Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
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A Little Personal History:

I love a great casserole and this chicken, broccoli, cheese and rice casserole is one of my favorites.

Description:

This casserole is medley of broccoli, rice, cheddar cheese, white sauce and cooked cubed chicken.

Category: Chicken, Casserole
Servings: 8 servings
Time: – Marinating:    4 hours (chicken)
– Preparation: 30 minutes
– Cooking:       40 minutes
Equipment: Cutting board and scissors or knifes, measuring cups and spoons, wooden spoon, steamer, grater, 2 holding plates, 4 small bowls, 2 medium bowl, large skillet, whisk, 12″x9″x3″ baking dish, plastic spatula, large serving spoon
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

  • 8 chicken breast halves, cubes
  • Buttermilk Marinade
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 cups Yellow Rice
  • 2 cups White Sauce
  • 1 package (10 oz.) frozen broccoli spears or fresh of same weight
  • ½ lemon; juiced
  • salt and pepper; to taste
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 3 cups Cheddar cheese; grated
  • ¼ cup sliced almonds (optional)

Procedure:

  1. Marinade chicken breasts for four hours.
  2. With scissors or knife, cut chicken breasts length-wise and then into bite sized cubes.
  3. Add oil to skillet, over medium heat. When hot, but not smoking, add cubed chicken and saute with wooden spoon till cooked through. Set aside on holding plate.
  4. Cook rice per directions and set aside in medium bowl.
  5. Prepare full order of white sauce per instructions. Set aside in medium bowl.
  6. Steam broccoli per package directions; drain well. Set aside on holding plate.
  7. Squeeze lemon juice into small bowl. Add salt & pepper to taste. Set aside.
  8. Measure sour cream, set aside in small bowl.
  9. Grate cheese and set aside in small bowl.
  10. Slide almonds and set aside in small bowl.
  11. In large skillet, over low heat, heat white sauce, whisking until it barely simmers.
  12. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice, salt & pepper. Fold in the sour cream and whisk till well blended. Set aside.
  13. Arrange broccoli in baking dish. Sprinkle with half the cheese; top with cubed chicken.
  14. Spread ½ of sauce over chicken and level surface with smooth spatula.
  15. Spoon or hand sprinkle cooked rice and smooth to level surface with spatula.
  16. Spread remaining sauce over rice and level surface with plastic spatula.
  17. Top with remaining cheese.
  18. Pre-heat oven to 400°F
  19. Bake dish for 40 minutes or until cheese begins to bubble and brown.
  20. During last 15 minutes of baking, top casserole with sliced almonds.
  21. Use spatula/large serving spoon to serve on individual plates.

Advanced Preparation:

  • Steps 1 – 5 can be in advance, refrigerated or frozen till ready to make dish.
  • Steps 6 – 10 can be done day of event, covered and refrigerated till ready to continue with preparation.
  • Steps 11-17 can be done in advance, sealed and refrigerated. When ready to bake, continue with Steps 18-19. While I haven’t tried it yet, you can probably freeze everything at this point. If you bake frozen, you may want to reduce heat to 350°F and increase baking time to 1 hour. If anyone tries this, let me know how it goes.
  • The entire dish can be prepared in advance, refrigerated and re-heated.

Tips, Notes, and Variations: