This flavor-forward dish is a makeover of one of my husband’s childhood favorites, chicken curry casserole. I replaced the can of cream of mushroom soup and mayo with a creamy homemade sauce instead, and—my whole family agrees—the outcome does not disappoint!
This one does require a little advance planning though—just be sure to cook your rice and chicken in advance so it doesn’t take very long to pull it together at dinner time.
Chicken Curry Casserole
This flavor-forward dish is a makeover of one of my husband’s childhood favorites, chicken curry casserole. I replaced the can of cream of mushroom soup and mayo with a creamy homemade sauce instead, and—my whole family agrees—the outcome does not disappoint!
Print Recipe
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice (cooked according to the package directions)
- 1 pound broccoli (roughly chopped (5 or 6 cups) and steamed for about 5 minutes)
- 2 cups chicken (cooked, and shredded or diced)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese (sharp, shredded)
- 4 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°
- Combine the cooked rice, broccoli, and chicken in the casserole dish and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and flour and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, or until the flour begins to brown but doesn’t burn, whisking almost continuously.
- Whisk in the milk, watching for lumps, reduce heat and cook until it thickens. Stir in the sour cream, grated cheese, curry powder, salt, and pepper and stir until well combined. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the mixture is the consistency of gravy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Pour the sauce in the baking dish and mix thoroughly with the rice, broccoli, and chicken and spread it out evenly in the baking dish.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, and then turn it up to a high broil to brown the top for another couple minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Chicken Curry Casserole
Amount Per Serving
Calories 462
Calories from Fat 243
% Daily Value*
Fat 27g42%
Saturated Fat 15g94%
Cholesterol 82mg27%
Sodium 744mg32%
Potassium 495mg14%
Carbohydrates 36g12%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 20g40%
Vitamin A 1235IU25%
Vitamin C 69.2mg84%
Calcium 396mg40%
Iron 1.7mg9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Want weekly REAL FOOD meal plans made for you?→ WATCH THE VIDEO
Great, delicious recipe! Reminds me of the chicken divan dish my mom makes, but without the mayo and cream of chicken. I love curry! I could just taste the curry, I think I’ll add more the next time I make this. Thank you
I have made this delicious recipe a few times now and it is always a hit. Thank you for posting it.
This was a great recipe for my leftover cooked chicken!! We do Mexican sooo often, and I was looking for a change :~) I did increase the curry amount, since we love it here (5+ tsps), added a bit more milk as other reviewers mentioned, and someone had suggested lemon juice so I put in a good squeeze. A similar recipe that I enjoyed at a friend’s home included cornflakes + melted butter as a topping before baking, so I decided to try it and we did think it was a fun addition! Long story short, I wanted a recipe without canned soup and I found it here, so Thank You!
I made this tonight and the whole casserole ended up in the garbage. To be fair, I think it’s the curry seasoning that my family hated. We are just not used to that flavor. On the other hand, I think the recipe turned out perfectly and I will make this again with other spices in place of the curry and maybe add mushrooms. And it wasn’t a total loss as I made the whole chicken in a crockpot so we have a nice, big pot of chicken noodle soup! I will not rate this as it doesn’t seem fair just bc we didn’t like the seasoning.
Hi Stacy,
Thanks for the feedback! Curry seasoning can be a little overwhelming at first if you aren’t used to it. Glad you used the crock pot chicken and still had an extra meal! – Nicole
This was delicious! My hubby balked the first of the week when I told him that I was making a curry dish. So I didn’t make it until tonight and did not tell him. He ate 2 bowls!!!
How spicy is it?
Can you male this ahead and freeze this?
Hi. Yes, you can.
This is one of my favorite recipes for my leftover chicken from the slow cooker whole chicken recipe! I’m always looking for recipes that I can prepare in advance and throw in the oven at dinner time, this is one of those! This reminds me of the comfort food casseroles from my childhood but CLEAN thank goodness. If you’re looking for a genuine curry dish this is obviously not it…so I’m not sure why so many people complained about that in the comments…
Love all my 100 days of real food recipes! :)
liked it. I was worried about the garlic, onion, flour mix. It got really thick fast but it all worked out. I added more milk to make it more like a gravy but it remained thick. Nevertheless, i was pleased with it. Next time, I will most likely use white rice. For some reason brown rice always gives me problem s when I cook it.
Can this be made the day before baking?
Sure,
Wow, this was a big win for our family! My husband and I loved it; however, my kids didn’t like the casserole as they are not used to eating food mixed together. I didn’t expect them to like it but I will keep this as a regular dish as I couldn’t stop eating it!! One mistake I made was putting in UNCOOKED rice! When I realized, I just added chicken stock (about 1.5 cups) and covered it tightly. It took about 1 hr and 15 min at 350 for the rice to be cooked. But it was even more delicious this way! I highly recommend it – and shared it with my friends and family!
I’ve made this casserole several times and love it! I’ve used half garam masala and half curry powder, Parmesan, cheddar cheese, whole milk yogurt instead of the sour cream… it’s delicious with or without those substitutions!
This recipe was a huge hit with my family. Don’t change a thing. It’s perfect the way it is.
Have made this recipe 3 times. First time I found it dry and that was with 1 1/2 c. milk. Next time I added 1 large can of diced tomatoes and used garam masala instead of curry. Love it now.
umm I am going to try tonight with cauliflower and coconut milk.. Yummy gluten free too ! I will use corn starch instead of flour!
Yummy! Made this several times and will double and save some to freeze.
I love this version. This is one of my kids favorites, and I love making it from scratch. But you definitely need to add the lemon juice–just a few tablespoons. Without it the flavor is lacking, but with it, it is better tasting than the original canned soup recipe.
20 mins to make, 10 to bake. Very good with or without curry.
Thanks for this – I’ve been waiting a long time to make my mother’s very unhealthy Chicken Divan, and this is close enough to pass for it! We do not use regular milk at all, and I wanted to let you know that I used unsweetened coconut milk and did not lose any of the taste or consistency, making it even healthier!
I love coconut milk with any type of curry! Yum!!
Hi. We use regular.
For the 1 cup dry brown rice, should I use instant or regular?
I made this tonight for my family and the neighborhood kids and all I can say is WOW! I had five kids here for dinner and four of the five hate broccoli. Well lets just say the whole thing is gone. I only got a tiny scoop after serving them seconds but I will be making this again this weekend. I even had two kids ask me to email their parents this recipe!
I have leftover shredded pork… Would this work in place of the shredded chicken?
That’s not something we’ve tired.
My husband doesn’t like broccoli. Do you think I could substitute for cauliflower?
Yep, I think cauliflower will do well.
My husband and I love this dish!! It is wonderful and the 4 teaspoons of curry powder give it such incredible flavor. I add an extra 1/2 cup of milk to make it a bit creamier and I try to buy a rotisserie chicken, shred, and freeze it to make it easier to assemble on a weeknight.
So good!! I added Portabella mushrooms and they gave the casserole an extra layer of flavor. I’ll be adding this into the monthly dinner rotation!
I did not have any sour cream on hand, so I omitted it and added the juice of one lemon. I also added a little more milk to get the right consistency. I turned out delicious!
This recipe is amazing!! I have been looking for a chicken/broccoli/rice casserole for years. They all seem to have canned soup. I made the recipe exactly as it was written. I wouldn’t change a thing. It was the best chicken casserole I have ever eaten!! The only negative is that It did mess up quite a few pans. Next time I will cook the rice and chicken ahead of time to make it easier on myself . In the end, It was SO worth it!! Thank you!
Love this recipe! I love curry spice but was a tad skeptical at first due to the cheese so I cut the recipe completely in half. Cutting it in half worked just fine and it was delicious! I also didn’t have any broccoli left so I used sauteed spinach which I will do again next time.
i make a similar dish, but I add a couple tablespoons lemon juice and 1/2 c. Mayonnaise. I’ll have to try your soup sauce replacement
This looks delicious! I love rice but I am hearing a lot about the arsenic. What are your thoughts?
Hi Melissa. This might help: http://www.realnatural.org/the-surprising-way-to-avoid-arsenic-in-rice/.
Thanks!
We love this dish!! It’s in the oven right now actually and smells delicious!!!
So broccoli cheese rice with chicken and curry…I’ll give it a whirl!
Has anyone tried freezing this! If so, did you bake it before freezing or just assemble?
Hi DC, I would freeze it before baking.
I’ve made this twice in the past few weeks and love it! It’s pretty quick if you cook the rice and chicken ahead of time and I really enjoy the yellow curry flavor in something other than Thai food, which I’m also a big fan of, but fun to see the versatility of the spice. Thanks for another awesome recipe!