Lemon Thyme Chicken Casserole
Chicken nestled in rice with a homemade, lemon thyme sauce. This Lemon Thyme Chicken Casserole is a unique, delicious twist on chicken and rice casserole.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 cups chicken broth NOT reduced sodium
- 1 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup lemon juice from ~2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon ground thyme
Chicken
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 4 cloves fresh minced garlic
- 1/4 cup shallot diced (~1 large shallot)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Rice
- 1 1/4 cup white rice
- zest 2 lemons
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme minced
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
Instructions
Soup
- In a medium sized sauce pan over low heat, whisk together all of the soup ingredients. Let simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened (will be the consistency of a creamed canned soup), about 15 minutes.
Chicken
- While soup is simmering, prepare chicken. Cut chicken in half horizontally, so that you have four pieces, ~1/2 inch in thickness. In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Once melted, add olive oil, garlic, and shallot. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, then set aside.
Rice and Assembly
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of a 3.5 quart baking dish (9x13 dish will work).
- Stir together cooked soup, rice, lemon zest, thyme, and chicken broth. Pour into prepared baking dish.
- Nestle chicken down into rice. Cover exposed areas of chicken with butter/shallow mixture. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove foil. Stir rice well (avoid touching the top of chicken). Bake for another 40-45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.