Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

We thought this was delicious!  It was more prep than I typically am willing to do for a casserole-type dish, but the wild rice and cheese sauce made it taste more special than your standard casserole.


3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
2 cups cooked white rice (that's two cups of already cooked rice)
16 oz. wild rice, cooked (I only had a 4oz. box to prepare, so I added two more cups of white rice - just guessing!)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt

Cheese Sauce
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a little gruyere I had left and mostly cheddar)
top with 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese


Preheat oven to 350.  Heat oil in a medium dutch oven or pot over medium heat.  Saute onion, celery and carrots until softened, about 7 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in chicken, both rices, salt, pepper, and garlic salt.  Turn off heat.

To prepare cheese sauce: melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Whisk in flour, salt and pepper then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously.  Whisk until thick and nearly boiling, then stir in cheese until melted.  Pour cheese sauce into rice mixture then transfer to a 9x13-inch baking dish.  Top with additional cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.  Serve hot.