• Recipes
  • Contact
  • Work with Us
  • Privacy

Chattavore

What I ate, plate by plate.

  • Start Here!
    • Contact
  • Easy Recipes
    • Air Fryer
    • Drinks
    • Easy Baking
    • For the Grill
    • Freezer Friendly
    • Instant Pot
    • No-Bake Desserts
    • One-Pot Recipes
    • Salads and Cold Dishes
    • Sheet Pan Recipes
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
  • Videos
    • From Scratch
    • Recipe Videos
    • Techniques
    • Tools
  • How-To
    • How to Cook From Scratch
    • How to Get Organized
    • How to Make Ahead and Meal Prep
    • How to Use Tools and Techniques

Cheesy Mushroom and Wild Rice Casserole

July 23, 2013

This cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole is easy (especially when you use the baked rice method included) and so filling and satisfying!
This cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole is easy (especially when you use the baked rice method included) and so filling and satisfying! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Rice is a tricky business. Typically you simmer it on the stovetop with about twice as much water as rice. Don’t cook it too hot, though, or it might burn and you’ll end up with a hard rice ring around the bottom of your pot and you may or may not be able to salvage it. Oh, and don’t stir it with a spoon! Nay nay, fluff the rice. Fluff it with a fork.

I’ve made a few messes with rice. I’m always worried about burning the bottom, or I think it’s ready and it turns out the water didn’t absorb completely. This rice recipe, though, takes out the guesswork. Put the rice in a baking dish. Add the water and some other stuff. Cover and bake. Done. No watching to make sure the airholes form. No worrying about the crust around the edge. None of that. Just perfect rice.

This cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole is easy (especially when you use the baked rice method included) and so filling and satisfying! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Wild rice is kind of an enigma, no? I never thought of it as anything odd growing up because my grandmother cooked it all the time, usually with bone-in chicken breasts baked on top. It was just a normal ingredient to me and it wasn’t until years later when I decided to cook it myself that it became a little strange to me. I was surprised at how difficult it was to find….and the fact that just a box or bag of wild rice was next to impossible to find; it’s generally found in some sort of blend.
This cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole is easy (especially when you use the baked rice method included) and so filling and satisfying! | recipe from Chattavore.com
In case you didn’t know, wild rice isn’t actually rice. It’s a grain harvested from a grass. It’s pretty expensive too…I don’t remember exactly how much I paid the last time I bought it in bulk but I want to say the price was something like $9 a pound. Anyway, at that price I can’t really afford to make a meal out of straight-up wild rice so going for a blend is logical.

Like I said before, most of my wild rice memories from childhood involve a bed of wild rice (probably actually white and wild rice) with some other stuff (celery? cream of chicken soup? it’s been a long time) baked into it and chicken baked on top. However, in my grandmother’s orange recipe organizer the only wild rice recipe I can find is for a chicken and wild rice casserole. Okay.

This mushroom and rice casserole isn’t a vegetarian spin-off of that casserole (which, by the way, I have made) but rather what happens when I have brown and wild rice and some leftover portobellos in stock. Make a roux, add a Swiss cheese, you get a cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole and everyone’s happy. It makes great leftovers too, and I promise you the baked rice recipe will change the way you look at rice. Forever and ever amen.

For a vegetarian meal that will make you warm, full, and happy, try this cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole!

This cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole is easy (especially when you use the baked rice method included) and so filling and satisfying! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Mary

Yield: 4 servings

Cheesy Mushroom and Brown & Wild Rice Casserole (and a no-fail rice method)

25 minPrep Time:

2 hrCook Time:

2 hr, 25 Total Time:

Save RecipeSave Recipe
Print Recipe
Recipe Image
My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

    For the baked rice
  • 1 1/2 cup short or medium grain brown rice
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
  • For the Casserole
  • 1 Recipe brown and wild rice blend (baked according to previous recipe-the wild rice bakes fine according to this recipe.)
  • 4 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
  • 1 Small onion (diced)
  • 8oz mushrooms, any variety (sliced or quartered)
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup low-sodium (chicken broth)
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 4oz Swiss cheese (grated)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • about 15 saltine crackers (optional)

Instructions

  1. To bake the rice: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the rice in an 8-inch square baking dish. Bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil in a saucepan or in the microwave. Pour over the rice in the baking dish and stir to combine. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake for one hour. Remove from the oven, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.
  2. To make the casserole: reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
  3. Melt one tablespoon of the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion in the butter until soft and beginning to turn translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until browned.
  4. Add the remaining butter to the pan and melt. Add the flour and whisk until incorporated; cook for about a minute.
  5. Gradually add the chicken broth then the milk, whisking constantly. Cook until thickened then add the cheese, stirring until completely incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Combine the rice and the creamy mushroom mixture in a large bowl. Transfer to an 8-inch baking dish (I just use the one in which I cooked the rice). If desired, crumble saltine crackers over the top.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes, checking from time to time to make sure the cracker crumbs aren't burning. If they start to burn, cover the pan with foil. Serve.

Notes

Cook time includes time to bake rice. To reduce cook time, make the rice ahead of time. You can use the baked rice method with other varieties of rice but you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. White varieties do not typically take as long to cook as brown varieties.

7.8.1.2
435
https://chattavore.com/cheesy-mushroom-and-wild-rice-casserole/

This cheesy mushroom and wild rice casserole is easy (especially when you use the baked rice method included) and so filling and satisfying! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Want recipes from scratch & restaurant reviews in your inbox weekly?
Subscribe below to get Chattavore's weekly newletter AND a free set of recipe cards to help you learn to cook from scratch!
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.

Filed Under: By Course, By Main Ingredients, Grains and Breads, Kitchen Basics, Main Dishes, Recipes, Vegetables or Vegetarian Tagged With: cheese, main dishes, vegetarian By Mary // Chattavore 9 Comments

Saturday in the Park: Muenster Truck, Chattanooga Brewing Company, and Ice Cream Show

Crispy Oven Fried Zucchini

Comments

  1. Vanderbilt Wife says

    July 23, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    So do you bake the wild rice? How much longer does it take? I love wild rice, too, especially in soups. I always bake my brown rice but never considered doing other varieties. Because I'm obviously a doofus. This is a little time-consuming to make, especially if you cook your own rice, but it's really delicious. I bet you could sub mushrooms for the chicken, too. http://picky-palate.com/2010/09/13/cheesy-chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole/
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      July 23, 2013 at 1:44 pm

      Yes, you just bake the brown & wild rice blend as described in the previous recipe. The wild rice bakes fine in the same time as the brown rice.
      Reply
  2. Mushrooms Canada says

    July 25, 2013 at 9:08 am

    Growing up, my mum always made a similar dish! Definitely a favourite. Thanks for sharing this recipe, I may have to try this one on my own... -Shannon
    Reply
  3. Nessie says

    August 14, 2013 at 3:10 pm

    Oh my gosh! This is exactly the kind of recipe I was looking for today for dinner tonight and the baked brown rice.....life changing!! So easy and so foolproof! Thank you!!!
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      August 14, 2013 at 4:37 pm

      Yea! Let me know what you think :)
      Reply
  4. Nancy says

    September 20, 2013 at 4:59 pm

    Hi, You call for short or medium grain brown rice in your basic recipe. I was wondering if long grain brown rice could be substituted, as I seem to have a ton of it on hand! Thanks
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      September 20, 2013 at 5:07 pm

      Nancy, I don't see any reason that long-grain rice wouldn't work!
      Reply
  5. Priyanka says

    October 11, 2013 at 4:35 pm

    Hi, Thanks for this beautiful recipe. Tried it and turned out pretty well. I have recently started blogging and this is one of the first dishes that I have written about. You can check out on the website. Thanks again. :)
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      October 11, 2013 at 9:16 pm

      Glad you enjoyed it, Priyanka!
      Reply

Thanks for your comments, but remember that Chattavore is a positive site. I reserve the right to delete any comments that contain unnecessary negativity! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Chattavore

Hi, I'm Mary! Welcome to Chattavore, a destination for people who want to feed themselves and their families well every day! Life can be crazy, which means that getting dinner on the table can be a challenge (more often than not!) and my mission is to take all your favorite recipes and figure out how to serve them on a Tuesday.

Follow Chattavore!

  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Bloglovin
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • RSS

Categories


Copyright © 2023 | All content property of Chattavore and may not be reproduced without permission | Cha Creative Clique

Want recipes from scratch & restaurant reviews in your inbox weekly?
Subscribe below to get Chattavore's weekly newletter AND a free set of recipe cards to help you learn to cook from scratch!
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.
 

Loading Comments...