The overwhelming response to my Bags To Dishes series continues, so I’m bringing you more recipes like Ma’s Chicken and Rice Bake! These shelf stable recipes can ensure you never have to wonder what’s for supper again – and will help prevent huge bills at fast food drive throughs, too.
Today’s meal has one of my family’s favorite ingredients :Yellow Saffron Rice. My husband and kids just love this stuff. It must be a Jordan thing because last year all of the Jordans (Georgia side and Alabama side) got together for a weekend in a big old cabin in the mountains and we all brought different things to cook. When I pulled out the package of yellow rice, my niece and nephew’s eyes got big as dollars and my niece said “OH you brought the GOOD stuff!”. So yeah, this is a regular ingredient in our food rotation.
Ma’s Rice and Veggie Bake is easy to throw together and a meal in one. You can easily customize it, though. Leave the chicken out, leave out the veggies, add more veggies or only the kind you like, and even make your own homemade cheese sauce if you don’t want to reach for the can (But don’t feel bad if you reach for the can because that is what I do!).
When you buy the ingredients, though, make sure you buy enough to make several of these bag meals. When combined with the other bag meal recipes I’ve brought you so far, we are getting close to a whole months worth of back up meals already!
Are y’all hungry? I sure am. Let’s get cooking!
In your bag, you’ll place: Can of chicken, Can of veggies (or dehydrated veggies*), can of cheese soup (or recipe for homemade cheese sauce), small can of evaporated milk, a large package of yellow saffron rice, and a copy of this recipe. Exact measurements are at the bottom of this post.
*I prefer dehydrated veggies because I like their flavor better than canned but I wanted to show at least a recipe or two with canned since I know a lot of y’all may not have a dehydrator. Another ideal is frozen, but this takes this from a completely shelf stable meal to a partially shelf stable meal, which is fine. If you decide to use frozen get a ten ounce bag or so and cook them in a bit of boiling water until heated through, then drain and proceed with recipe as written.
You can also have top this with cheese if you like, just before removing from the oven. You’ll need about a cup or so but that is optional, too.
To season this, you’ll need salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Actually, all of these are optional. Sometimes I add them, sometimes I don’t. Go with your mood on this one. Keep in mind that the Saffron rice is pretty well seasoned as is. If you decide to go rogue and use white rice, you’ll want to amp up the seasonings a good bit according to your taste.
Cook rice according to package directions in a pot large enough to add everything else (no sense in dirtying up a bowl). Once rice is cooked, drain veggies and chicken and toss those in along with evaporated milk, cheese soup, and seasonings.
Stir that up really good.
Place in an 8×8 casserole dish – or whatever you grab first that is oven proof.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Or until bubbly. Top with cheese, if desired, and cook 5 minutes more.
EAT!
Be sure you check out my original Bags to Dishes post to learn more about these meals and how you can adapt your family’s favorite recipes to be shelf stable. Also, take a gander at the other Bags to Dishes recipes I’ve shared!
Ingredients
- 10 ounce Package Yellow Saffron Rice the size that makes 5, 1 cup servings
- 10-12 ounce can of chicken whichever size you have
- 10 ounce can Cheddar Soup or homemade cheese sauce recipe
- 4 ounce can evaporated milk
- 14 ounce can mixed veggies
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup shredded cheddar for topping optional
Instructions
To assemble bag meal: Place rice package along cans of chicken, milk, soup, and veggies in a large 2 gallon zipper seal bag along with a copy of this recipe.
To make:
- Cook rice according to package directions. Drain chicken and veggies.
- Stir all ingredients into warm, cooked rice. Spoon into greased 8x8 casserole dish.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Top with cheese, if desired, and bake another 5 minutes more. Serve warm.
Nutrition
This post was originally posted in 2014 but I updated the photos and post in 2020.
This post featured in Meal Plan Monday and Weekend Potluck!
“Pray the hardest when it is hardest to pray.”
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Submitted by Martha G. Click here to read more and submit your own.
When we tried making your bag meals, I wasn’t expecting them to be as delicious as they are. I have tried this one and the chicken and wild rice one. I was expecting it to be ok. I was expecting it to be a nice change from eating fast food, but nothing too fancy. These meals were shockingly good. Everyone loved them! I am trying the enchilada one next.
Thank you so much. Am so happy that you love the bags meals. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Gratefully yours
Stacey Lynn
When my three year old tells me, Baba, I hungry my pride goes out the window. You have a bag of rice two months past the sell-by date? Thank you, I ll be grateful. When I was in another place in life, I looked for the freshest food on the shelf, but I still knew that sell-by dates are just marketing ploys to keep the merchandise turning as fast as possible. Too many people empty their cabinets if their canned ravioli is a day past the sell-by date, as if ptomaine had just entered the can overnight. That s how stores sell merchandise. That hole in the cabinet has to be filled with another can.
Amen. I use guidelines as a general informative thing to let me know about when an item was canned or packaged. I do not throw things away just because that date has passed. There have been studies on canned goods over 100 years old and while the nutritional value has declined, the food was still safe to consume. It is important to check the integrity of the can: make sure there are no dents or rust, but other than that, use your best judgement. Good point and I’m glad you brought it up!
Thank you so much for these recipes. I plan on making some meals up with different types of noodles for variety (egg noodles, ziti, shells etc) since I have a family that’s not into rice dishes.
This was one of those nobody’s talking at the table meals, so I knew I’d found a winner! Thanks so much!
Oh goodness looking at this post I made a year ago makes it sound like I don’t encourage conversation at the table! I meant that everyone was busy eating bite after bite because it was so good.
I made this again recently and had to use broccoli cheese soup because my grocery store didn’t have cheddar cheese soup. Wanted to comment that it was just as good. Very tasty!
I made this dish a couple of weeks ago, but couldn’t find the can of mixed vegetables I had (does that tell you the state of my pantry), so used a 12-oz package of frozen mixed vegetables that were thawed and drained. We all absolutely devoured this. Thanks, Christy (and your mom), for this great keeper recipe.
I am so glad you liked it!!
I love your recipes and helpful hints! If I double this recipe, will it fit in a 9×13 baking dish?