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Stovetop Creamy Chicken and Rice is a creamy, cheesy one-pan dinner with tender chicken, mushrooms, and rice, ready in just 30 minutes.
When I was growing up there were a few things that were staples in our house. Chicken and rice casserole was one of them. My mom would mix a can of cream of mushroom soup, milk, rice, and lots of poultry seasoning together. Top with chicken breasts and bake until everything was done. I loved the creamy mushroom rice in that dinner.
But today I am making it even better! Not only is there no canned soup involved, but it is ready in about 25 minutes on the stovetop, and all in just one pan! Plus real mushrooms are involved! There is still the milk to make it creamy and delicious.
Erin’s Notes
- One pan, 30 minutes – everything cooks together in a single skillet, so dinner (and cleanup) is fast.
- No canned soup – real mushrooms, broth, and a splash of milk or cream make it creamy from scratch.
- Family-friendly comfort food – it has all the nostalgia of a chicken and rice casserole without the oven time.
- Flexible – swap the chicken, the rice, or stir in extra veggies depending on what you have on hand.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken Breasts – cut into cubes so they cook quickly and evenly. Chicken thighs work great here too; I’ve made it both ways.
- Mushrooms – sliced button or cremini mushrooms both work well.
- Italian Seasoning & Poultry Seasoning – the poultry seasoning is what gives this dish that nostalgic, old-fashioned chicken and rice flavor.
- Chicken Broth – use low sodium if you want more control over the salt level.
- White Rice – uncooked long grain white rice is what I test this recipe with. See the Variations section below if you want to use brown rice.
- Milk or Heavy Cream – stirred in at the end for creaminess; heavy cream makes it a little richer.
- Parmesan Cheese – freshly grated melts more smoothly than the pre-shredded kind.
Stovetop Creamy Chicken and Rice
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into cubes
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1/2 cup whole milk, or heavy cream
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, and onion to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is starting to brown and veggies are soft.1 pound chicken breasts, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 onion, 8 oz mushrooms
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant3 cloves garlic
- Season with Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix well.2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 2 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Stir in chicken stock and rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the rice is cooked.2 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- Stir in milk and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.1/2 cup whole milk, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How To Make Creamy Chicken and Rice
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, and onion to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is starting to brown and veggies are soft.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until you can just start to smell it.
- Next season everything with the Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix well until the chicken is nicely coated.
- Stir in the chicken broth and the uncooked rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the rice is cooked.
- Once the rice is tender, stir in milk and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately with parsley or more cheese if deisred!
Recipe Variations
- Chicken thighs – boneless, skinless thighs work just as well as breasts; cut them into cubes the same way.
- Brown rice – you can swap in brown rice, but plan for a longer cook time and more liquid than the recipe calls for, since brown rice takes longer to become tender than white rice.
- Add vegetables – stir in spinach, peas, or small broccoli florets along with the rice and broth (or spinach at the very end) to sneak in more veggies. This is an easy way to clean out the crisper drawer.
Recipe Tips
- Cut the chicken into evenly sized cubes so it cooks through at the same rate and doesn’t dry out.
- Cook the chicken and veggies over medium-high heat rather than medium — this helps any released moisture cook off instead of steaming the chicken.
- Keep the lid on while the rice simmers so the liquid doesn’t evaporate too quickly before the rice is tender.
- Stir in the milk and Parmesan off the heat (or on very low heat) so the dairy doesn’t separate.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper at the very end — the Parmesan adds saltiness, so it’s easy to over-season if you salt too early.
What to Serve with Creamy Chicken & Rice
This really could be a complete meal all in one pan, but if you want to round it out with more veggies or side dishes, these pair well and are easy!
Storage & Reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave, adding a splash of milk or broth to loosen the rice back up, since it will thicken as it sits.
Freezing. Let the dish cool and then store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To thaw let it sit in the fridge overnight. Then you can reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave. You may need to add a little bit of cream to get the sauce to be the right consistency again.
Where has this been my whole life!!
YES! This is the perfect level of creamy!
This dinner is such a hit every time I make it. It’s perfect for dinner any night of the week and my kiddos always ask for seconds.
What a savory recipe! Adding this to my dinner line up for the week; looks too good to pass up!
We love this casserole! It’s totaly comfort food.
Fantastic! Just like I remember from my childhood,
without the dreaded canned sludge. I have a family of 6 so I tripled the recipe with some adjustments to liquids that I’ve learned over the years feeding so many! Thank you so much for your recipe. It’s DEFINITELY going into the rotation.
My family loved this, and it uses “on hand” ingredients! I love that it’s also gluten free and uses milk/cream to thicken! We all loved it as is, but for myself alone, I would use about 3/4 of the spices. Super recipe, going into rotation!
This was a delicious one pan meal – and no fussy, fancy ingredients! I loved the taste but I admit I LOVE the one pan concept even more, ’cause I’m a lazy girl. Will be making this again for sure. Currently it’s not among the dishes on your “One Pan Dinner Recipes” page, but I think it needs to go there!
As a side note, I normally don’t trust the water to rice ratios in one pot recipes, as I often find them lacking in the water needed to cook the rice. But this one was actually perfect. I converted it to metric for myself, and it came to 180g basmati rice and 600ml chicken broth.
My husband is not a rice eater. Can I adapt this and leave out the rice? Would I cut out the chicken broth or lessen it?
You would need to lessen it by quite a bit, because that is what the rice absorbs to cook.
Not sure what I did wrong but I just drained about 2 cups of water from the chicken & onion combo it just didn’t look right at all. Will proceed with the remainder recipe but not feeling hopeful with how it looks (white & bland) 🙁
After step 1 you had that much liquid? Chicken and onion both can have some moisture that they release while cooking, but should not have that much liquid. If you cooked them at medium high, they should have browned and any liquid would have boiled off as it was released. If you can give me more information about what you did, I am happy to help trouble shoot and see what went wrong.