Do you ever get in a cooking rut? You know, where you feel like you’ve made every chicken recipe known to man and ground beef just sounds blah. This happens to me all the time. I go through my recipe binder not inspired by anything that I see. Instead of feeding my family the same old baked chicken breast (again) one of the ways I get out of my cooking ruts is to take a classic recipe, like your typical chicken and rice casserole, and change out a few ingredients to give it new life. And the best part? I can make dinner fast and easy using Minute Rice.
I’ve been eating Minute Rice forever. In fact, before I started to get serious about cooking, I didn’t realize there was any other type of rice out there! I remember making a bowl of Minute Rice in the microwave, added some butter, salt and pepper and eating that as my after school snack. As I’ve become a little more advanced with my cooking, I’ve discovered basmati, arborio and other types of rice but I always keep two boxes of Minute Rice in my pantry – white for me and brown for my daughter. She has always preferred brown rice and I’m glad. With all the health benefits (whole grains, high fiber, antioxidants, etc.) it’s great that she’s starting healthy eating habits early.
After browsing through the latest edition of the Food Network magazine, I came across a recipe that sounded intriguing. Chicken and rice casserole with dill havarti cheese and grated parmesan instead of the typical cheddar. Since I needed something I could make quick for weeknight meals, I decided to give it a try.
The first thing I did was chop of my veggies, the part that always seems to take my the most time. I then read through the recipe and discovered I was supposed to transfer my skillet to the oven to cook the rice. Well, there were two things wrong with this. One, I had no clue to what temperature my skillet was oven proof and two, I didn’t want to wait an additional 20 minutes for the rice to cook. When my family is ready to eat, we’re ready to eat! On a weeknight we don’t have 20 extra minutes to spare.
So instead, while I sauteed my veggies and combined all my ingredients, I put on a pot of Minute Rice and let it do it’s thing. The rice was done long before I was, saving me those precious 20 minutes of cooking time in the oven. When you need to make a quick meal, Minute Rice makes getting dinner on the table with ease.
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 green onions, white and green parts sliced, reserve one green onion
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups shredded chicken (grab rotisserie for extra quickness)
- 1 cup whole grain brown Minute Rice
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
- 1¼-1/2 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 cup dill havarti cheese
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- Cook 1 cup of Minute Rice brown rice in a saucepan using 1 cup of chicken broth.
- While the rice cooks, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add the green onions, broccoli and garlic. Stir occasionally and cook until broccoli has soften but still crisp.
- Add chicken, cooked rice, tomato and salt & pepper to taste. Stir to combine ingredients.
- In a bowl, whisk together ¼ cup chicken broth and the sour cream. Add to your skillet along with the cheeses.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and garnish with reserved green onions.
What is your go-to quick meal for weeknights? And no, ordering in doesn’t count! 
Minute® Rice is so quick and easy to prepare and is great pantry staple. When meal time seems like a hassle, Minute® Rice is a go-to ingredient your whole family will love and allows you to have more quality time doing what your want with your loved ones.
Leftover rotisserie chicken or veggies from a meal earlier in the week? Minute® Rice can easily be paired with some of your leftover ingredients to make a quick, easy and wholesome meal your whole family will love in just a matter of minutes.
Visit http://www.minuterice.com/ to create a great main meal or side dish for your next family get-together or potluck.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Rice.
About Sarah
Sarah is a healthcare administrator, mother of one spunky 6-year old daughter and a travel blogger living in Wichita, Kansas. Join her as she tackles life in the midwest one to-do list at a time.
This looks absolutely delicious! We love Minute rice! Totally pinning this so I could try it later in the week. Thank you.
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy it.
Yum! This looks so fresh and delicious!
YUM, we use rice a lot in our house – in Casseroles or as a side dish
I’m a busy working mom, so fast and easy sound good to me!!
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I have never tried to make a casserole before – but this looks super easy! Thank you.
Definitely a quicker way to get a wholesome meal onto the table. I also throw in veggies to make it an easy, everything in one dish, kinda meal!
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Mmm, that looks great and probably much faster than cooking rice.
Yay for the Print feature. Yay for a chicken recipe! I was just thinking the opposite. I am always looking for recipes and forgetting about the simple midwest meat & potatoes schtick. I need to get my veggies in – your recipe is a good way to incorporate them. Thanks for sharing!
I figured you’d like that print feature.
I think this would taste better with sun-dried tomatoes instead of a fresh one. Try and let me know what you think!
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Great recipe! I don’t have an oven safe skillet myself. Glad you found a way around it.
This looks so great!
This looks delicious and suddenly reminded me that I haven’t had broccoli in a very long time
I’m going to try it and leave out the chicken broth and the chicken,,, I’ll sub, more broccoli and veggie broth!
Yum! This looks so delicious. I am trying to cook more with brown rice.
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My kids would love this. They love anything that has extra cheese!
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This sounds delicious! I’m sure my son would love it.
First of all, yes! ground beef does sound bland! But this sound delicious. Pinning it so I can try it this weekend. Thanks!
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This looks really good! Can’t wait to try!