Cheesy Chicken and Corn Casserole
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Let me introduce you to your new favorite comfort food dish – this addictive creamy and cheesy chicken and corn casserole.
There are many things to love about this casserole (and casseroles in general, let’s be honest). They’re quick and easy to make, filling, budget-friendly, freeze well, and feed the whole family in one go. This cheesy chicken and corn casserole is one of my favorites and ticks all these boxes as well. In fact, this casserole might even be too easy to make, as there’s minimal prep required. How good does that sound?
Creamy and stuffed with sweet corn, chicken, and cheese, this casserole is total comfort food and a great dish to make for a weeknight dinner. Now, many chicken and corn casseroles use cream cheese instead of cream of chicken soup, but I personally think the canned soup makes the dish more flavorful. Speaking of flavorful… scroll down to the Recipe Notes section to see how you can spice up this corn casserole too.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cream of chicken soup
- Can of whole kernel corn
- Box of yellow rice (we just love Zatarains but you can use any type of yellow rice you have. Mahatma saffron rice is very good in this, too).
- Margarine
- Cheddar cheese
- Chicken (you can leave the chicken out if you want but I like to have chicken in this so I can call it a meal and be done with it).
Dump your corn, margarine, and cream of chicken soup into a mixing bowl.
Pour cheese over the top of it.
Add hot rice, which has been cooking according to box directions. This will melt your butter and such. Add your chicken pieces. This can be canned chicken, leftover chicken, boiled, or shredded chicken – whatever cranks your tractor.
Stir that all up and place this in a casserole dish.
Then cover the top with 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 for about half an hour, or until nice and bubbly! Sprinkle with some and you’re set.
This casserole is comfort food like no other!
Storage
- Store your casserole leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
- You can also store leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. When it’s time to eat, thaw the leftovers in the fridge and then simply reheat in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- If you want to add a little spice, add some jalapenos, chili powder, or a can of diced green chiles to your casserole.
- For that extra crunch, you can add vegetables too. I recommend finely chopped red pepper and green onion. Add either, or both, to the batter before you top with cheese. Otherwise, add some green vegetables, like (thawed) frozen peas, cooked broccoli florets, or green beans.
- You can also substitute chicken for crumbly crispy bacon pieces. Or use both to jazz up your chicken casserole.
- You can use any kind of chicken in this casserole, including leftover chicken, canned chicken, boiled and pulled chicken breast or , and shredded rotisserie chicken. Whatever’s the most convenient option for you.
- If you’d prefer to use fresh corn, you will need about 8 ears of corn. Alternatively, if you use frozen corn, make sure you thaw the corn beforehand.
- Another option is to top your chicken casserole with Ritz crackers, saltines, or even Corn Flakes cereal crumbs. Cheesy, creamy, and crunchy – yum!
- You can also substitute for or Monterey jack .
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this casserole ahead of time?
Yes, you can make this chicken and corn casserole recipe up to two days before and place the covered baking dish in the fridge. Then let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before following the baking instructions above.
Is this casserole gluten-free?
Yes, this chicken and corn casserole is gluten-free as it’s a rice-based casserole. Just make sure you double-check the can of cream of chicken soup you use to ensure it doesn’t have any small gluten additions.
Do I bake my casserole uncovered?
In this instance, I recommend baking this casserole uncovered, so the cheese melts nicely on top.
What do I serve with chicken and corn casserole?
Now, this chicken casserole is definitely a main dish in itself. But you can also serve it with your favorite Southern side dishes, like cornbread, fresh green beans, , or three-bean salad. Another option is pairing your casserole with a simple salad like my tomato, cucumber, and onion salad.
Check out these other easy casseroles:
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow rice
- 1 stick butter
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1-2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 can whole kernel corn drained
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions.1 box yellow rice
- Add rice and all other ingredients, except for 1/2 cup of cheese, into a mixing bowl and stir until well combined.1 stick butter, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1-2 cups shredded cooked chicken, 1 can whole kernel corn, 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1 box yellow rice
- Spoon into a casserole dish and top with the remaining cheese.1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
~Abraham Lincoln
Do you ever just get burnt out on food? I know it sounds horrible, but here lately just nothing has sounded that great to me… however I think this just may be the solution. I think I need a good cheesy, southern, comfort dinner. Thanks!
Okay Christy, this is my family’s favorite casserole! I cooked this almost every week, it is so easy and simple. And of course it is so delicious!!!! Thanks so much for all you are doing!!!
I went ahead and made this last night. I made a variation of my yellow rice (onions, garlic, turmeric, rice and some diced zucchini) and used about 3 cups. I also used 1/2 stick real butter. This was a good dish, and I can see lots of ways to customize it.
Thanks Christy.
Hi Christy,
Recipe sounds great with or without chicken. Like another reader,I’d probably go with a little less butter.
I was wondering about how much rice those packages make. In other words, if I make my yellow rice from scratch, how much do I need for this recipe?
Hi, Christy! This is my first time to visit your website. LOVE it already & have also signed up for your email list! Reading your stories makes me a bit homesick…Mississippi girl transplanted to the “Commonwealth” of Virginia!! About this recipe–I have made this years, primarily as a side dish, and after a few tries, began making it without any butter at all–still scrumptious–and sometimes substitute a can of Mexicorn for the regular corn–gives it a bit of nice color variation. This has always been a family favorite which one of my brothers would BEG me to make for family dinners! I have never made it as a main dish but will definitely give it a try (have some canned chicken just waiting to become a part of this YUMMY dish!!
I cooked this on Monday night for dinner along with the broiled parmesan tomatoes as a side dish to put some color on the table. Everyone loved it! The tomatoes were incredible!! I am not a tomatoe eater but I had almost 3 slices!!!! I must confess I sliced some of the tomatoes thinner than the recipie called for but they were hard to pick up off the pan versus the thicker cut that were much easier to pick up…on the casserole I doubled the rice, and chicken and corn and cheese because we were a family of 8 that evening. I kept the recipie to one can of cream of chicken because I didnt want it too creamy. I also used one can of cheddar cheese soup in addition to the shredded cheese and it worked perfectly! Thank you for the great recipies I truly love your site!!!!
I needed a side dish for dinner last night so where did I go?? Off to your website! I knew you wouldn’t let me down!
I omitted the chicken and oh my goodness!! This was so yummy! My husband isn’t too crazy for casseroles (he’s not right) but he loved this too! I made a single batch and froze half. It was just the two of us. We had enough for lunch left overs and it was even better! I can’t wait to use what I have in the freezer!!
Can’t wait to add the chicken and make a meal out of it!
YUMMY!!! Thanks so much!!! 🙂