Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Do you think a delicious, quick, budget-friendly meal is impossible? Well, it’s not! This one dish Italian chicken and rice bake is here to save the day.
How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, a couple of hours to bake
Equipment you’ll need: 9 x 13 inch baking dish
Servings: 4
About this easy casserole
One Pan: This recipe only makes one pan dirty. Everything cooks together in the casserole dish – win!
Budget Friendly: We chose ingredients that are easy on your budget, something we all need these days!
Easy: Simply put all the ingredients (no need to cook the chicken first!) in a casserole dish, cover tightly with foil, and bake. It will take a couple of hours but it’s all hands off time, except for one stir in the middle of the baking time.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken: I use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts for two reasons. The first reason is because they are more budget-friendly. Secondly, this dish has to cook for quite awhile to make the rice tender. The chicken thighs don’t dry up like chicken breasts might.
Diced Tomatoes: Try diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano to keep the ingredient list nice and short — all the flavor you need is in the canned tomatoes. You can also use regular canned tomatoes and add dried basil and oregano, with a bit of garlic powder, to taste.
More One Pan Wonders
This casserole is similar in some ways to my healthy stuffed pepper casserole but it is a little easier to make. Another really easy one pan skillet dinner with rice is this one pan sausage and rice with sweet peppers.
Like the convenience of canned tomatoes?
Canned tomatoes are a treasure in your pantry. In most cooked recipes, like this Italian chicken and rice bake, you won’t be able to tell the difference between canned and fresh. Here are a few more recipes using convenient and tasty canned tomatoes:
- 10 soups and stews made with canned tomatoes
- Homemade pepperoni pizza Hot Pockets (only 4 ingredients)
- Restaurant style salsa
- Quinoa bowl with roasted tomatoes, ricotta, and balsamic (did you know you can roast canned tomatoes?)
One Dish Italian Chicken and Rice Bake
Ingredients
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup uncooked long grain brown rice
- 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano (see note)
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- fresh parsley for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, mix together onion, bell pepper, rice, and canned tomatoes (undrained). Stir to combine. Add chicken thighs, pushing them down into the tomato mixture.½ cup chopped yellow onion, chopped, 1 bell pepper, diced, ½ cup uncooked long grain brown rice, 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for one hour and 15 minutes.
- Uncover, stir, cover tightly again and bake for 30-50 more minutes or until rice is tender.
- Uncover, add cheese, and bake for 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Green bell peppers are typically the most budget-friendly option, but feel free to use your favorite color.
- You may also use white rice — this will decrease cooking time since it cooks faster than brown rice. Try to avoid short grain brown rice or you’ll find that the rice takes even longer to cook.
- If you are using plain canned tomatoes, add a ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried basil, and ½ teaspoon dried oregano.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I am making this for dinner tonight. I didn’t have chicken thighs so I diced up chicken breast instead. We will see how it is but it sounds really good and tomatoes are in most of my favorite meals. I love one pot easy meals!
I hope you loved it!