Cheesy Herb Rice Casserole
Another alternative to potatoes as a comforting side dish.
The food blog-o-sphere is full of pirates and this is a good example. There are hundreds of rice casserole dishes and arguably, a rice casserole is one of those dishes that has an infinite number of variations. But the Internet is replete with ones that include chicken and/or broccoli, neither of which I wanted.
This recipe in particular is in dozens of food blogger sites with the “secret ingredient” of a packet of Italian salad dressing seasonings, the kind you mix with vinegar and oil to make a mass manufactured vinaigrette. I can’t think of a more horrible way to make a vinaigrette and give you many alternatives in my Salad Dressing Repository, but I do think using this salad dressing packet is a great way to quickly season a cheesy rice casserole, without the chicken or broccoli.
Yes, I could deconstruct the salad dressing packet and instead make this recipe with those ingredients from my pantry. The seasoning packet components largely consist of sugar, salt, garlic, onion and other unspecified seasonings in their ingredient list. I'd suspect those would be herbs generally associated with Italian flavors that include oregano, marjoram, thyme and basil. But it saves a whole lot of time to use the packet instead of measuring them out individually. I’ll live with the xanthan gum and maltodextrin that are also included in the packet ingredients.
Unlike most food bloggers who’ve ripped off the recipe and called it their own, I will give credit to the Mia Recipes website for so inspiring me with this recipe. Hers was a rip-off too that included chicken, which I’ve omitted.
Cheesy Herb RIce Casserole
Another alternative to potatoes as a comforting side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 cup par-cooked rice (like, Ben's Original)
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 8 oz whipped cream cheese (like, Philadelphia Whipped Cream Cheese)
- 1 10.5 oz condensed cream of celery soup (like, Campbell's)
- 3 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 0.7 oz packet dry Italian salad dressing mix (like, Good Seasons)
- 1 cup chicken stock (like, Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
- 2 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions. This will yield about three cups of cooked rice.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spray a 9" x 13" casserole dish with non-stick spray.
- Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl with half the Colby Jack cheese.
- Turn the mixture out into the casserole dish, and top with the parsley and remaining Colby cheese.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is melted and beginning to brown.
Notes
- In altitudes above 5,000 feet, increase baking time for the casserole by 10 minutes and increase the oven temperature to 365°F.
