Traeger Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
For this homemade Traeger Chicken Wild Rice Casserole recipe, we take grilled chicken breasts and hearty wild rice along with tons of vegetables and cheese and combine them into a comforting and hearty casserole.
Traeger Smoked Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
If you aren't from Minnesota, you might not even KNOW how amazing and versatile wild rice is, and for that, I feel a little sorry for you. This hearty "rice" isn't even rice at all, but a unique grain cultivated by the Native American communities and it quickly became a staple in the regions around these areas.
If your smoker is buried in snow or you don't have one yet (GASP!) - you can totally make this in the oven. Just follow the same instructions for the Traeger, but use the oven instead.
Creating the sauce from scratch rather than resorting to store-bought "cream of" soups gives you complete control over the ingredients. This not only allows for adjustments due to dietary restrictions but also makes it taste way better, too. Homemade sauce can be tailored for sodium content and can avoid preservatives and additives found in canned soups.
Why you'll love this dish...
- Hearty, delicious, and HOMEMADE!
- All the cheese. That's reason enough.
- Wild rice is high in protein and dietary fiber, making it a healthy addition to this casserole.
- No "cream of" soups allows you to control the flavor completely!
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Recipe Shopping List
Wondering if you have to hit the store? Here's the list of items you'll need to make this recipe. For specific amounts, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Chicken breasts
- Salt
- Pepper
- Poultry seasoning
- Butter
- Onion
- Garlic
- All-purpose flour
- Dry white wine
- Chicken broth
- Heavy cream
- Dry mustard
- Parsley
- Poultry seasoning
- Carrots
- Basmati or Jasmine rice
- Wild rice
- Broccoli florets
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Colby jack cheese
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How To Make This Recipe
This is just the overview so you can see what you're actually getting into here. When you are cooking, you'll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
- Preheat, Prep, & Season - Fire up the grill and get it preheating to 325°F. Season your chicken breasts.
- Grill - Put the chicken breasts on the grill and let cook until they reach 160°F internal temp. Remove and let cool for a while before cutting into bite-sized pieces.
- Sauce - While the chicken is grilling, make the sauce.
- Assemble & Grill - Assemble the casserole and pour over the sauce. Put into the grill and cook for another 35-40 minutes, until everything is hot and bubbly, and the cheese is melted and getting little brown spots on the top.
- Enjoy - Remove from the smoker and let cool for 10-15 minutes before digging in.
Have some Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup?
Recipe FAQ
Yes! This casserole is perfect to make ahead to have on hand for quick weeknight dinners or lunches. It reheats beautifully and would be great to take over to a new mom or someone on a meal train that needs a home-cooked meal but doesn't want to make it themselves.
Store this dish covered in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave for best results. An air fryer or oven would also work if you don't have a microwave.
We like the Instant Pot Wild Rice method. If you don't have an electric pressure cooker, you can also boil the rice on the stovetop for 30-45 minutes, until it pops open and is tender.
Try our Wild Rice Zucchini Boats too!
Serve this with...
More Casserole Recipes
- Traeger Philly Cheesesteak Casserole
- Traeger Cheesy Chicken Casserole
- Traeger Ham and Cheese Scalloped Potato Casserole
- Traeger Steak and Potato French Onion Casserole
- Smoked Hashbrown Casserole
- Traeger Meatball Sub Casserole
- Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
- Instant Pot Green Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Pin For Later
Traeger Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
Our made-from-scratch creamy chicken and wild rice casserole is perfect for a hearty meal full of delicious vegetables, tender chicken, and hearty wild rice. Don't forget the cheese! We have lots of that too.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 large chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Homemade Cream Sauce
- ½ cup butter, salted
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 3 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon parsley
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
All the rest
- 3 cups cooked cooked basmati or jasmine rice
- 3 cups cooked wild rice
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 cups Colby jack cheese, shredded
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Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 325°F.
- Season the chicken breasts with your salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.
- Grill directly on the grill grates until the internal temperature reaches 160°F. When cooked, rest for 10 minutes before cutting into bite-sized chunks.
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce.
- In a medium pan over medium heat, melt butter and saute onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in flour until no lumps remain, and cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Slowly add in wine and chicken broth, whisking to combine. Add in dry mustard, parsley, and poultry seasonings. Cook until thickened, add in the carrots, and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and slowly stir in cream, and then set aside.
- Assemble the casserole by preparing a 9x13 high-sided baking pan with cooking spray and then layering in the chicken, broccoli, and rice. Give it a stir so everything is evenly distributed. Cover with the cheese. Pour the hot sauce over the top of everything.
- Put the pan in the Traeger at 325°F for 30-40 minutes, or until mixture is bubbly and heated through. Cover with tin foil if the top starts to brown too much.
- Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 696Total Fat: 38gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 144mgSodium: 1140mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 36g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate. If you are tracking these things for medical purposes please consult an outside, trusted source. Thanks!
Love your site with you're yummy recipes! Helping me out 🙂 missing you all & your good cooking!
Thanks Maggie!!! Miss you too!
This was absolutely delicious!!! I made a few modifications as for what I had on hand but it was sooooo WONDERFUL!! Next time I would use more veggies and thin out the sauce a little bit w/ more broth. I used about half the amount of cheese and no mustard (simply cuz I forgot it), brown instead of white rice, didn't have the white wine, and a box of Wild/Long Grain Rice w/ Herb seasoning. YUM YUM YUM!!!!
I don't eat cheese. Would it ruin the whole dish if I omitted it? If so, would substituting a little cream cheese work as well?
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Props to you for creating a wondering homemade cream of soup recipe. It's a fantastic substitute! I do have to say the first steps are not written in a way to make this dish successful. I kept having to go back and forth between your instruction and the actual recipe at the bottom. Maybe you freeze your cooked rice but had I know the rice needed to cook for 45 minutes I would have done that step first. Also, I used fresh, raw broccoli and carrots. These veggie did not cook through in just 35 minutes. Had I known I would have steamed them first. I do love the sauce and would make it again with chicken along with whatever rice and veggies I have available-and fully cooked prior to beginning the assembly.
Thank you for taking the time to give me such detailed feedback! I really appreciate it. I will look into this, and take your experiences into consideration. Sometimes things that make perfect sense to me in my head don't always translate so well to other people with difference experiences! Thanks so much for reading. I hope you had an awesome weekend. 🙂 ~Nicole
This looks great. I hate using soups as well. I wonder if you made the creamy sauce put all other things uncooked into the pan and cooked for a longer time if they would all cook together and make a nice meal.
I don't think that would work without some major adjustments, but what a great idea! The next time I make this I will do some experimenting and see if I can't come up with something like that. I really like buying or making extra of these types of ingredients when I'm cooking, and then tossing them in the freezer for nights when I just want to throw something in a pan and bake it. Making the sauce is sometimes all I can do in a night! 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I wish I hadn't made this. So many things wrong with this recipe. 4 cups of cooked wild rice with the basmati rice is WAY too much. the vegetables to NOT cook enough. The sauce does not soak through the dish once layered. It sits on top the mixture, leaving everything on the bottom dry. .
Total waste of food and a complete waste of my Sunday morning. I highly doubt those who already commented actually made this.
I'm very sorry you had that experience. I've made this recipe many times and have never encountered what you are describing. My apologies! I hate it when a recipe doesn't turn out the way that I'd hoped. I'd be happy to help troubleshoot if you'd like. Just use the "contact me" tab on the right side of the screen to send me a message. Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to give me feedback!
If this wasn’t the best leftover dish I’ve ever made, it’s in the top 5.
I used 1/2 of a chicken left over from a spatchcock smoke along with real MN wild rice. Aside from going a little heavier on the cheese and garlic than the recipe called for I pretty much colored inside the lines.
Thanks for posting it. I will definitely make it again.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad that you liked it. I always go heavier on the cheese and garlic than the recipes call for too! 😀