Everyone has their favorite “go-to” chicken and rice dish, and this is mine. It’s easy to make, and it’s delicious! The chicken bakes in a mixture of rice and soup, which makes it incredibly juicy and full of flavor. The rice absorbs the flavor as well, making it an awesome side dish that cooks at the same time as the main dish.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 cups uncooked rice (I used plain white rice, but you can use any kind – wild rice, brown rice, etc.)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 packages bone-in and skin-on chicken (I used legs and thighs because they are small. If you use bone-in chicken breasts, reduce to just 1 package or they will be too big to fit in the casserole dish.)
• butter
• lemon pepper

First, cook your rice, then mix the cooked rice with the two soups. The rice will continue to cook in the oven, so don’t boil it too long.

Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13×9 casserole dish. Spread the rice mixture in bottom of dish.

Place your chicken in an even layer on top of rice mixture, pressing the chicken down into the rice just a little bit.

Add a little pat of butter to the top of each chicken piece, then sprinkle lemon pepper on top. (I don’t add salt because the soups are pretty salty tasting.)

Now just cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.

The chicken will be so tender and juicy from cooking in the soups, and the rice will taste amazing from absorbing all the flavor from the chicken!

If your chicken doesn’t have good color when it’s finished cooking, just remove the foil and cook a few more minutes uncovered to brown the tops of the chicken pieces.

I’ve tried using boneless-skinless chicken in this dish, but it doesn’t taste nearly as good. The chicken was much less juicy, and the flavor was missing. But if you want to use boneless-skinless chicken, just reduce your baking time to about 45 minutes.

Thanks y’all!

   – Nikki