Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

By molpel

Ingredients

• 1 pkg One-Third Lower Salt Chicken-flavored Rice and Vermicelli Mix (rice-a-roni)
• 1 Tbl Margarine
• 2 1/4 C Hot Water
• Cooking Spray
• 1 1/2 lb boneless,skinless Chicken Breast, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 C pre-sliced Mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 3/4 C Non-Fat Sour Cream
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 1 can Low-Fat, Low-Salt Cream Mushroom Soup, undiluted
• 1/4 C crushed Multigrain Crackers
• 1 tbl Margarine, melted
• 1/2 tsp Poppy Seeds

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

Cook rice mix in a large nonstick skillet according to package directions, using 1 Tbl margarine and 2 1/4 C hot water. Remove mixture from skillet, set aside; wipe skillet with paper towel.

Coat skillet with cooking spray, and place over high heat until hot. Add chicken, mushrooms and garlic powder; saute 6 minutes or until chicken looses its pink color. Combine rice mixture, chicken mixture, sour cream, pepper and soup in a bowl and stir well. Spoon mixture into a 2qt casserole coated with cooking spray. Combine crackers, margarine and poppy seeds; stir well and sprinkle over chicken mixture.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Make Ahead Tips:
Assemble casserole ahead of time, omitting the cracker-crumb mixture; cover and chill in the refrigerator or freeze (thaw frozen casserole over night in the refrigerator). Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Top with cracker-crumb mixture and bake as directed.