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The golden 9 × 13Rice · chicken · green · curry

Lori’s ten-serving bake

Curry Broccoli Chicken Casserole

Lori’s ten-serving casserole layers steamed rice under chicken, broccoli, cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, lemon, curry powder, and sharp Cheddar.

Bake the casserole
A browned, cheese-covered chicken casserole bubbling in a clear rectangular baking dish.
This photographed Chicken Divan is an illustrative close relative. Lori’s source casserole uses cubed chicken and broccoli mixed in curry sauce over a distinct steamed-rice base.Photo by tengrrl / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Makes
10 servings
Bake
30 min
Pan
9 × 13 in
Center
165°F

The rice is not a side dish here; it is the first layer. Four steamed cups line the pan, ready to catch a rich mixture of cooked chicken, broccoli, condensed soup, mayonnaise, lemon, curry powder, and sharp Cheddar. Every serving is meant to travel from browned top to quiet grain in one scoop.

Lori’s original post is candid about the cup of mayonnaise that first made her skeptical. In the finished casserole it disappears into condensed soup and melted cheese, building body rather than announcing itself. Curry powder is the author’s signature turn: enough warmth to distinguish the bake from a standard chicken-broccoli casserole while leaving its family-supper comfort intact.

“Lori called this her favorite chicken-broccoli casserole: creamy, curry-scented, and unexpectedly mellow despite a full cup of mayonnaise.”

Cooked means ready

Chicken, rice, and broccoli enter the recipe already cooked. The source supplies no earlier method or prep clock, so begin with all three ready.

Keep the layers legible

Level the rice without compressing it, then spread the creamy mixture to the corners instead of stirring the whole pan together.

Read bubble and temperature

Thirty minutes is the source clock. Bubbling shows the sauce is hot; 165°F at the center verifies the casserole is safely heated through.

The casserole mapGrain protein green gold

Four layers of comfort, one measured pan

The recipe is short, but each group controls a different part of the final scoop: base, body, sauce, and browned finish.

01

Steamed rice

Four cooked cups form a separate base that catches the curry sauce and turns the casserole into a complete scoopable supper.

Spread rather than press. A compacted rice layer eats dense and is harder for the sauce to reach.
02

Chicken + broccoli

Five to six cooked breasts make the dish substantial; two to three cups broccoli bring color and a vegetal counterweight.

Cube the chicken evenly and drain the steamed broccoli well so the sauce stays creamy instead of watery.
03

Soup + mayonnaise

Two condensed-soup cans and one full cup of mayonnaise create the deliberately rich binder that surprised Lori by tasting mellow.

Fold only until even. The sauce needs to coat the cooked pieces, not break the broccoli into green crumbs.
04

Curry + lemon + Cheddar

Two teaspoons curry powder give warmth, one tablespoon lemon sharpens the sauce, and eight ounces Cheddar brown into a savory lid.

Reserve just enough cheese for a light top layer; the rest belongs inside the mixture where it seasons every scoop.

Read the source literallyReady layer fold bake rest

The oven clock starts after the cooking is done

Chicken, rice, and broccoli arrive cooked. The preserved half-hour bake warms the center and binds the layers; it does not cook raw components.

  1. READY

    Bring three cooked components

    Measure steamed rice, cooked cubed chicken, and well-drained steamed broccoli before the oven clock begins.

  2. 350°F

    Grease the pan and heat the oven

    Use a 9-by-13-inch dish, the exact footprint specified by Lori’s source.

  3. LAYER 1

    Lay down four cups of rice

    Spread an even base without tamping it into a solid cake.

  4. LAYER 2

    Fold the creamy curry mixture

    Combine chicken, broccoli, soup, mayo, lemon, curry, and most of the Cheddar, then spread over the rice.

  5. 30 MIN

    Bake until bubbling

    Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top and keep the source’s half-hour bake.

  6. 165°F + 5

    Verify, then let it settle

    Check the center for 165°F and rest the casserole for five minutes before scooping through both layers.

Yellow spice, green floretThe two notes that wake the cream

Curry gives the casserole a direction; broccoli keeps it from turning beige

Whole dried spices including ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, pepper, chiles, cloves, and bay leaves arranged on a plate.
Curry powder compresses a broad spice cabinet into two measured teaspoons. This illustrative whole-spice assortment is not the blended yellow powder specified by the source.Photo by Miansari66 / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Two teaspoons in the card

Lori wrote that she personally enjoyed about three. Start with the printed measure unless you already know the strength and heat of your blend.

Fresh broccoli florets being cut on a wooden board with a chef’s knife.
Cut the broccoli into similarly sized florets, then steam only to bright green and crisp-tender. The source calls for two to three cooked cups.Photo by Alabama Extension / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0

Casserole signalsWet soft hot dark

Four corrections before the pan goes in

Most problems begin before baking. Correct moisture, texture, seasoning, and center heat without changing Lori’s formula.

If the casserole looks watery

Drain before mixing

Let steamed broccoli release surface water in a colander. Do not solve excess moisture by extending the bake until the chicken dries.

If the broccoli is already soft

Handle it minimally

Fold with broad strokes and stop as soon as it is coated; further stirring and the oven will break it down.

If your curry powder is very strong

Keep the printed two teaspoons

The source card is the safe baseline. Lori’s narrative extra teaspoon is optional, not a required correction.

If the top bubbles before the center is hot

Trust the thermometer

Check the middle for 165°F. If needed, continue briefly and shield the top loosely so the cheese does not overbrown.

Serve + keepCooked settled divided reheated

A deep pan needs a shallow leftover plan

The casserole is generous by design. Protect the remaining portions with a fast cool-down and a measured reheat.

Assemble only with cooked components

The short bake reheats and binds; it is not a substitute for safely cooking five or six raw chicken breasts.

Rest five minutes

The source pause lets the sauce settle and gives the rice enough structure for complete, layered servings.

Cool in shallow portions

Move leftovers out of the deep casserole within two hours so they cool quickly and evenly in the refrigerator.

Use within 3–4 days

Cover, refrigerate at 40°F / 4°C or below, and reheat the center to 165°F / 74°C.

Curry Broccoli Chicken Casserole

A ten-serving rice-bottomed casserole of cooked chicken, steamed broccoli, creamy curry sauce, lemon, and sharp Cheddar.

Chicken CasseroleBroccoliRiceCurry PowderCheddar9×13 BakingFamily Dinner

Ingredients

Rice base

  • 4 cups steamed rice

Chicken, broccoli, and curry sauce

  • 5–6 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
  • 2–3 cups steamed broccoli
  • 2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
  2. Have the four cups of steamed rice, cooked cubed chicken, and steamed broccoli ready. Drain the broccoli well; if steaming fresh florets for this recipe, stop while they are bright green and still slightly crisp because they will cook again in the oven.
  3. Spread the steamed rice evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Level it gently without packing it into a dense layer.
  4. In a large bowl, stir together the cooked chicken, steamed broccoli, both cans of cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, curry powder, and most of the shredded Cheddar. Reserve only enough cheese to cover the top lightly.
  5. Spread the chicken-broccoli mixture evenly over the rice, carrying it all the way to the corners without disturbing the base more than necessary.
  6. Sprinkle the reserved Cheddar evenly over the surface.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes, preserving Lori’s source clock, until the casserole is bubbling. For a safety check independent of appearance, verify 165°F / 74°C in the center with an instant-read thermometer.
  8. Set the dish on a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes before serving. Scoop through both layers so each portion includes rice and the creamy chicken-broccoli topping.

Source and research references: Lori’s archived June 2013 A Pinch of Glitter post for the complete formula, 9-by-13-inch layering, curry commentary, 350°F oven, 30-minute bake, and 5-minute rest; the archived My Recipe Magic card for the ten-serving legacy identity and syndicated metadata; Food Network Kitchen’s close curried chicken-and-broccoli casserole for independent convergence on crisp-tender drained broccoli, condensed soup, mayonnaise, lemon, curry, Cheddar, 350°F, and a roughly 30-minute bubbling finish; Utah State University Extension’s broccoli guide for bright-green crisp-tender steaming cues; and FoodSafety.gov guidance for 165°F casserole and leftover temperatures plus two-hour cooling, shallow containers, and four-day use. No source ratio was changed.

Image credits

Photography is used under open licenses with attribution: tengrrl / Wikimedia Commons, Miansari66 / Wikimedia Commons, and Alabama Extension / Wikimedia Commons.