This cheesy French onion chicken and rice bake takes less than 10 minutes to prep and also has less than 10 ingredients! This decadent French onion chicken casserole is still one of my most popular recipes. It's a comforting and decadent mashup of French onion soup with roasted chicken!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr40 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken
Servings: 8Servings
Calories: 390kcal
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Ingredients
1 smallyellow onionthinly sliced
10.5ouncescan Campbell’s French Onion Soup
14.5ouncescan chicken or beef brothregular or low-sodium
1 ½cupslong grain rice rinsed and drained
¼ cupbuttercut into slices
2-2 ½poundsboneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs½-inch thick
1 ½ cupsshredded cheesemozzarella or an Italian cheese blend
1ounce packet Lipton Onion Soup mix
1cupFrench’s Crispy Fried Onions
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
To a 13”x9” baking dish, whisk together sliced onion, French onion soup, broth and rice.
Disperse butter on top followed by the chicken. Sprinkle the cheese and onion soup mix on top.
Cover tightly with foil and bake 1 hour 15 minutes.
Carefully remove the foil. Evenly distribute the fried onion pieces on top.
Bake an additional 15 minutes. Using a meat thermometer, ensure the chicken has reached a minimum internal temperature of 165°F.
Video
Notes
CROCKPOT VERSION CHANGES: 1. Lower the rice volume to 1 to 1 ¼ cups. Make sure to use rinsed long-grain white rice. Minute rice will be mushy. Other rice varieties might work, but I cannot speak to them. 2. Sprinkle the Lipton Onion Soup Mix before sprinkling on the cheese. 3. Cook covered securely with the lid on HIGH for 2-3 hours. As seen in the video, the liquid will completely absorb and rice will be tender but not mushy. Slow cooker times/temps can vary. Use your judgement on your cooking model. 4. Sprinkle the Crispy Fried Onions on once the cook-time is complete.
It is important that the pan is SECURELY covered with the foil. The steam must be captured in order for the rice to cook properly.
You can use homemade French onion soup rather than canned if you prefer.
There are a lot of flavors that come from the cheese, onion soup mix and French onion soup. However, you can season the chicken as you prefer.
Searing the chicken first 1-2 minutes per side in oil in a skillet over high heat is optional. The bake time should be about the same or 5-10 minutes less.
Swap chicken thighs for breasts if you prefer dark meat, just make sure the chicken comes to the right temperature at 165ºF at the end of baking. It's best if your chicken is ½-inch thick.
A homemade version of Lipton Onion Soup Mix can be used instead of store-bought. Simply combine 2 ½ tablespoons dried minced onion, 4 cubes regular or reduced sodium beef bouillon, crumbled, 1 teaspoon onion powder, ⅛ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper.
Adding the French Fried Onions at the end of baking keeps them crispy! Be sure to follow this step.