This one pot lighter cheesy chicken rice and broccoli tastes like total comfort food in a bowl. Rice is cooked in a combination of chicken broth and milk to create a tender, creamy base for this recipe. Combined with tender chicken breast, broccoli florets, and a combination of mozzarella and cheddar cheese, you’ll never believe this recipe is lightened-up. This one pot rice dish is the perfect family-friendly meal.
What will I need to make one pot lighter cheesy chicken, rice and broccoli?
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe, along with some tips and tricks:
- light butter
- olive oil spray
- onion
- garlic
- uncooked white rice
- bouillon cube and water
- You can also use chicken broth instead.
- unsweetened almond milk or cashew milk
- If you or a loved one has a nut allergy, you can use skim milk instead.
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- broccoli florets
- cooked chicken breast
- I used juicy, rotisserie chicken breast here for the ultimate shortcut
- reduced fat mozzarella
- reduced fat cheddar cheese
The main components that make this dish “lighter” are the light butter, reduced fat cheeses, low-calorie milk, and the fact that it is bulked up by broccoli and chicken breast.
How do you make one pot meals?
One pot meals are such a great way to make a home-cooked meal for your family, but without using tons of pots and pans. Everything cooks in one pot, which makes for the easiest serving and clean up ever! I have several one pot dishes; some pasta dishes, and other rice dishes. The key to a good one-pot dish is getting the ratio right for the starch and the liquid. The first step to a one pot meal is to build the base flavor (think: sautéing onion or garlic in the pot) and then cooking the starch. After the starch is cooked, it’s all about adding more flavor and components to the dish to make it delicious! Here are some other one-pot meals you might enjoy: Sausage, Shrimp and Rice Rigatoni in Pink Sauce Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Sausage Skinny Buffalo Chicken Pasta Chicken Fajita and Rice Bake Orzo, Bacon and Asparagus Kielbasa Hash 
How to make one pot lighter cheesy chicken rice and broccoli
To start this dish, melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot. Dice the onion, and add that to the melted butter. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes or until it is translucent and tender. After 5 minutes, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Next, add olive oil spray to the pan, and add the uncooked rice. Toss the rice around in the pan to pick up the flavors of the butter and olive oil. This will also allow the rice to get slightly toasty. You can let the rice toast up for about 2-3 minutes, but be careful not to burn it. Dissolve the chicken bouillon in water to create broth (or, you can use chicken broth here). Add the broth along with the milk to the pot with the rice. Stir to combine all of the ingredients.
Bring the liquid to a boil, and then cover the pot with a lid and reduce the heat to medium (medium to medium low). Simmer the liquid for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the broccoli florets to the top of the rice, and cover again to simmer for another 10 minutes. This will allow the broccoli florets to steam, but they will still have a slight bite to them.
After 10 minutes, check the rice to make sure it is tender. If you need to cook the rice longer, let it cook longer (covered still). You can add liquid as needed. In the meantime, shred the chicken breast, and fold it in to the rice along with the two cheeses and the spices (onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper). Taste for seasoning. Depending on the sodium level of your broth, you may need to add more salt to the dish. 
Serving this one pot lighter cheesy chicken rice and broccoli
This dish makes 6 servings at a heaping 1.5 cups each. It is a generous portion, and is very filling. It also covers your protein, vegetable, and starch, all in one pot! If you are looking for something to serve with this dish, I suggest a simple garden salad on the side for some freshness. This makes a great meal prep too. To reheat, simply microwave individual portions before eating. You can add a splash more broth or milk if you need it.
One Pot Cheesy Chicken Rice and Broccoli
Equipment
- dutch oven or large pot
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp light butter, I use Land 'o Lakes with Canola Oil
- olive oil spray
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 cups uncooked white rice
- 1 bouillon cube, chicken flavor; you can also use 2 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 3 cups unsweetened almond milk, or cashew milk
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cooked chicken breasts, I used rotisserie chicken
- 3 oz reduced fat cheddar
- 3 oz reduced fat mozzarella
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat.
- Dice the onion and add it to the pot.
- Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes until translucent and tender.
- Mince the garlic and add it to the pot with the onion; sauté for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add olive oil spray to the pot.
- Add the uncooked rice to the pot.
- Toss it around to get the flavor of the vegetables and butter. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes to get toasty, stirring often.
- Dissolve the bouillon cube in the water.
- Add the water with the bouillon and the milk to the rice, stir to combine.
- Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover with the lid and reduce to medium.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the broccoli florets and return the lid.
- Simmer for another 10 minutes, then uncover.
- Taste the rice to make sure it is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- If the rice is still hard, add more liquid and continue cooking as needed/
- Shred the chicken breast.
- Add the shredded chicken breast, cheddar, mozzarella, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt.
- Stir to combine. Taste for seasoning.
Notes
- 9 WW points (green plan)
- 8 WW points (blue and purple plans)
Nutrition
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This looks yummy. I wonder how it would taste with cauliflower rice instead for less points? I may have to give it a try that one first. Time to add to my grocery pickup order.
Looks delicious. Will try it this week.
Do you think oat or skim milk would work? Nut allergy household here.
I just made it with oatmilk and it came out perfect! No odd flavor or texture issues! 🙂
This is delicious! I added a little more salt and garlic but other than that it was perfect for me. Salt is a personal thing!
Omgosh Omgosh Omgosh I took a taste of this when I thought it was finished and it was so delicious, I put the top back on the pan to let it sit for a little bit, then was going to text the recipe to a friend of mine and I realized I forgot the cheese! It’s even delicious that way OMG
Steph you are amazing!!!
I don’t know what happened with this one. I followed recipe exactly and it was awful. The texture was terrible (thick pile of mush) and my family wouldn’t eat it, we had to throw it out. I typically love all of Steph’s recipes, this is the first one I made that we couldn’t eat. Not sure what I did wrong since there are so many good reviews!
This is delicious!! Made it just as recommended and it is creamy and yummy. The best part is I had 2 seasoned cooked chicken breasts in freezer and all other ingredients as well. I used almond milk and that made it creamy. This is a great kid friendly meal too for the grandkids. Thanks Steph!
Omg. So good. I used turkey breast that I slow cooked then shredded and had to use skim milk due to allergies.. but this recipe was absolutely delicious. My teenagers and husband loved it!! Chef kiss! 💋
This is delicious! It came together so quickly and does not taste light at all! Thanks for another great recipe.
Absolutely delicious! Everyone loved it!
Wow this is awesome. I was concerned that it wouldn’t reheat that well but it’s perfect! I used 2% milk bc that’s what I had. Will definitely make again!
This was fantastic and I am living for these one pot recipes. Makes my life so much easier without compromising flavor.
Has anyone used frozen broccoli florets?
I used frozen bag of broccoli and still followed directions and it came out perfectly
This tastes delicious but my rice came out really mushy. Any ideas why?
If using rotisserie chicken, how many cups of shredded chicken should we add? Thanks in advance!
I used shredded rotisserie chicken as well and it was a little over 2 cups
Made this tonight! It’s unbelievably good!! Love the one pot dishes! My family strongly approved!
Amazing! Have you tried freezing portions and reheating?
Looks so good. How many cups of chicken breast would this be? Going to slow cook in the crockpot.
Approximately how many pounds of uncooked chicken breast if you would rather use that?
ALL of your recipes are amazing!!!
What brand of rice do you use?
Why does it look like there is scallion in the photo?
Mine was very liquidy. I did the chx broth with 2 cups milk. Otherwise came out great
Absolutely delicious…
Very good recipe! You cannot go wrong! Great job Steph
I really wanted to like this. I made it as is, but my family and I thought it was bland. It definitely needs more seasoning.
Steph ain’t lyin in her description – this is comfort in a bowl. I meal prepped this and it reheated super well all week long. It has tons of protein and veggies while still being something exciting, flavorful, and a meal I genuinely looked forward to. I love one-pot meals where I can easily meet both my protein AND veggie needs. Another slam dunk by Steph!
Another winner!! Loved this one. I didn’t have a rotisserie chicken from the store but I used my instant pot – 4 breasts, 20 minutes- shredded chicken while I prepped the rest of the ingredients! Thanks Steph!
Quick, easy and one pot, what more could you want? Personally, I added additional salt, pepper and added a dash of Tabasco to liven it up a notch. It was a thumb’s up!
This recipe far exceeded expectations! My husband requested this recipe and was easily able to help prep which I love – thank you for all the easy to follow steps with pictures!! The only modification we made was all I had on hand was oatmilk which ended up being totally fine with no weird flavor. This recipe is super filling, very minimal mess/cleanup involved, and makes SO much!
This was so simple and SO good!
Found a bunch of chicken and multiple bags of broccoli in my freezer and knew you’d have a recipe to help me use some of it! This is DELICIOUS and I’m already looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!
This was FANTASTIC! The only thing I may tweak is adding a little more seasoning, it was a little bland but I honestly think that was my own fault because none of Steph’s recipes are ever bland. It was DELICIOUS & we saved the leftovers for lunches.
I just made this for tomorrow night!!! Can’t wait! Looks sooooo good! Thanks steph!
Yummy and easy to prepare.
This recipe turned out really well! My only recommendation is to add more seasonings than listed. I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and poultry seasoning. I still think it could have used a little more than that too. Also, it gets difficult to mix when you add the seasonings in at the end so i would recommend adding them while bringing the mixture to a boil. Otherwise, great recipe and has room for personalization!
Love the taste and love that there’s no creamed soups involved. Kind of reminds me of the consistency of a stirred up chipotle bowl with sour cream mixed in. I love hearty, creamy dishes like this so I loved it and thought it reheated well.
This was absolutely delicious. The only thing I would do next time is to add the seasonings while the rice is cooking. I used skim milk as I’ve had bad experiences using almond milk in recipes before. My family says they will definitely add this into our meal rotation!
I always overcook the broccoli in every dish I make with it. But the flavor is so good.
Again, another AMAZING meal! My family just gobbled this up! This is going in the rotation!
Absolutely delicious & effortless! Cooked this meal in a rush because i work nights & need something for my family to eat while im gone…. THIS IS IT!!!!! Sooooo gooood
This is a yummy combination for an easy one pot meal.
My husband and I loved this! Reheated really well with a splash of milk and sprinkle of cheese on top! We’ve loved ALL of your recipes. Thank you so much for sharing!