Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

By msippigrl

Easy peasy recipe, just combine and bake! Serve with a green veggie for a complete meal.

Ingredients

• 2 (7 oz) boxes Long Grain and Wild Rice mix (I used Zatarain's*)
• 1 (10 1/2 oz) can cream of mushroom soup (I used 98% F.F.)
• 1 (10 1/2 oz) can cream of celery soup (I used 98% F.F.)
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Paprika
• 6 medium, skinless bone-in chicken thighs (can use skinless boneless chicken breasts halves)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 13x9" baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together both cans of soup, water, and black pepper until smooth. Stir in both boxes of rice* (see Note below first). Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan. Arrange chicken pieces on top then lightly sprinkle just the chicken pieces with paprika. Cover and seal pan tightly with aluminum foil.

Bake undisturbed for 2 1/2 hours. (Don't open the oven door or remove the foil during baking time). If desired, after it has finished cooking, remove foil and oven broil for 1-2 minutes just to add a little color to the top of the chicken.

NOTE:
*Zatarain's wild rice mix is a well seasoned product with the seasonings mixed in with the rice. (Some products may have a separate seasoning packet.) I was a bit concerned about the dish being over-seasoned with the cans of soup, so when I poured the rice into the bowl on top of the soup mixture, I removed 2 or 3 "clumps" of the seasoning before stirring it into the soup mixture. Worked out very well.