Chicken and Wild Rice Bake
Easy chicken rice bake
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion chopped
- 3 medium garlic cloves minced
- 8 ounces cremini (baby bella mushrooms) sliced
- 5 ounces shitake mushrooms sliced
- 1 Honeycrisp apple thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme
- 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups wild rice blend see Notes
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 1-1/2 cups Gruyère cheese shredded (see Notes)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Garnish with 2 to 3 fresh thyme sprigs
Instructions
- In a 12 to 14-inch oven-safe skillet or braiser (with a tight cover), melt butter and olive over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often until the onion is soft. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the cremini mushrooms and shitake mushrooms, cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until the mushrooms are browned, stirring.
- Add the apple, rosemary and thyme and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Pour in 2-1/2 cups chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Stir in the rice and chicken, cover and reduce the heat to low.
- Simmer for 45 to 55 minutes or until the rice is cooked, if needed, add the remaining 1/2-1 cup stock if the rice is still a little hard.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F about 15 minutes before the rice is done.
- Remove from the pan from the heat and stir in the spinach.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the rice and transfer to the oven, uncovered. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the oven. Garnish with fresh thyme sprigs.
Notes
- I used a Le Creuset five-quart braiser for this recipe which is ideal as it has a tight fighting lid and is oven-safe. I love this pan!
- I used Lundberg’s Wild Blend Rice (a blend of black, brown, red and wild rice). If you can’t find this, try another rice blend that contains wild rice.
- I used medium Gruyère cheese which is aged 5 months—any Gruyère will do. At Wegmans you can purchase it already grated.
- This bake freezes well. Spray a smaller freezer-safe and oven-safe dish with oil spray and transfer leftovers, ideally with the melted cheese on top. Cover in aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Remove the dish from the freezer 15 minutes before reheating to ensure that the dish doesn’t crack in the oven (it’s a big temperature swing). Reheat at 350°F for 45 minutes covered and 10 to 15 minutes uncovered. When heated through, the internal temperature should be 165°F. If you want, add some additional cheese when you uncover the dish.
