CHEESY POPPY SEED CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE

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Cheesy Poppy Seed Chicken and Rice Casserole image

One of my favorite dishes is Poppy Seed Chicken and I have a recipe here on JAP just for that. http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/chicken/poppy-seed-chicken-casserole.html?p=1 I also like serving Poppy Seed Chicken over rice. Today I combined the two and added cheese to come up with this casserole. Hope you enjoy as...

Provided by Diane Atherton

Categories     Casseroles

Time 2h5m

Number Of Ingredients 10

2 c brown rice, raw (or you can use whole grain white) just dont use minute
salt & pepper
16 oz marble jack cheese, shredded (cheddar would be a good choice as well)
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bit size pieces (i used 4 very lg chicken breast)
2 (10-oz) cans cream of chicken soup (non fat if you perfer)
1 c sour cream
2 1/2 to3 c chicken broth (can use stock or water)
1 tube ritz crackers, crushed (or similar off brand)
1 Tbsp poppy seed
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted

Steps:

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13-inch pan.
  • 2. Spread dry uncooked rice evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper if desired. NOTE 1: There is a lot of salt in both the cream of chicken soup and cheese so not much salt if any is needed. NOTE 2: White rice does not take as long to cook. You should reduce cooking time by 15 to 20 minutes if using white rice.
  • 3. Sprinkle 1/2 of the shredded cheese over rice; place chicken pieces on top of rice & cheese.
  • 4. Combine soup and sour cream; spread evenly over chicken.
  • 5. Pour chicken broth/stock or water over top. There will be a lot of liquid. Don't worry, the rice will soak up the liquid as it cooks.
  • 6. Bake in oven uncovered for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Remove from oven. Check to see if rice is tender; add more liquid IF needed. At this point the liqiud shoud be almost (but not completely) soaked up by rice with the top looking almost like a pudding or like the cream of chicken soup when you 1st spooned it over the chicken. NOTE: Remember if using white rice you will need to reduce cooking time by 15 to 20 minutes. Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice.
  • 7. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Combine the crushed crackers and poppy seed. I do this in a large ziploc bag. Sprinkle mixture evenly over top. Drizzle melted butter over crumbs.
  • 8. Return to oven (uncovered) and bake for 25 minutes longer. Remove from oven, cool for about 10 minutes and serve.

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