Smothered Chicken and Rice
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small amount from qualifying purchases.
Hello! Last night I knocked it out of the park with this recipe! I was so proud of how it turned out. When your daughter dances in her chair after every bite you know you’ve struck recipe gold.
This is a very simple recipe. Nothing fancy required. You’ve probably got everything you need for it right in your pantry. I used chicken tenderloins, but chicken breasts would work just as well. Feel free to change up the cheeses you use as well, although the combination of cheddar and Monterey Jack that I used was delicious!
I love to marinate my chicken to add a little boost of flavor. I didn’t marinate these though, because I honestly didn’t know what I was going to make until about 2 hours before I was going to cook. I decided to just season them and hope for the best. Guess what happened? My Man and The Girl Child both asked if they were marinated. The chicken was so flavorful that they both assumed I had used a marinade!
This dish checked off so many boxes for me… easy to prepare, packed with flavor, comfort food, filling, easily accessible ingredients and everyone loved it. I decided that I had to share it with you!
Here’s what you’ll need;
1 1/2 – 2 lbs chicken tenderloins
6 slices of bacon (broken into small pieces)
2 family size bags* of Success Rice (cooked)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
1 medium red onion (thinly sliced into half rings)
3/4 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
6 TBSP butter
4 tsp minced garlic (divided)
2 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic pepper
1 tsp dried minced onion
Salt and pepper to taste
*2 family sized bags of Success Rice makes approximately 3 cups of cooked rice.
Ok. Let’s do this!
Preheat oven to 375 °
Lightly grease a 9 × 13 inch casserole dish (I spray mine with Pam).
Cook your bacon in a large skillet. I use this 12 inch cast iron by Lodge. Set aside on paper towel to drain.
Place your chicken tenderloins in the skillet with the bacon grease and add about 2 TBSP butter and 2 tsp minced garlic. Season tenders with seasoned salt, garlic pepper and onion powder.
Cook tenderloins for 2 – 3 minutes, just long enough to get a slight golden color. (I cook mine in 2 batches so I don’t crowd the pan.) Flip them over and season as before. The goal here is not to completely cook them. They will finish cooking in the oven. You just want to get a little color on them and add flavor to them. Repeat for 2nd batch.
Remove chicken tenderloins and set aside.
Add remaining butter to skillet and saute onions until soft.
Place cooked rice in the bottom of prepared casserole dish.
Lay chicken tenders on top of rice.
Top chicken tenders with sauteed onions.
Combine soup, milk, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp minced onion and salt and pepper to taste.
Pour soup mixture over chicken and rice.
Place in oven and cook for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes add bacon and cheese to casserole and place back in oven to cook for 5 – 10 minutes more, until cheese is melted.
I am really proud of this recipe and I think you will love it!
You can follow me on Facebook @This Country Girl’s Life and on Instagram @thiscountrygrl. I’m also on Pinterest @This Country Girl’s Life.
Thanks for stopping by!
Smothered Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 – 2 lbs chicken tenderloins
- 6 slices of bacon broken into small pieces
- 2 family size bags* of Success Rice cooked
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 1/4 cup milk I use 2%
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced into half rings
- 3/4 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 6 TBSP butter
- 4 tsp minced garlic divided
- 2 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic pepper
- 1 tsp dried minced onion
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 °
- Lightly grease a 9 × 13 inch casserole dish (I spray mine with Pam).
- Cook your bacon in a large skillet. Set aside on paper towel to drain.
- Place your chicken tenderloins in the skillet with the bacon grease and add about 2 TBSP butter and 2 tsp minced garlic. Season tenders with seasoned salt, garlic pepper and onion powder.
- Cook tenderloins for 2 – 3 minutes, just long enough to get a slight golden color. (I cook mine in 2 batches so I don’t crowd the pan.) Flip them over and season as before. The goal here is not to completely cook them. They will finish cooking in the oven. You just want to get a little color on them and add flavor to them. Repeat for 2nd batch.
- Remove chicken tenderloins and set aside.
- Add remaining butter to skillet and saute onions until soft.
- Place cooked rice in the bottom of prepared casserole dish.
- Lay chicken tenders on top of rice.
- Top chicken tenders with sauteed onions.
- Combine soup, milk, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp minced onion and salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour soup mixture over chicken and rice.
- Place in oven and cook for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes add bacon and cheese to casserole and place back in oven to cook for 5 – 10 minutes more, until cheese is melted.