Cheesy Cream Cheese Chicken and Rice Casserole

If you’re craving a creamy and indulgent chicken casserole, then this cheesy chicken and rice casserole is a must-try! Made with juicy chicken, fluffy rice and lots of cheese, it’s a family favorite!

Growing up my mom made, and still does make, the best casseroles. I don’t care that it’s 2025 and people are worried more about kale pureed into overnight oats, casseroles feel like home and I’m always a fan of an easy chicken and rice recipe for dinner. We call this one angel chicken casserole in our house and it’s based off of two recipes, the crockpot chicken and rice recipe and Mom’s famous Busy Day Casserole recipe.

Typical angel chicken is a creamy sauce with chicken served over angel hair pasta, but I decided to transform the flavorful saucy chicken into a casserole by combining it with rice. It is total comfort food and full of delicious homey flavors! It’s called “angel chicken” for a reason…it tastes like heaven!

Ingredients for Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

If you have some leftover chicken or bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco but aren’t sure how to use it, this recipe is a great option. You only need a few pantry staples to make this hearty and irresistible casserole recipe:

• Cream Cheese: I recommend using full fat or possibly 1/3 less fat but avoid fat free for the best texture and flavor.
• Butter: adds richness and flavor
• Cooked Chicken: diced or shredded (I use rotisserie from Costco)
• Cooked Rice: I use 1/3 wild rice and the rest white rice.
• Cream of Chicken Soup: I use my homemade recipe, but feel free to use a can of condensed soup if you want.
  • NOTE: You can swap for cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup if needed.
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Good Seasons Dry Italian Dressing Mix: You can find this at the grocery store on the salad dressing aisle next to the other salad dressing packets.
• Chicken Broth: helps keep the casserole moist as it bakes
• Colby Jack Cheese: Some goes in the casserole and the rest gets sprinkled on top for extra cheesiness.
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor
• Fresh Parsley: Don’t skip this! This is a creamy, cheesy and rich dish and the parsley adds the tiniest bit of brightness I think the casserole needs.

The measurements needed for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m spending the day slowly catching up on work and planning to get out for a walk this afternoon, too. I love lazy days like today. The odds are good that there will be a puzzle in my future as well.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Half a box of pasta, a pound of sausage, and some green cabbage that was tucked in the fridge added up to a winning last-minute meal. This sausage pasta was such a hit with my family that it’s become a regular player in our dinner rotation over the past few years.

Brimming with juicy pineapple and colorful bell peppers, this pineapple chicken stir fry is a little bit tangy, a little bit sweet, pretty to look at, and absolutely full of flavor. (I’m making it tonight, subbing shrimp for the chicken – can’t wait!)

These steak kabobs are calling my name again. The steak rests in a simple Asian-inspired marinade for a few minutes before being skewered along with slices of colorful bell peppers and red onions.

Creamy mushroom pasta is cream sauce perfection with sauteed mushrooms, garlic, parmesan cheese, and spaghetti noodles. I like to serve this with smashed Brussels Sprouts or these extra crispy roasted green beans. 

Peanut butter oatmeal balls pack a punch of rich peanut butter with the earthy taste of oats and that hint of sweetness we all crave. With the addition of a handful of chocolate chips and some mini M&M’s, these are a sweet treat you’ll be making often.

These chewy, dense, peanut butter cookies are an unforgettable memory from my childhood. Made with just an egg, a scant cup of peanut butter, and a cup of sugar, 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies are an old-fashioned cookie that everyone loves.

If you or someone you know loves Butterfinger candy bars, this is about to become their all-time favorite ice cream. Butterfinger ice cream is swirled with flakes of Butterfinger candy bars and loaded with bite-sized chunks of candy bar too!

What I’m CRAVING: My friend Christi’s insanely delicious chocolate peanut butter cookies. When I tell you that these are the best chocolate cookies I have ever tasted, I’m not being dramatic or even remotely exaggerating. She first shared them with me about ten years ago, and they are firmly established now as the greatest chocolate peanut butter combination possible.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are t

Easy Air Fryer Fried Apple Rings

This Easy Air Fryer Fried Apple Rings is the most delicious fall dessert recipe! These Apple Rings are the most mouthwatering apple slices covered with a batter that puffs up and is coated with crunchy cinnamon sugar.

It’s like an apple pie, apple crisp and donut all in one and with a fraction of the effort!

FRIED APPLE RINGS

Fried Apple Rings or Apple Fritters were one of my favorite treats growing up in Washington. The only problem was getting them. They are a specialty treat even in the state of apples.

Ingredients for Fried Apples in the Air Fryer

• Flour: Acts as the base for the simple batter.
• Sugar: Adds sweetness and texture to the batter.
• Baking Powder: Give the batter some rise and fluffiness.
• Salt: Enhances the flavors.
• Whole Milk: Binds all the batter together.
• Egg: Give the batter structure.
• Butter: Adds rich flavor to the batter. Helps the sugar spice mixture to stick to the rings.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor.
• Cinnamon: Adds warm flavor that is a signature combination with apple.
• Ground Cardamom: Adds an additional layer of warm flavor.
• Granny Smith Apples: Honeycrisp apples could also be used. Avoid using soft apples like McIntosh or Golden Delicious.

How to Make This Fried Apples Recipe

1. Prep: Peel, core and slice the apples. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Make Batter: Combine all the ingredients for the batter in a medium bowl starting with whisking the dry ingredients and then adding the wet ingredients.
3. Make Cinnamon Coating: In a separate small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cardamom and sugar.
4. Coat the Apples: Dip the apples in the batter and place them in a single layer on the parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Freeze: Stick the baking sheet in the freezer and let the battered apples freeze for 45-60 minutes.
6. Air Fry: Preheat the air fryer and then air fry the apples in batches for 7-9 minutes.
7. Finishing Touches: Immediately brush the air-fried apples with melted butter and dredge in the cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately!

If you or someone you know loves Butterfinger candy bars, this is about to become their all-time favorite ice cream. Creamy, sweet vanilla ice cream is swirled with flakes of Butterfinger candy bars and loaded with bite-sized chunks of candy bar too!

Candy Bars + Ice Cream = Awesomeness

Ice cream and candy bars are a match made in dessert heaven – check out all of the recipes I’ve linked at the bottom of this post for proof of that! There’s just something about that creamy ice cream base paired with crunchy, chocolate bites of candy bars that makes every scoop a treat.

Today’s new ice cream recipe brings those two things together deliciously in homemade Butterfinger ice cream. It’s rich, creamy, and filled with the perfect amount of chocolatey, peanut-buttery crunch!

Butterfinger Ice Cream

If you’ve ever had a Butterfinger candy bar, you know what I mean. Butterfingers are filled with layers of crispy, flaky, crunchy peanut butter, then coated in milk chocolate.

The texture is unlike any other candy—it’s crunchy and a little crumbly, but melts in your mouth at the same time. Chopped up and swirled into a batch of Butterfinger ice cream, those little bits and pieces add just the right amount of crunch and sweetness to every bite.

Butterfinger Ice Cream Recipe

I initially made this ice cream with a peanut butter ice cream base, and that turned out to be way too much peanut butter. Even my peanut butter loving kids declared it to be too much.

As a result of that initial trial and error, the vanilla base I’ve chosen for this recipe works beautifully to

These chewy, dense, peanut butter cookies are an unforgettable memory from my childhood. Made with just an egg, a cup of peanut butter, and a cup of sugar, 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies are an old-fashioned cookie that everyone loves.

Peanut Butter Cookies

After you’ve tasted them, these old-fashioned chewy peanut butter cookies will be forever in your memory, too. And if you scan the comments at the bottom of this post, you’ll see a whole lot of people calling these the Best Peanut Butter Cookies Ever.

While the origin of these peanut butter cookies is sometimes debated, the recipe has certainly been around longer than I have. I can remember seeing the instructions on the side of Jif, Skippy, and Peter Pan peanut butter jars throughout my childhood.

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

I remember stirring a batch of these cookies together with a friend in the middle of the night when I was in junior high or high school. I was a bit skeptical that it would work, but I loved them from the first bite.

There is nothing like being able to satisfy a sweet tooth craving at a moment’s notice! We sat and nibbled on the warm cookies and talked half the night.

In less time than it takes to preheat the oven, you can have these ready and waiting to bake on a t