Sha Bang's Kitchen: Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole/Crack Casserole's Cousin

Have you met Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole? It's the slighty less trashy distant cousin of Crack Casserole. In fact, the base of this dish is exactly the same as the recipe for the hashbrown casserole that my friends and colleagues have affectionally nicknamed "Crack Casserole." If you're interested in meeting Crack Casserole click here.

All you needs for this dish:

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

sour cream

cheddar cheese (or any cheese you'd like to use)

left over white or brown rice

1 12oz. bag of frozen broccoli (you can use more or even fresh)

cooked chicken (I used rotisserie for this version, you can also use grilled or boiled)

seasoning salt

black pepper

This started out as a way to try and get the Indian guy in my life to eat broccoli....I think I succeeded, but I may have sacrificed the benefits of broccoli buy drowning it in , eh, well frankly speaking, FAT. BUT, the good news is, you can bump up the broccoli and not use as much cheese or sour cream or mushroom soup. You don't even have to use rice....I start out making this dish with the intent to not add rice, but then I think about how much I like the rice in this dish so I always end up putting it in. I tell myself that using brown rice makes it not as bad.

Begin by pouring 1 12oz bag of frozen broccoli in a bowl. I don't even defrost it. Usually I use 2 bags because I like broccoli, but then the Indian gives me this "look" as we're eating it so sometimes I concede and just use one. You can also feel free to use chopped fresh broccoli. Just remember that you will need to bake for longer to cook the broccoli. If using fresh, raw broccoli and you prefer your broccoli more al dente, then you don't have to bake for longer. Okay? Moving on.

I chose to use shredded rotisserie chicken that I had purchased at Costco. You can use grilled chicken or even boiled chicken. I've also just used chopped chicken and it also tastes good with ham. This dish is super forgiving so you can feel free to change things around.

I added my shredded, rotisserie chicken into the bowl. I used about 2 cups here.

Again, as much or as little as you want works just fine!

I added about 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese. I find using shredded cheese is easier.

You could just cube it if you only have block form.

I added seasoning salt and black pepper.

I grabbed one can of cream of mushroom soup. I just used the generic brand. It was cheaper. It works.

Then I added about 1/2 a cup of sour cream.

I added already cooked brown rice that I had in my fridge. I added about a cup to 2 cups. If you don't have cold rice, you can cook a fresh batch, but let it cool before adding it into your casserole. I don't know why but when using freshly cooked rice, the rice gets more mushy in the casserole than if you use cold, cooked rice. I think it's because hot fresh rice is pretty moist so cooking it in the mixture of soup and sour cream makes it bloat easier than with cold rice.

If using feshly cooked rice, and you just don't have the time or patience to wait for the rice to cool down, you can just bake the casserole without rice and spoon the cooked casserole OVER fresh rice. You can also eat this over pasta if you wanted.

That works too.

I grab a small glass casserole dish. This is a 9x13 sized pan. I like to use glass or ceramic.

Spread your casserole filling evenly into the pan and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. You just need to let the cheese and soups get hold and melted. You could even do 400 for 20 minutes if you're in a rush.