Dairy Free Chicken and Rice Casserole
Dairy free chicken rice casserole is made with no soup and is so simple! Ready in under 30 minutes, this healthy casserole is made with leftover chicken and leftover rice for a super simple weeknight meal.
Servings 4
Calories 598kcal
Cost $11.85 Recipe/$2.96 Serving
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion (yellow or white) $0.33
- 1 pound broccoli florets, chopped $1.65
- 3 cups shredded chicken (made from 1 pound chicken) $5.65
- 2.5 cups cooked jasmine rice (or basmati rice) $0.40
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt $0.03
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth $0.25
Creamy Casserole Sauce
- 1/4 cup cashews, soaked $0.47
- 1 can white beans, rinsed and drained $0.99
- 1 cup vegetable broth $1.00
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos $0.18
- 1 tbsp. italian seasoning $0.30
- 1.5 teaspoon sea salt $0.08
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder $0.10
Almond Flour Breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp. almond flour $0.27
- 1 teaspoons avocado oil $0.11
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt $0.01
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. $0.03
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Start an electric kettle to boil water for soaking the cashews. Once the water is boiling, pour it over the cashews.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Chop the onions and chop the broccoli florets down into bite size pieces.
- Once the skillet is hot, spray it with extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil then add the onions. Cook 2-3 minutes.
- After 2-3 minutes, stir in the broccoli florets and cook 4-5 minutes.
- Once the broccoli is bright green, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir well. Then add the shredded chicken, rice and 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water. Stir well and put a lid over the skillet.
- Rinse and drain the white beans and drain the cashews from the soaking liquid.
- Add the white beans, cashews, vegetable broth (1 cup), coconut aminos, Italian seasoning, salt and garlic powder in a high speed blender. Blend on high about 1 minute until thick and creamy.
- Remove the lid from the skillet and pour the sauce over the broccoli, rice and chicken. Stir well then flatten the ingredients down in the skillet.
- In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, avocado oil, salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole dish.
- Bake in a 425F oven for 10 minutes. Immediately turn on the broiler and broil 3 minutes.
Notes
Top tips
- Prep ahead to cut down on total time. Cut the onions and chop the broccoli florets down ahead of time so you can quickly get started on your casserole. Prep the chicken and rice ahead of time.
- Be sure to soak your cashews, even if you have a powerful blender. Soaking cashews allows the cashews to easily blend into a creamy sauce. There are many ways to soak cashews, pick your favorite way!
- Utilize the grocery store if you didn’t prep ahead! You can buy rotisserie chicken, minute rice and broccoli florets from the grocery store to help you get this dairy free broccoli chicken casserole on the table quickly!
- Freeze the casserole for later. Need a simple meal later this week or month? Assemble the entire dish in a freezer safe baking dish. You can use the single serve foil casserole dishes to make this easy! Once you are ready for dinner, place the frozen casserole covered into a 350F oven for 50-60 minutes until hot. At the end, turn the broiler on and broil the top for 2-3 minutes.
- Want to make this dairy free chicken casserole Whole30 or low carb friendly? Replace the rice with cauliflower rice (cook the cauliflower rice 5-6 minutes in a separate skillet before adding it to the other ingredients) and replace the beans with ¾ cup of cashews.
- Hemp hearts – no soaking required. Use them 1:1 for cashews in this recipe.
- Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds – Use raw or roasted shelled sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds in place of the cashews. These will need to be soaked just like the cashews.
- Tahini – Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds. You can use 3 tablespoons of tahini in place of the cashews (no soaking needed).
- Sunflower seed flour – simply put roasted sunflower seeds in a high speed blender or food processor and make a flour out of them. You can store leftovers in the freezer for up to 6 months. You can also buy this online if you don’t want to make it on your own.
- Crushed crackers – use your favorite gluten free crackers instead. Simply put the crackers in a food processor and process them until they are a fine powder.
- Gluten free breadcrumbs – if you have a favorite gluten free breadcrumb, you can use that in place of the almond flour.
- Fridge: Store leftovers in the fridge up to 3 days. Remember that chicken can only be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days total so if you are using leftover chicken take that into account.
- Freezer: Freeze leftovers in single serve portions for up to 3 months. I like using Soupercubes for portioning out single servings for freezing. You can also use your favorite freezer safe bag/container. Once frozen, be sure to label the container with the name, date and use by date.
- Reheating from frozen: Since the casserole has already been cooked, you just need to warm it through.
- Oven - cook in a 375F oven, covered for 15-20 minutes until hot and reheated through. Be sure to use an oven safe container ( you can even cook single servings in the Soupercubes (up to 415F)).
- Microwave - microwave on high for 3-4 minutes until hot.
Nutrition
Calories: 598kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 20g | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 5g
