For the Bake-a-thon, I wanted to make sure that I don’t have only sweet bakes being posted. So my eyes fell on this delicious baked rice casserole I had made and clicked sometime back. Usually baked casseroles always involve pasta, like this tuna one and sausage one. As this involves rice instead of pasta but cooked in almost the same style, I had to make it. This recipe was part of a cook-along hosted in a lovely FB group that I am a part of, not only that the recipe was shared by someone who is a good friend too, Nuzha. The other recipe I had posted on the blog after learning from this lovely segment was this jiffy pasta.
Anyway, coming back to this dish, it involves a little bit of work, since there is some cooking involved of the layers involved. But the recipe was too enticing not to make it and try it. Since I have always had good experiences with such recipes at home, I am interested to try them. After all the work and layering, I put the dish for baking and got to washing all the dishes that came up in the process. I hate washing dishes, but am forced to, just like many of you! 😉 But once this baked rice casserole was out of the oven, I totally forgot about the dishes I washed! It was totally enjoyed by the girls, HD and B and I carried it into my lunchbox next day to office as well.
If you are looking for a change from the normal pasta bakes, then do try this one. If you want to make it slightly more healthier, you may use brown rice too!
Baked Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- LAYER 1:
- 2 potatoes
- Salt and pepper
- LAYER 2:
- 1 cup basmati rice cooked till done
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp wholewheat flour
- 2 cups milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp chilli sauce
- LAYER 3:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 onion minced
- 500 gm boneless chicken cut into small cubes
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- Salt and pepper to taste
- LAYER 4:
- Mozarella cheese as required
- 1 small bunch coriander leaves chopped
- 2 tsp chilli flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Keep a 13x9 inch baking pan ready.
- Peel and slice the potatoes thinly. Soak it in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and toss it with the salt and pepper. Layer it at the bottom of the pan.
- For prepaying the second layer, heat oil. Saute in the flour till it releases and nutty aroma. Add in the milk and whisk till the mixture becomes thick.
- Add in the rice, mayonnaise, chilli sauce and seasonings and give it a good mix. Spread it on top of the potato layer.
- For the third layer, heat oil, sizzle the garlic. Saute the onions till wilted.
- Add in the chicken and cook till it turns white.
- Add in the remaining ingredients and give it a good toss. Cook till the chicken is done and there is no water in the pan. If there is liquid, dry it up on high heat.
- Layer the chicken on top of the rice layer.
- Sprinkle the mozarella cheese, coriander leaves and chilli flakes on top of the chicken layer.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or till the cheese is all melted and the top is golden brown.
- Serve warm as is or with a side of salad.
Notes
This is part of the Bake-a-thon 2017…

The casserole surely looks fantastic, did you cook the rice before hand?
Yes dear, the rice is cooked, it is mentioned in the ingredient list. Thanks a lot Valli…
This is a lovely casserole recipe I must say and so much Indian with the addition of rice…loved it
Thank you so much Amrita…
wow lots of layers and flavours!
Thanks a lot Angie…
Loved this innovative idea..
Thanks Pankthi…
Awesome casserole ! The flavours sound quite exotic and would be loved by Kids as well .
Thank you so much Vaishali…
This is something I would try to make ASAP. So flavorful…my rice lover kids would certainly enjoy it
Thank you so much Ritu…
thats a lovely dish, RAfeeda. it must have tasted delicious . I will look for replacements to the chicken, perhaps Tofu or paneer might help as a protein
I feel you can even use boiled lentils to give a nice bite as well! Thank you so much Kalyani…
This would make such a great addition to a party table. I’ve never made a casserole with rice either. Got to try this one. Will use veggies and paneer in place of the chicken though. Have bookmarked your jiffy pasta too
Thank you so much Nandini… hope you will try and enjoy your meal!
The click is so tempting !
Thanks a lot Shazia…
Rice casserole, wow, looks like a beautiful dish to put everything together to enjoy for a meal with less efforts. Am in love with this casserole sis.
Thank you so much Priya akka…
I love casseroles esp. baked ones.. I can get done with the dishes while it gets baked to perfect in the oven…he he…. got to try this one… looks super tempting
Hehe, just like me! Thank you so much Anupa…
Washing dishes I hate it when i frost clears, that grease ewww! But as u say, seeing the final outcome I too don’t mind that eeww!
Beautiful Rafee! Clicks are so pretty! Such a lovely dish! I m sure the chicken can be replaced with veggie options. So beautifully done dear!
Thank you so much Priya… I guess more than the cooking, the washing dishes is always the toughest part!
what a fabulous whole meal in one casserole – I can dig into this easily for my dinner
Thank you so much Mir…
I once tried making a similar casserole using leftover chole, plain rice and added some vegetables and cheese. It was delicious and yours looks very flavorful.
The use of chole is really interesting… Thank you so much Sapana…
I have always wanted to try a casserole dish but the extra work is putting me off. But I guess the final outcome makes it all worth!!
Thank you so much PJ…
What an interesting casserole this is Rafeeda. Love all the different layers come together as one wholesome dish. I’m thinking the chicken can be subbed with either chickpeas or paneer to make it vegetarian.