium condensed soup to help with that. And you could also serve smaller portions.
Jaclyn
I bought Uncle Bens Long grain and wild rice mix- do I use the flavor packet from the box or just the rice itself?
Emily Hill
This is best made with plain white rice, but if you try the Uncle Ben’s, leave out the seasoning packet. Let me know how it turns out!
Rebecca
I’m confused… your recipe calls for a long grain and wild rice mix, but here you say it is best with plain white rice? Did you revise the recipe? And…do you use the flavor packet with the Zatarain’s?
Emily Hill
Someone asked what to do if they couldn’t find the Zatarain’s or needed to cut down on the sodium, so I suggested plain white or brown rice. I still prefer the Zatarain’s, and yes, you use the flavor packet. :)
Rebecca
Thank you!! That totally makes sense. I’ve made this before with plain rice and found it overly mushy, I think a wild rice would be better. I’ll give it another try. You have a lot of great recipes here, looking forward to browsing more!
Emily Hill
You are so nice! Thank you! I hope the second try works out! If you like easy chicken recipes, my artichoke chicken is really yummy too! :)
Charis
I found that they don’t sell Zatarain’s Long grain & Wild rice.mix here in Minnesota. Did find Uncle Ben’s. Long grain and wild rice mix. When I saw that the rice mix called for 2 1/4 c. of water and not knowing until I went searching on line. I add a full 2 c. of water. FYI to all the direction for Uncle Ben’s is the same as Zatarain’s. I did think it the rice looked a little dry. in the very good pictures. I cooked it for a little over 2 hrs and it came out just the right amount of moisture for us. Thank you.
Emily Hill
I’m glad you were able to find a substitute for the Zatarain’s. Others have used the Uncle Ben’s and said it turned out well. Glad you liked it!
Sharon
I’ve made it with Uncle Ben’s and used the flavor packet! It was delicious!
Emily Hill
Good to know there are other options for the boxed rice. Thank you!
Fallon
I have such a hard time not checking the temp of the meat. Does this really bake for 1 hour and 45? Will the chicken be over cooked? I’m going to make this today.
Emily Hill
I’ve had other people question the amount of baking time but it really does take that long. If you use chicken tenders, it might take less time. If you want to check it around 45 minutes, you can do so but it does let out a lot of the contained heat under the foil. Maybe just lift a small corner? No one has said the chicken has been overcooked, but feel free to test it!
Jordan
Could I do cream of cheese or cream of chicken in place of the cream of celery? Sounds so good!
Emily Hill
I haven’t tried the cream of cheese soup but you could totally use cream of chicken or double the cream of mushroom if you’d like!
Mike johnson
Can I use just plain brown rice?
Emily Hill
I haven’t tried that but it might work! There will be less seasonings since the boxed rice mix has seasonings in it, but there should be plenty of flavor in the soups and onion soup mix. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Bethany
Do you think this recipe would work in a crock pot?
Emily Hill
I haven’t tried it that way. Perhaps do a little research to see if you can find slow cooker recipes with similar ingredients?
Sandra
I would also like to know if it can be use in the crock pot. Can dirt rice work?
Emily Hill
I haven’t tried it in the crock pot but you could perhaps research and see if there are any crock pot recipes that sound similar. I haven’t tried it with the Dirty Rice mix from Zatarain’s, but I have usd that rice mix when making burritos with chicken, so I bet it’s still good!
Kris
Onions are not a liked ingredient in this household…..any thoughts on what would be good to use in place of the dry onion soup mix???
Emily Hill
You could bake it without the onion soup mix and see how it goes. Someone else suggested those crispy fried onions like you put on green bean casseroles, but that probably wouldn’t work for your family either. Hmmm… I wonder if you could try some seasoned bread crumbs? Sorry I’m not more helpful!
Kris
Didn’t think about seasoned crumbs…have a box of seasoned panko in the cupboard. will have to try this next weekend. I do something similar with stove top dressing and pork chops and it is a fabulous layered dish.
Emily Hill
Seasoned panko would be good I think! Let me know how it goes!
Marnielou
You could still use the dry onion soup mix but put it in a hand-held sieve and shake over the chicken. Flavor goes on it but the onions stay in the sieve!
Emily Hill
This is genius!
Sharon Rustad
Maybe you could try crunched up potato chips, corn flakes with butter drizzled over it.
Emily Hill
Those are both great suggestions!
Suzanne
It’s fine without it. I made this the other day without and it was delicious.
Emily Hill
Good to know. Thank you for the comment!
Hailee Schaaf
good substitute for the onion soup mix might be a cornflake and butter mixture. ❤
Emily Hill
That’s a great idea!
KeKe
Try Lipton Vegetable soup mix, maybe.
Emily Hill
That could be yummy!
Pj
No one likes onion in my house either and no one detected it at all
Sue
How could I make this low carb, diabetic friendly?
Emily Hill
I’m not really sure since it has all the rice. Someone did suggest using riced cauliflower instead of the boxed rice mix. Maybe try that?
Jo
Possibly parmesan cheese in place of onion soup mix
Emily Hill
That sounds yummy!
Tisa
Is it ok to use frozen chicken?
Emily Hill
I have never tried frozen chicken. I imagine you could but I assume it will take longer to cook.
Lauren
If I cut the recipe in half and only use 3 chicken breast, do I still cook it for 1 hr and 45 min?
Emily Hill
I really don’t know since I’ve never halved it. Perhaps check around an hour?
zoe
I’m going to half this recipe and cook it in a 9×9 but I’m not sure how long to bake it for doing it this way. I know it’s still going to take around an hour I’m just not sure how much time I should shave off… if any. Thought?
Emily Hill
Wish I could tell you. I’ve never halved the recipe. I would for sure check around an hour.
KeKe
Do you think the cooking time would change much if I used boneless skinless chicken thighs?
Emily Hill
I wish I knew but I haven’t tried that yet. They are usually smaller cuts of meat so you could maybe check around 1 hr 15 min instead of the full 1 hr 45 min. I wish I could tell you. Sorry!
Sarah
I used two boxes of Rice a Roni, flavor packets included; swapped celery for chicken soup; used three huge chicken breasts. It looks beautiful! However, the rice came out extremely salty.
Emily Hill
Sorry it was so salty! Did you use one or two packets of onion soup mix? You could always cut back to one or even half a packet to cut down on the saltiness. Using low-sodium soups helps too! If you use the Rice-a-Roni again, maybe try adding just one of the flavor packets?
Annemarie
How much cauliflower rice would be equivalent? Would love to try with that. Do you thaw and cook before putting in recipe?
Thanks!
Emily Hill
I honestly have no idea since I’ve never used cauliflower rice. Perhaps try to find a similar recipe by googling and see if that can give you a better idea? Sorry I’m not more help!
Bonnie
It’s in the oven now, I question only one and 1/4 cans of water but I’m trusting you and am following the recipe…..I’m excited to try it.
Emily Hill
I only now saw your comment. I hope it worked out!
R Kinonen
I just made this casserole for supper tonight and its so salty that I’m going to have to figure out how to tone down the saltiness before I can serve it to anyone. If it weren’t for that I know it would taste great. I followed the recipe and didn’t use any additional ingredients or seasonings so don’t know why it tastes so salty.
Emily Hill
The rice mix and the onion soup mix are heavily seasoned. If it’s too salty, try using low-sodium soups and cutting back the onion soup mix to one packet or even half a packet. That should help!
Jim
Thoughts on subbing a can of Cheddar Cheese soup for the cream of mushroom?
Emily Hill
I know someone else suggested it but I’m not sure how it turned out. I think it could be good!
Denise
If I make this using chicken tenders instead of whole breasts, any idea what the cook time would be?
Emily Hill
I don’t know as I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it will cook slightly faster. It still takes a while because the chicken is being cooked more by steaming than baking since there’s no direct heat an a lot of liquid. Maybe check it around 1 hr 15 min instead of the 1 hr 45 min? Sorry I’m not more help!
Harmony
Can you change this recipe to be gluten free? Sounds so yummy if possible. I have celiac disease
Emily Hill
I’m not very familiar with gluten-free products. I assume you can if you use gluten-free condensed soups and make sure both the boxed rice mix and onion soup mix are gluten free.
Katie
Super bummed. I made this tonight, followed the recipe exactly, and my chicken came out super dry :( I wish I would’ve checked it
Emily Hill
Oh no! I’ve had a few here and there say the chicken was dry. Does your oven cook at a slightly higher temperature? And did you add the water? If you used a different cut of chicken (e.g., chicken tenders or something smaller than a chicken breast), it would definitely cook faster. Sorry it didn’t turn out!
Alex
You say you your old recipe called for white rice, do you know how much rice it said to use? I can’t seem to find the long grain and wild rice you recommended.
Emily Hill
I don’t have an old recipe but I have mentioned others have tried this with plain rice. One box of Zatarain’s has about 1 cup of dry rice, so I’d go with about two cups since the recipe calls for two boxes. You can also use another brand of long grain & wild rice such as Uncle Ben’s if you can find that!
Alex
I was referring to when you said “The old version of this one-pan creamy chicken and rice dish recipe found in my ginormous recipe binder had plain ol’ white rice.”
Thanks for the uncle Ben’s tip, I believe I did see that when I was looking!
Emily Hill
You’re right! I totally forgot I had an older recipe somewhere. Sorry!
Laurie Becker
Wondering if anyone has tried plain wild rice instead of the boxed?
Emily Hill
I believe a few have tried it (per the comments on Facebook) and it seemed to have turned out just fine. It also cuts down on the sodium since there aren’t any seasonings with the plain wild rice. But there’s still plenty of flavor with the soups!
Terrie Cox
I have made this dish twice now and the family loves it. I used 1 packet of soup mix and one small bag of french fried onions on top. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Emily Hill
Yay! I’m so glad they liked it! I’m totally trying your topping next time. I love the idea of cutting back the soup mix and using a small bag of those fried onions. Sounds delish!
Alex
Just out of curiosity, when cookie rice in the oven, why is it necessary to add the cream of soup?
Emily Hill
For this recipe, it’s part of the overall creaminess.
PJ
My experience:
I could not find Zatarain either. I used the rice a roni wild mix 3 boxes (only 2 pouches of flavor), 1 1/2 cans of water, chicken tenders (frozen so I didn’t shorten the cook time) and only 1 pouch of onion mix and everything else as the recipe states. It was soo good, but still uncomfortably salty. The chicken was nice n moist but the rice cooked dry and a few grains here and there were still crunchy. Next time I will likely use only one rice flavor packet or add an additional box of just the rice, definitely 2 cans of water, and still only one soup powder and see how that goes. I have 2 picky guys and they both liked it despite it being salty, will make again!
Emily Hill
Sorry it was salty but I’m glad the family still enjoyed it! I love that you’re going to try it again. :)
Nicolette
Has anyone ever added broccoli florets to this? Sounds good!
Emily Hill
I’ve heard a few others mention trying it but I haven’t yet. I think I will next time. It sounds so good!
Danielle
I was about to ask that same question! I’m trying it now with broccoli florets! Hopefully it turns out!
Emily Hill
Please let me know! I’d love to try it next time!
Julie McWhirter
It says you could use chicken tenders but to reduce the cook time “by 20 min to 30” that would make the normal cook time 50 min. However, in the recipe, it says normal cook time is 1hr 50 min. Need to know how long to cook for chicken tenders?
Emily Hill
I thought I’d replied but somehow the comment went missing! You’re right–reducing the cook time by 20 – 30 minutes would make it more like 1 hr 30 minutes. (I was going from memory and obviously that didn’t work!) I wish I knew how long to cook it with chicken tenders. Maybe try 1 hr 20 min and check it?
Kara N.
I made this once with breasts. The flavor was great! However the chicken was dry. I used cream o chick and celery and aldi brand long grain and wild rice less the seasoning packets. Tonight I plan to make it again but with bone in thighs (skinless). I’m a little leary on cook time so any suggestions would be helpful!
Emily Hill
I would say I’ve had about 1 out of every 10 tell me their chicken was dry so I’m not sure why that happens. Did you use smaller chicken breasts, add all the liquid, and keep it covered tightly the entire time? Or perhaps your oven may cook hot (mine does!)? I would totally try bone-in thighs and see if that helps. Or if you use breasts again, maybe cut the cook time back by 15 minutes. Sorry it didn’t work out! :(
Alex
Has anyone made this with pork chops? That’s what I have on hand for dinner tonight so I’d love to try it with them, just wondering how long to cook for?
Emily Hill
I wish I could help! Maybe someone else has tried it and will be able to answer your question. So sorry!
Angela Curry
I made this and used three boxes of uncle Ben’s with two packets of seasoning. One can of reduced sodium cream of mushroom, one can reduced sodium cream of celery, and one can of cream of chicken (only because of three boxes of rice) and two cans of water. I also omitted the garlic powder because it brings out salt, used a little bit of lemon juice because it tones out salt ( I didn’t measure sorry but you don’t taste it I would say 1/4 teaspoon) . I used one packet of Lipton onion soup, added fresh broccoli florets and also used frenched fried onions and it was AMAZING. Even my very picky kid loved it and asked me to add this to our regular menu. Thank you and everyone’s comments for the inspiration.
Emily Hill
Oh my! I am drooling over your tweaks! That sounds delish!!!
Angela Curry
It was very good! I am very happy I found your site I will be using more of your recipes, thank you again.
Emily Hill
You’ve made my day. Thank you!
CJ Colbert
Can you post the nutrition? I need to know how much sodium is in it. Thanks
Emily Hill
It’s at the bottom of the recipe card below the “notes” section. And it’s very high in sodium but you can cut that down by using plain white or brown rice, low-sodium soup, and only one or half a packet of onion soup mix. You can also leave out the onion soup mix and try panko bread crumbs or fried onion strings as others have suggested. :)