Joy the Baker

Evelyn’s Chicken and Rice Casserole

by 142 Comments

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Here’s some things to avoid doing on Christmas morning.

Don’t haphazardly put the casserole your aunt made  in a bag.

Don’t drive that casserole across town.

Don’t carry that casserole into a home with tile floors.

Don’t accidentally drop the stupid bag with the broken handle on the tile floor.

If you do that… everything will break.

If you drop the casserole and break the dish  you’ll surely have to throw everything away… no one wants to eat glass.

If you throw every broken thing away, you’ll make your aunt cry.

Don’t make your aunt cry on Christmas.  That would be totally stupid.  Do Not Do That.

And if you do… make your aunt a new casserole.  Duh.

Sigh.

This is my Aunt Judy’s Mom’s old school casserole recipe

Old school casseroles have like… four ingredients in them…. with potato chips on top.   They’re delicious.  It’s weird.

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Rotisserie chicken and rice with creamy soup and a few veggies. It tastes like dinner.  Dinner tastes delicious.

This recipe makes two casseroles.  I think it’s classy to make one for yourself and take one to a friend.  I dunno…. maybe I’m weird.

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Incidentally, if you’re upset with me for all of the savory recipes… well… make yourself some Fruity Banana Bread.

I’m in charge here.

Evelyn’s Chicken and Rice Casserole

makes 2 8-inch casseroles

Print this Recipe!

2 cups cooked white rice

2 cups diced celery

1/4 cup diced onions

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 rotisserie chicken

1 15-ounce can cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

3/4 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup crushed potato chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Cook rice and place in a large bowl.

Saute celery and onions with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until onions are cooked and browned.  Place mixture in a large bowl with the rice.

Stip meat from rotisserie chicken and place in the bowl.  Add cream of mushroom soup, mayonnaise, a few pinches of salt and a few turns of fresh ground pepper.  Stir well to incorporate all of the ingredients.  Spoon mixture into two 8-inch baking dishes and top with slivered almonds and crushed potato chips.  Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour.

If you’d like, you can freeze an unbaked casserole in the casserole dish.  When ready to bake, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, top with almonds and crushed potato chips and bake.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. dawglvr

    Hi, I love reading all of the comments, and ideas. However, want to pass along something that I heard on Dr. OZ about those rotissire chickens. I have bought them on occasion, but my family really only eats breast meat, so I usually just boil up a few, and freeze the broth for later. Anyway, not really gross, but that the grocery stores use the almost expired chickens to cook on the rotissire…to keep the stock rotated. FYI….

    Reply

  5. Kelley

    I am eating a Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie, after having a Brown Butter Blueberry Muffin this morning, and preparing Evelyn’s Chicken Casserole. I just all of a sudden realized I needed to tell you this.

    Reply

  6. Alyx

    I made this casserole with my sister last Sunday and it was delicious! I’m thinking of trying a tuna variation this week because I’m trying to use up the ingredients in my pantry… this could get interesting. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  7. Theadora

    Holy Heck Lady! I have an impossibly picky eater of a husband AND we’re rediculously busy during the week so I cook all of our meals through Thursday on Sunday. MAN this was our Tuesday this week and not only was it easy to whip up (I made just one halving your recipie and using two boiled chicken breast instead of the creepy rotisery chicken from the store) but it was delicious!!! Even the Hubby agreed!! Thank you for making my week easier and tastier!

    Reply

    • penandra

      Oh! Brown rice would be delightful in this . . . since the rice is pre-cooked, it wouldn’t matter whether it was white or brown — hmmmmm, now I’m thinking quinoa! Oh, wait! It’s an old-school casserole . . . it’s not supposed to be healthy!

      Reply

  11. Sara Tea

    Old school old lady casseroles are where it’s at. I specifically seek out church lady cook books specifically for these kinds of gems. I get wild and add flavored potato chips, oh daaang!

    Reply

  13. Lisa

    I made this last night for my family and they loved it. Slight variations – I didn’t measure anything very closely (except can of soup), added half-n-half to give it more moisture, and put it all in a 9×13 pan for about an hour and 15 minutes. Everyone in my family of four had seconds, including the super-picky 16-year old (a miracle).

    I always have leftover rice from the rice cooker – this is an excellent way to use it up, and I usually have the other ingredients on hand. I wish I could add broccoli, peas or other veggies to this dish, but that would ensure my other family members would not eat it!

    Reply

  16. kristy

    Karen above mentioned adding curry to this. I totally second that, plus some broccoli. Delish! My hubby and I love casseroles, but our kiddos haven’t quite bought into them yet. Maybe potato chips will do the trick!

    Reply

  17. michelle

    I made this tonight for dinner. I used low fat sour cream and cream of chicken soup. I also skipped the celery, all of this because of super picky, quite annoying 14 year old. Nonetheless it was a hit! so easy and served with veggies and a salad.

    Reply

  18. wendy

    I LOVE the savory recipes. I also love casseroles… blame my midwestern gene pool, but seriously, casseroles are one of my love languages.

    Reply

  20. Melissa

    A simpler version of one of my absolute favorite dishes: Hot Chicken Salad. Basically, your recipe above (maybe less mayo?), with water chestnuts and hardboiled egg thrown in. We top ours with cornflakes and almonds that have been stirred with butter. Mmmmmmmmm….

    AND I noticed someone said 2 8-inch casseroles would be too much…I can put this type of casserole away like no other! (Not saying one SHOULD, just saying that I could eat an entire 8-inch casserole dish full of this by myself.)

    Now I’m wondering if I can make a Weight Watchers friendly version of the above :)

    Reply

  23. Nicole @ The Dirty Oven

    So, now I read your blog out lould because if someone in my house is listening they laugh!
    Hmmmm casseroles scare me a bit, but it looks good. Mayo scares me even more so probably not going to try this….But love your green casserole dish! Love it.
    Happy New Year :)

    Reply

  24. Bailey Benoit

    Oh gosh.. I had something happen to me a few years ago.. a dish I bought from Ikea, baking dish, broke literally in my hand and nearly nipped off my thumb.. been there.. now I’m super nervous handling bake ware which are ceramic… Happy New Year!

    Reply

  25. Deb in Indiana

    I’ll try this soon; it looks delicious, and it is a variation on my Aunt Bea’s Sausage Casserole, that we often have for family get-togethers.

    Fry up a pound of sausage instead of the chicken, use 2 cans cream of chicken soup, no mayo, and add 2 big cans of sliced mushrooms, undrained — otherwise all the same.

    Such good basic food, and it can be frozen in serving sizes if you have any leftovers.

    Reply

  26. shari

    Mmmmmm…….mayo. I love this recipe, and I love rotisserie chicken. But, I’m wondering….does anyone else cook their rotisserie chicken a little longer when they get it home? I’ve never heard this mentioned and am wondering if I’m the only person that does it. It always seems to be a little bloody when the leg and breast are separated. I buy them at 3 or 4 different places, and the problem is always the same. Am I just paranoid?

    Reply

    • Emily

      You’re not paranoid; I think it’s a good idea. Or maybe we’re both paranoid. And I’m paranoid also because the plastic containers with rotisserie chickens in them sitting under the heat lights make me nervous. Melted plastic fumes with your chicken? I usually just roast one or two at home. Easy, cheaper, etc. Buy extras and freeze ’em when the good ones are on sale. :-)

      Reply

  28. Alena

    Just throwing this out there – if you ever find yourself out of potato chips but just happen to have cheeze-its, they are sooo tasty crumbled on casseroles. Um, not that I’ve ever tried such a thing…

    Reply

  29. Eliz

    I believe all cooks are secret klutz’s. Sure we can run up and down stairs with 3-gallons of ice as another chef is running up with 3 gallons of hot soup (sans lid) and not spill anything yet, put us in a nice dress, in a nice occasion with a dish to carry from the car to the kitchen in a secured bag and we’re all thumbs.

    Also, I believe all great recipes come from Aunt’s named Judy or Evelyn. Cannot wait to make this! And that Chicken looks loverly!

    Reply

    • Deb in Indiana

      Judy or Evelyn? Well, maybe, but all my cousins and I agree, our AUNT BEA was a great cook.

      Come on, don’t you just have to trust Aunt Bea?

      Reply

      • Jen

        Aunt Beas are AWESOME. My husband has an Aunt Bea and I adore her! She’s technically not his aunt, but more of a grandfather’s cousins or somthing like that. Anyhow, she used to make us fudge when we’d visit and she turns 99 years old tomorrow. Aunt Bea rocks.

        Reply

  30. Amy T

    I know what we are having for dinner tomorrow night! This sounds delish, quick and easy, three things I like when I’m busy ;-)

    Reply

  31. Lisanne

    Does homemade mayo have the same bake-in-a-casserole properties as store-bought mayo? I’ve not tried baking with homemade mayo yet. I’m on a boycott of store-bought mayo for various reasons. None of which I can remember right now. lol You ever make your own mayo? I think I’d rather churn butter. Mayo is difficult! It requires a h u g e amount of self-control. (maybe it’s just me) You get to the “wow it’s really thick and kind of stiff and I think it just might be perfect” part of the whipping and you have to do all in your power to hold back from adding too much oil at once and ruining the whole lot.

    What was it again? Oh, yeah. Casseroles! Anyone use homemade mayo in a casserole? By the way, potato chips on top of creamy casserole = win. If my next batch of mayo is perfect then I might go on a casserole baking binge for the week. I’ve never been a huge fan of soup in casseroles, but this rotisserie chicken ingredient rather than chicken breasts makes this one sound like a potential winner. Maybe it was never the soup’s fault, but the chicken! And I am sure your aunt still wubbles you even if you had a mishap! Aunts are just awesome that way.

    Reply

  34. Karen

    This is very similar to a dish that a friend used to bring to holiday pot luck dinners but she added curry to lend an ethnic nod to the casserole. Perfect for a pre-diet binge! Keep the savory coming for a bit longer- my belly is smothering my waistband.

    Reply

  39. Jen

    I need the savory. Seriously. If I eat anymore of your chewy ginger molasses cookies or make another bactch cream cheese cinnamon rolls this week, (yeah, I said this week) my pants are not going to fit!

    Reply

    • MrsDragon

      Ditto this. I love sweet treats. LOVE. But I just can’t look at another cookie this week. So I’ll be baking bread instead! And making soup and raviolis. I’ll be back to cookies soon–once the sugar rush subsides.

      Reply

  40. Kate

    Mmmmmm… reminds me of my favorite childhood Tuna Wiggle Casserole recipe. Sometimes I just love me some bomb-diggity soul food!

    Reply

  41. Judy

    Joy,
    thanks for posting my Mom’s recipe. I think she would approve of the potato chips instead of cornflakes (original recipe) :-) And I don’t think they had rotisserie chicken “back then” but it certainly works. It’s always a favorite of mine and this was our traditional Christmas Eve dinner during my high school and college years, so I’m so glad we made it this year. Thanks again for making the duplicate casserole – we really enjoyed it last night. Yum!!
    Love ya,
    Aunt Judy

    Reply

  42. Jessica @ bake me away!

    Of all the meat I miss the most, it’s chicken. It’s even higher up than bacon, if you can believe it. If I ever went back to being omnivorous, this would be at the top of my list. Actually, I still eat fish, so I bet tuna would make a good sub.

    Reply

  43. Erika

    Yummy! I love gooey casseroles like this. I have enjoyed seeing the savory dishes :)

    Did Kitty get some of that rotisserie chicken??!?!

    Reply

  44. Bonnie@WhatAboutPie

    You poor thing! Oh my gosh! I would have been….I don’t know…in disbelief, upset, mad, freaked, sad. Your poor aunt…I can’t believe she cried. Was the casserole dish that broke as beautiful as that green one? I really hope not….cause that would make it even worse….cause casserole dishes are prized posessions! This recipe looks very tastey and I would like to try it for sure!

    Reply

  45. sheila @ Elements

    Sorry about you dropping your aunt’s casserole, but hey…now it means the whole world can enjoy her casserole since you shared the recipe. :)

    I’ve never heard of a chicken casserole with almonds and potato chips. Sounds awesome though! :)

    Reply

  46. Darcie

    Love the savory! I definitely need more savory, less sugar right now. I might want to make a casserole if I had a dish like that. Soo cute!

    Reply

  47. Karena

    Love, love all the savory stuff!

    Is there anything you can substitute for the cream of mushroom and mayo to make this healthier?

    Reply

  48. tracy

    i brought a pot big ole pot of soup to my friend’s house a few years ago- i put it in a whole foods shopping bag and like 3 feet before her front door, it fell out of the bottom of the bag. Broke my le creuset pot & spilled the soup everywhere on the street. Of course it was the MAIN course of her dinner and OF COURSE i had to buy special ingredients so that my non meat eating friend could eat it. We ordered pizza. Sad story.

    Reply

  50. Tanya

    I love casseroles. They are so easy, delicious, and satisifying. And on top, chips, crackers, or even corn flakes! Old school for sure!

    Reply

  51. lisa

    hi joy…this looks delish…especially with the chips. do you think it would taste as good with brown rice or is that not the point of the whole dish? :)

    Reply

  53. Sarah

    This savory-ness I dig. I DID make banana bread… your cranberry one. It was dope, its no longer with us. I feel like that Julia chick from the Julia Childs movie where Julia Childs says she hatse her :( Maybe I haven’t given egg salad a fair chance.

    Reply

    • joythebaker

      are you kidding me!? nobody hates you! in fact, im downright crazy about you because you come here every day and bake things. that’s just about the best thing ever. ps. it’s totally ok if you hate egg salad… and it’s totally ok if you give me a hard time about making egg salad. all is well!

      Reply

  55. Jessica L

    Mmmm this sounds amazing. Technically you bake a casserole, so it is still befitting your title as Joy the Baker. Don’t feel bad about writing savory at all!

    P.S. I don’t know if you mentioned it before but please tell me where you got that amazing green casserole pan/dish! Please?!

    Reply

  58. Nina T.

    So awesome that you posted this today!!! I have some left over turkey I was trying to figure out what to use it for…..definitely gonna try this!
    So sorry your aunt cried…..they do that….part of the “guilt factor” for the old school gals :P

    @Kadie….LOL! Michigan people do that “hot dish” thing too! The funeral hot dish is so yummy!

    Reply

  61. Kadie

    Is your aunt Judy’s mom from Minnesota? ‘Cuz this is totally a Minnesota “hot dish” (that’s Minnesotan for casserole). We love a hot dish that is affectionately called “Funeral Hot Dish” which has hamburger, green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and (for a taste of the exotic) some soy sauce in the mixture – with crunchy chow mein noodles on top. It’s pretty tasty (and really is served at many funerals here in Lutheran Land).

    If you like the retro-y casseroles, you should look up the cookbook “Church Basement Ladies” or something like that. It’s hilarious and full of old school “hot dish” recipes – plus an entire chapter devoted to the wondrous, all-purpose nature of Jell-O (MN potluck tables are a virtual rainbow of jell-o creations!).

    Reply

      • Kadie

        Well here’s the (no longer) top-secret “Funeral Hot Dish” recipe, which I just copied from a non-copyrighted, put-together cookbook from my workplace. The recipe is “Funeral Hot Dish” as its title. No joke! I don’t like the funeral part of it, either, but the hot dish is pretty yummy!

        1-1/2 lb. hamburger, browned & drained
        1 onion, chopped
        1 c. celery, chopped
        1 can chicken rice soup
        2 cans cream of mushroom soup
        1 can green beans (or whatever veggie you want)
        2 Tbsp soy sauce
        2 c. chow mein noodles

        Mix together all ingredients with 1 c. chow mein noodles. Add to lightly greased (or, as my grandma would prefer, buttered!) casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cover with remaining chow mein noodles before serving.

        Enjoy!

        Reply

  65. Rebecca in STL

    New Year’s is all about the savory! My mom used to make us eat black eyed peas, cabbage, and hog jaw bacon on the first day of the year for good luck. This looks much better.

    Reply

  67. Annie

    Yum! We call this “Hot Chicken Salad” at our house. Twenty-plus years ago my mother wrote this recipe down in twin binders (along with all of our other favorite childhood food traditions) and gave them to me and my brother’s wife for Christmas. Some things never taste as good as we remember mom making them, but this casserole never fails to disappoint, and the binder with the family recipes might be splotched with batter droplets and tomato sauce, but it will always be a treasure. Thanks for posting this!

    Reply

  68. Trevor

    Oh dear!!!! I wanna take a random jab and say you spoke from experience. I’m sorry you made your aunt cry, it would be awkward to see my aunt cry. The recipe definitely would be easy enough to make here! Almonds are the only things… a pound of any good nut here costs $20-$30… does that sound right even in the States?

    Reply

  69. Suz

    Yeah, crisps on the casserole! I haven’t had that in ages.

    I totally get the aversion to sweets right now. I keep looking at my chocolate brownies and going ‘None for me!’ Something’s very wrong. I suppose it’s all the Christmas excess, but I’d still eat a whole plate of roast potatoes if they were plonked down in front of me.

    Reply

  74. Candice @ Notes from ABroad

    I am sorry you had the little casserole accident but how lovely for us that it inspired you to share the recipe.
    I rarely make casseroles but it just so happens that I discovered, in the Imported Foods section at the market, Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup, among the other Campbells soups. I grabbed them with nothing more in mind than just having some real canned soup “from home” .
    Now I can actually eat it ! This sounds so easy, the ingredients are all here .. (this is such a big deal , you cannot imagine) .. Potato chips on top sounds good .. salty crunch .. I will have M&Ms for dessert lol.

    Reply

  77. nancy k.

    My mother used to make recipes like this one all the time. when I was growing up. They taste great but these days I flinch at the amount of fat per serving so I always try to figure out how to adapt for less overall fat content. I wonder if low fat sour cream or Greek yogurt could be substituted for the mayo or at least part of it? I hate fat free mayo so that is not an option. As for those chips, those have to stay and Cape Cad Chips makes a really good reduced fat product.
    Thanks Joy…I am looking forward to your eventual return to sweet stuff. Your creativity and recipes are great.

    Reply

  78. keren

    a cream of mushroom soup?
    what is that?

    i don’t think it exists in israel…
    can i replace it with something else that would work as well?

    thanks,
    keren

    Reply

  79. Meg H.

    Instead of potato chips, try the Durkee’s Fried Onions. MMMmmm. I love a good casserole – makes me think of winter, and warm, comforting foods. And Mom.

    Reply

  82. Tonya

    This dish reminds me of the recipes of yesteryear that I cook from time to time. The are very old fashioned and made with lots of nurture and love. That’s why they taste so good. The ingredients in your family’s recipe makes me think of my old Mickey Mouse Cookbook’s recipe for tuna moodle casserole. At first you think may think yuck, but, when I make it, it’s total comfort and yummy. The magic of mayo and a can of cream of mushroom soup!

    Reply

  84. Colleen

    So often, I see recipes that call for store-bought rotisserie chicken, and I feel distraught. The rest of the civilized world must have access to better quality birds because I know darn well that what we have locally is Not Very Good. Do you have any specific recommendations on where to buy a better rotisserie chicken? Because I would really like to try this recipe, but would hate to ruin it with the chicken I have access to!

    Reply

    • Debbie Elias

      I agree – what can we use to substitute? I’m currently in France & the rotisserie chickens here are, well, a bit anorexic looking – just not so meaty. It’s a hit or miss….usually a miss. Maybe some poached chicken?

      Reply

        • Kristina Mortensen

          Do you know about how much chicken it would be? I have home-canned chicken breasts that I’ve been looking for recipes to use but I don’t know how many pints of chicken breast would make up a whole chicken. When I buy a rotisserie chicken that’s what we have for dinner. I’ve never just stripped all the meat off to use in a recipe.

          Reply

  85. annie

    I love this recipe! My grandma makes it frequently and the potato chips on top are classic. Thank you for the recipe and keep up the savory treats!

    Reply

  87. LimeCake

    It’s amazing how something like chicken and rice is so universal. Every culture seems to have its own delicious version. Savory recipes sound darned good right now!

    Reply

  90. Elle

    Your celery flower is so beautiful!
    I wish we could get decent celery in my part of the world.

    Since I ate for breakfast what’s left of the chocolate pie I made for my sister’s going away party yesterday (can’t say no to sweet baked goods, that’s me) I’m all for savory dishes now.

    you go girl!

    Reply

  91. Shannon

    Haha, I’m glad I’m not the only one sick of all the savoury. More sweets, Joy!!

    I’ve never had potato chips on a casserole, but I think this could be a winner.

    Reply

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