Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

As part of the Healthy Living Challenge I’ve been participating in I earn points for getting in my 3 servings of vegetables everyday. Because of this, I have been on the lookout for delicious recipes that will help me incorporate more vegetables into my diet (One can only shovel in so many raw baby carrots before you begin to turn orange…literally though…my mom used to eat them non stop and her skin turned orange. True story! ).

Since Broccoli has always been one of my favorite vegetables, when I happened upon a recipe for Chicken & Broccoli Casserole, I knew I had to give it a try. My mother in law makes something similar to this with turkey chunks, and I’ve always been a big fan of it. However, I wanted to mix things up a bit and come up with my own recipe.

I cannot take all the credit for this delicious Chicken & Broccoli Casserole though. I based this recipe off of a recipe I found on the food blog Slim Sanity.  I did make several important adaptations however to tweak it to my own liking (and partly due to convenience). In all honesty, the recipe on her website is most likely much healthier than my version, but I’m satisfied with the fact that my whole family was super impressed with how mine turned out.

Healthy Substitution Recommendations

If you would like to go the healthier route though there are a couple of adaptations you can make. You can substitute the sour cream with non-fat plain Greek yogurt, and/or reduce the amount of cheese you put in. I just could not bring myself to cut back on the cheese, because, well…let’s be honest…it’s the best part!

This Chicken & Broccoli Casserole was both delicious and filling, and let’s not forget that each serving provides at least 1 serving of vegetables.

Below, I included a picture of the type of rice I used in this recipe, because I’m sure there are many of you that are not aware that this rice even exists. It’s a super convenient way to go, however you could use any type of brown rice that you like (as long as it is pre-cooked).

I hope you enjoy this amazing chicken and rice casserole as much as we have!

For another delicious casserole recipe, try this delectable Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe!

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Author: Sugar n' Spice Gals

Recipe type: Casserole

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs raw broccoli (chopped in bite size pieces)
• 1.5 lbs cooked chicken breast (diced into bite size pieces)
• 2 cups Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice-whole grain brown (do not heat in microwave first. Just add straight from the bag)
• 1 cup sour cream (use Plain Greek yogurt for healthier alternative)
• ¼ cup unsweetened original almond milk
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 tsp lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, (drained and cut in small pieces)
• 1 cup shredded Pepper jack cheese
• 1 cup shredded mild cheddar
• ⅓ c Panko breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup Chicken broth (can substitute with water)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Prep Chicken by boiling chicken breast tenderloins in water (about 10-15 minutes)
3. While Chicken is boiling cut up broccoli florets into small bite size pieces and place in large casserole dish coated with cooking spray
4. In medium bowl whisk together sour cream, almond milk, and seasonings (garlic salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper, and corn starch)
5. Once this is blended well stir in diced water chestnuts, ⅔ cup cheddar cheese, and ⅔ cup pepperjack cheese
6. When chicken is cooked remove from water and cut into bite size pieces
7. Add chicken pieces to the broccoli in the casserole dish
8. Add cooked brown rice to the casserole dish as well, and then mix it
9. all together
10. Pour Sour cream mixture over the broccoli and chicken and mix so that it is evenly coated through out
11. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top (1/3 c. cheddar and ⅓ c pepperjack)
12. Sprinkle the panko breadcrumbs over the cheese to finish it off
13. Cover with foil and cook in oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes
14. Around 30 minutes remove foil and drizzle ¼ cup chicken broth evenly over casserole
15. Continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes (until broccoli is tender)
16. Allow to cool, and serve

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