Chicken and Wild Rice in a creamy Parmesan sauce - easy and delicious comfort food! It's just like a casserole, except everything is cooked in the skillet on a stovetop!
Easy Recipe
The best thing about this Chicken and Wild Rice skillet is that it's so easy to make. The only time-consuming portion of the recipe is cooking the wild rice. As you know, wild rice cooks a long time, about 45 minutes, so plan accordingly. After the wild rice is cooked, the recipe is done very quickly.
A great variation of this recipe is a Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Wild Rice with carrots and peas.
Gluten Free Recipe
The creaminess here comes from adding half-and-half and shredded Parmesan cheese, which makes this recipe gluten-free. There is no flour added to thicken the sauce!
How to Cook Wild Rice on Stovetop
- Combine 1 cup of wild rice, 4 cups of water (1 to 4 proportion), and salt in a saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat low and simmer (cook) the rice for about 45 minutes, covered.
- After 45 minutes of cooking, stir the rice. If there is still water in the pan, cover, and let the rice sit, covered, for 10 more minutes to absorb the remaining water.
- Season the rice with extra salt, if desired.
- For more details, check out this article How To Cook Wild Rice.
How do you know when wild rice is cooked
- Cook until the rice is soft but not mushy and until most of the grains are popped. You don't want the rice to be tough and chewy, so be patient and cook just until it's of the right softness.
- Once the rice is cooked to the desired softness, drain extra water from the pan.
Substitutions
- Don't have half-and-half? To make 1 cup of half-and-half, combine ½ cup of milk + ½ cup of heavy cream.
- What other cheese can you use besides Parmesan? Use Romano cheese, Asiago cheese, or Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese.
- Instead of skinless boneless chicken thighs, you can use skinless boneless chicken breasts.
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups wild rice , uncooked
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion , small, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 pound chicken thighs , skinless and boneless, chopped into smaller slices
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
- salt
- ⅔ cup half and half
- ⅓ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley , chopped
Instructions
- Rinse the wild rice until the water is clear. Cook wild rice + ¼ teaspoon and ⅛ teaspoon salt in a large pot of boiling water according to the cooking instructions on the package (usually, wild rice cooks about 45 minutes, so plan accordingly).
- When wild rice is almost cooked, heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add chopped onion and minced garlic, and cook on medium heat, stirring, until onion is translucent, about 1 minute.
- Add chopped chicken, sprinkle generously with salt, oregano, thyme, parsley, and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
- When the wild rice is done, add cooked wild rice to the skillet with chicken and mix everything.
- Add ⅔ cup half and half, ⅓ cup chicken broth to the skillet with chicken and rice and bring to boil. Add shredded ½ cup Parmesan cheese. Stir, until the cheese has melted, on medium-low heat. Taste and add more salt if needed, about ⅛ teaspoon or ¼ teaspoon more.
- Remove from heat, stir in ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I made this for dinner tonight and WOW! It was delicious. Wild rice usually has such a strong flavor that it takes over the dish, but your seasonings and creamy sauce really complimented and toned down the strong flavor. The chicken was juicy and tender. Thank you Julia, this recipe is a keeper!!
I'm so glad you made this and enjoyed it. Thank you for your wonderful review, Laura! 🙂
I am excited to try these chicken recipes with the leftover turkey as you suggested. I wish the recipe would say how much chicken or turkey in a measurement like cups vs. pounds. Chicken breasts come in such different sizes. I never weigh them. I want to know does it take 2 cups of cooked turkey or what is the cooked measurement to substitute?
I am new to your blog but loving all these recipes especially with winter squash especially. The images are so lovely that go along with preparation. I wish you had a book. I keep printing them out.
Michele, I would estimate that 1 pound of uncooked skinless boneless chicken thighs would be about 3 or 4 cups cooked sliced or shredded chicken and turkey. I am so happy you discovered my blog and enjoying the recipes! ❤️ I don't have a cookbook but someday I might! 🙂
Wow! This had so much flavor. I added celery and mushrooms and didn’t add my cooked rice until about the last 5 minutes just to incorporate the flavors. Will be a staple in our house! Love it!
Made this tonight for my husband and I. Added sliced mushrooms, used mushroom broth and added a handful of cranberries at the end.
This would be fantastic stuffed in a Cornish hen!
10/10 ♥️
Erin, I love your addition of mushrooms + cranberries. Sounds delish! 🙂
I can’t wait to make this but..I usually have milk on hand but not cream..can I add anything to the milk for cream substitute?
Thank you for your fabulous recipes..I grew several squash this year and your site has been a godsend!
Denise, I would use 1/3 cup chicken broth + 1/3 cup regular milk and proceed with the recipe as is. Add more milk after you've added and melted the cheese.
Important tip! Take the shredded Parmesan cheese (or shred it) at the very beginning of the recipe (before you do anything) and leave close to the heat source so that the cheese warms up and comes to room temperature. It will melt much easier (especially in a thinner sauce) when it's at room temperature and not refrigerator cold.
How much water for 1 1/2 cups of rice did you use?
Sheri, I would cook 1.5 cups of wild rice in 6 cups of water (1 to 4 proportion), and salt in a saucepan.
This dish is really very good. Next time we are going to add mushrooms. My son's idea.
Robin, mushrooms would be an excellent addition!
I made this for diner last night. My husband and I both both loved it. It had great flavor. Just the right herbs. I have a lot of wild rice on hand and so I'm always looking for recipes with wild rice.
I added chopped celery and mushrooms to the recipe. I used hand parched wild rice which cuts the cooking time of the rice in half.
I make a wild rice casserole but I use cream soup. Your recipe is so much better with the cream and chicken broth. I'm always looking for recipes without cream soup.
Thank you for this great recipe. I will be using it for many occasions.
Joan, your comment really made my day! ❤️ Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback - it means a lot to me!
Yum!!! I halved this for my husband and I and we loved it so much. Perfectly creamy dinner with so much flavor!
Emma, thank you for your rave review - I really appreciate it! ❤️
This dish was delicious. I added mushrooms as one commenter suggested. Next time I think I'll substitute white wine for the chicken broth.
Erika, I am so glad you loved this dish! Yes, mushrooms are a nice addition here! 🙂
I’m from the uk … what’s half and half please ?
Lisa, half-and-half is half milk half heavy cream. So, 1 cup of half-and-half = 1/2 cup of regular milk (about 3% or less fat content) + 1/2 cup of heavy cream (36 % fat content).
I learned a long time ago with wild rice (my native ancestors, never cook with salt, add salt afterwards) give it a try..you will be amazed at the texture and taste!
Ps I love your recipes!
Cindi, thank you so much for this tip! What's funny is that generally, that's what I do - I usually cook everything (pasta, regular rice, etc.) without salt and just add it afterward. Glad you're enjoying the recipes! 🙂
Is the chicken precooked and then cut in pieces? I was thinking of trying this with pheasant???
Donna, I used raw chicken and cooked it with seasonings - see the recipe. But you can also use cooked chicken (or other meat) and just warm it up with the seasonings from this recipe.