This one-pot Italian chicken and rice bake is an easy oven-baked dinner made with white rice, chicken breast, tomato sauce, and vegetables – mushrooms, green bell pepper, and diced tomatoes – all cooked together in a single dish.
For years, I used a rice cooker almost exclusively, except for the occasional lazy night with boil-in-bag rice. Then I learned how to cook authentic stovetop rice and never looked back.
But here’s something that surprises a lot of people: you can also cook rice in the oven – and it works beautifully, especially with this Italian-style tomato sauce and seasoning. An Italian casserole bake doesn’t always have to be pasta.
Cooking Rice In The Oven (Rice Bake / Casserole)
When you think about it, “baking rice” makes perfect sense. As long as you add enough liquid and keep the dish covered, the rice slowly absorbs moisture as it bakes along with the other ingredients and you give it enough time.
In this Italian chicken and rice bake, the liquid comes from pasta sauce and diced tomatoes, while chicken breast, vegetables, and Italian seasoning add flavor and protein. This recipe uses white rice, which cooks much faster than brown rice and is better suited for oven baking.
Baking rice does take longer than stovetop cooking – at least 45 to 50 minutes instead of 20 – and you may need to adjust slightly depending on your oven and cookware. But the payoff is worth it: no stirring, no babysitting, and only one pot to clean.
A Veggie-Loaded Italian Chicken And Rice Casserole
I got the idea for this from a similar “rice bake” recipe I found online, but it was sorely lacking in veggies outside of tomatoes. It’s always a great idea to add more veggies to your recipes, for health as well as for fat loss (calorie density reduction).
For veggies, I chose green bell pepper and mushrooms in addition to diced tomatoes. You could surely use chopped onions as well, but I went with onion powder with the garlic powder this time since there was already so much veggie volume in this.
Plus, not needing to dice the onions (or fresh garlic) reduces prep time. Sometimes you want a dinner with a fast prep time, especially if there is a long baking time. This recipe as listed has a nice and short prep time – only 12 minutes if you’re speedy.
The Sauce and Tomatoes: Why This Italian Chicken and Rice Recipe Works
You can use almost any pasta or marinara sauce you like for this recipe. I use Ragu Chunky Tomato, Garlic & Onion, or the Ragu chunky sauteed onion and garlic sauce. These match the flavor profile perfectly, but a basil-based pasta sauce would work well too.
Keep in mind that a well-seasoned pasta sauce reduces the need for extra spices. Pasta sauce jars come in different sizes, but a common size is 24 ounces (680 g) – a little over 2 cups.
I also used canned diced tomatoes. You could use fresh tomatoes, but canned tomatoes are a big time-saver and come in nice, consistent chunks. They add extra vegetable volume, moisture, and flavor without many calories. Another pro tip: Get the seasoned diced tomatoes too, like the Hunt’s basil, garlic and oregano. This, plus the seasoned pasta sauce will explode the flavor.
The Chicken And The Seasoning (No Browning Required)
Before adding the chicken, I recommend seasoning it with salt and pepper. If you like, you can also directly season the chicken with garlic powder and onion powder in addition to stirring these seasonings into the whole dish. This will enhance the taste with every bite of chicken.
At first I wondered if I would need to brown the chicken first, and I guess you could, but with 45 to 50 minutes total time in the oven, the chicken pieces cook through completely, so yes, you can drop the chopped chicken right in there raw.
Cookware And Cooking Time (How To Know It’s Done)
I love my Lodge Dutch Oven so much, I decided to get the Lodge casserole dish as well and have been very happy with it. (Some people call it a “French Oven”). This is an enameled cast iron deep skillet, and you can saute, simmer or fry with it on the stovetop and also bake with it up 500 degrees.
On 400 this is going to take at least 45 minutes because both the chicken and the rice need to cook through. It may take slightly longer as cookware and ovens can vary.
My suggestion is to take it out of the oven between around 45 minutes, give it a stir and check it to make sure the rice is cooked and tender and not still too firm. If the rice is still al dente (firm to the bite) that’s fine as it will get 5 more minutes after you put the cheese on. But the rice is still crunchy, another 5 to 10 minutes should do the trick – it just needs a little more time. Undercooked rice is a bummer. Give it the time it needs.
The Cheese: What Makes This Chicken and Rice Casserole Italian
When the rice is cooked, sprinkle parmesan on top, then sprinkle on the mozzarella. If you want that cheese to melt fully, put it back in oven, uncovered for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Otherwise, you can sprinkle the cheese on top and it will melt quite a bit over the hot casserole, or you can stir the cheese in as well.
If you really want to get as low calorie as possible, you can use non-fat mozzarella. That will drop the fat and calories while bumping up the protein slightly. I use 2% low-fat mozzarella as a nice compromise and the calories and macros for this recipe are still outstanding. The low fat cheese tastes better and melts better too. Mozzarella is the quintessential cheese for baking and goes with an Italian dish well.
If you fancy a browned cheese with a little crispiness, put the mozzarella on first, then top it with parmesan and give it a couple quick minutes in the broiler right before serving.
Do whatever you want with the cheese based on your calorie budget and your tastes. Use less, or use more. Use low-fat or use non-fat. This is delicious even without cheese (I tried it). With the cheese, it’s decadently delicious!
Serving Size, Calories, And Macros: How This Chicken And Rice Casserole Is So Lean
It’s amazing to think that by using the leanest meat possible, with low fat cheese, only a single cup of (dry) rice in the entire batch and heaps of vegetables, the calories are so low. This batch will give 4 (huge) and up to 6 (still generous) servings, and if you divide this batch into 6 servings as listed above, you get only 388 calories and 38 grams of protein.
In fact, this chicken, rice and veggie bake is so light and lean, if I make this for meal prep, I usually split it into only 4 or 5 servings (rather than 6) because 388 calories is not even enough for a meal for me given my body size and activity. Divided into 4, it’s still only 582 calories and with a whopping 56 grams of protein (and the portion is huge – bodybuilder style portion).
By the way, this recipe as listed is so low in calories, that if you have a bigger calorie budget (due to training for muscle gaining or endurance training, etc), you might even want to increase the cheese portions. There’s nothing like melted, gooey cheese, not just for pasta, but also rice.
Enjoy this one! I’ll be back with more NEW one pot recipes soon! And also, check out Greek, Spanish, Creole, And Mexican one pot after you’ve indulged in the Italian:
One Pot Healthy Greek Chicken Thighs And Rice
One Pot Spanish Rice And Ground Beef
One Pot Creole With Ground Beef (Tom’s “Clean Dirty Rice”)
Cheesy Mexican Chicken And Rice Casserole
Tom Venuto,
Founder of Burn the Fat Inner Circle
Author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
Author of Flexible Meal Planning For Fat Loss
PS. To start making meal plans with Burn the Fat Online Meal Planner CLICK HERE (Inner Circle members only)
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Italian Chicken and Rice Casserole (Easy One-Pot Oven Bake)
Equipment
- 1 Casserole dish (French Oven) (or Dutch oven)
Ingredients
- 680 g boneless skinless chicken breast (24 oz)
- 500 g pasta sauce (2 cups)
- 411 g diced tomato, canned (14.5oz)
- 1 green bell pepper, large
- 227 g fresh mushrooms (8 oz)
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)
- 1 tsp onion powder (or to taste)
- 0.5 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 0.5 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
- 1 cup low fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (112g)
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley or basil for garnish (optional)
- 180 g white rice, long grain (1 cup)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400.
- Dice green pepper. Chop chicken into small bite sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
- Coat a 9 X 13 baking dish or a casserole dish with cooking spray (or olive oil)
- Add the pasta sauce, tomatoes, pepper, mushrooms and uncooked (dry) rice.
- Add the chicken to the mixture, add seasonings and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Cover dish with lid or foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Remove cover, stir the mixture and check the rice for doneness. If rice is still too firm, cover and cook another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle parmesan on top of the mixture, then sprinkle low-fat mozzarella on top. Return dish to oven uncovered for 5 more minutes to melt cheese.
- Optional: garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
Nutrition
About Tom Venuto, The No-BS Fat Loss Coach
Tom Venuto has been a trusted natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert since 1989. He is also a recipe creator specializing in fat-burning, muscle-building cooking. Tom is a former competitive bodybuilder and today works as a full-time fitness coach, writer, blogger, and author. In his spare time, he is an avid outdoor enthusiast and backpacker. His book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is an international bestseller, first as an ebook and now as a hardcover and audiobook. The Body Fat Solution, Tom’s book about emotional eating and long-term weight maintenance, was an Oprah Magazine and Men’s Fitness Magazine pick. Tom is also the founder of Burn The Fat Inner Circle – a fitness support community with over 52,000 members worldwide since 2006. Click here for membership details
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