Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole with Ritz Cracker Topping

This creamy chicken and rice casserole with Ritz cracker topping is comfort food at its finest. Shredded chicken and rice are cooked in a creamy blend of cream soup and sour cream and topped with Ritz crackers that have been tossed with melted butter.  

Why You’ll Love This Chicken Casserole Recipe

• This recipe comes together so quickly it’s perfect for busy weeknights and much better than going through a drive-thru.
• It makes a great dish to take to family get-togethers, showers, or church potlucks.  (Be sure to double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13-inch baking dish.)
• The whole family is bound to love the creamy goodness and savory Ritz topping.

Everyone seems to have their own version of Ritz Chicken Casserole.  If you have gone to church suppers in the South, you are bound to have tried a version or three. This is good stuff.

My version can be made in a 9-inch square baking dish or in a 10-inch cast iron skillet and is great served with green beans or a garden salad on the side.

Let’s take a look at how to make this Ritz cracker chicken casserole.

How To Make Chicken and Rice Casserole

For this simple recipe, you need the following:

Equipment

• cast iron skillet or 9-inch baking dish

Casserole Ingredients

• 10.5 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup Minute Rice (uncooked rice)
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 2 cups chicken cooked and shredded
• 30 Ritz Crackers coarsely crushed
• ¼ cup butter melted

Start by preheating your oven to 350° Fahrenheit.  Spray a cast iron skillet or baking dish with cooking spray and set it aside.

Whisk together cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and chicken broth in a large mixing bowl.

Next, stir Minute Rice into soup mixture. Add diced onion and shredded chicken and mix to combine.

Pour the chicken and rice mixture into the prepared cast iron skillet (or baking dish). 

Toss crushed Ritz crackers with melted butter in a medium size bowl. Spoon over the casserole. Place the chicken casserole in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Like chicken? Me, too! Some of my favorite recipes are Massaman Curry with Chicken, Chicken and Dumplings, and Chicken Soup.

Recipe Notes

For the cream of chicken soup, feel free to substitute cream of mushroom.

Thirty Ritz crackers = 1 large sleeve. I have found that if I do it carefully, I can crush all of the crackers in the sleeve by pushing down firmly on them. I do it from the top and sides and flip the package over and do it again.

For the shredded chicken, you can use chicken that has already been cooked and diced or cut into strips. (Look for packages in the meat section at your local grocery store.)

Two medium chicken breasts shredded is approximately 2 cups.

You can also use rotisserie chicken if you prefer.

When it comes to using shredded chicken, I like to cook a large batch of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my Instant Pot.  Once they have cooked, I take them out, shred them, and freeze it in 2-cup portions.  Then when I want to make something like this casserole (or chicken nachos!), I take a bag out of the freezer and let it thaw out in the fridge a day or two in advance.

Have leftover rice sitting in your fridge?  You can use 2 cups of that in place of the 1 cup of Minute Rice and 1 cup of chicken broth.  However, the dish will not be quite as flavorful.

You can use either salted or unsalted butter in this recipe.

Don’t Forget To Come Back And Let Me Know How Your Chicken and Rice Casserole Turned Out!