RECIPE | Healthy Broccoli, Chicken and Rice Casserole

I loooove broccoli and chicken casserole. It’s one of those meals that is a classic. It’s always delicious, it’s always comforting, and it always seems to hit the spot. I haven’t made one in a long time and was in the mood recently. However, since I’m really trying to be more intentional about the health and nutrition of the meals I make at home… I was trying to avoid making casserole with cream of or condensed soup or canned soup of any kind. Most of these casseroles have some kind of soup in them… and when I went to pull the Cream of Broccoli soup out of the cabinet I looked at the nutrition facts and almost fainted when I saw how much sodium was in there.

I know, I know, I’m falling prey to the “OMGERSH SODIUM IS THE DEVIL” stuff… but seriously. I just had no clue. Anyway. I was bound and determined to make a delicious casserole without all the bad stuff. So I found a couple recipes online and then just decided to try on my own and this is what came out. It ended up being REALLY delicious! And I can name every ingredient in it. Yes, it has a ton of cheese, but hey, I like cheese. If the cheese is the worst part about this recipe, then I’m dealing.

RECIPE | Healthy Broccoli, Chicken and Rice Casserole

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RECIPE | Healthy Broccoli, Chicken and Rice Casserole

A healthy recipe for the classic broccoli, chicken, and rice casserole - WITHOUT canned soup!

Course Main

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 6

Author Molly Stillman

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rice I used basmati, but you could use brown or white rice
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 cups boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups fat-free-milk I used Organic skim milk
• 1 16-oz package steam-in-bag broccoli florets
• 1 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• Mrs. Dash I used the onion and herb blend
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• ¾ cup Mexican style cheese blend

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. In a separate sauce pan, cook your rice and set aside
3. Heat your garlic and olive oil over medium heat on the stove top
4. Toss in your diced chicken and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash (or any preferred seasoning). I happen to love Mrs. Dash because all their blends are salt free!
5. Once chicken is 90% of the way cooked, sprinkle the flour over the chicken and coat - stirring constantly
6. Add in the broccoli, then the milk and bring to a boil
7. Once at a boil, add in the greek yogurt - don't let it boil for too long or the yogurt will curdle. Just make sure the yogurt is mixed in completely
8. In a pre-greased casserole dish, layer the rice on the bottom and then pour the chicken, broccoli, milk, yogurt mixture overtop of the rice
9. Top with the shredded cheese
10. Bake a 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until bubbly
11. Enjoy!

recipe heavily adapted from here.

What about you? Have you made any “skinny” or “healthy” recipes lately? Will you try this?