Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Thyme Bake— meal prep meals

I love a quick meal. Especially one with minimal effort. This Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Thyme Bake is one of the best quick weeknight meal and can also be used as a MEAL PREP meal! Cheesy, with tender strips of chicken breasts on top of rice and dotted with roasted broccoli.

This is a meal that can be cooked immediately after making or refrigerated until the next day, even frozen once assembled.

defrosting rules from frozen

Hey remember those Lean Cuisines that looked amazing but when you cooked them the center was still cold? Ok, Let’s not bring up that trauma. Here is the key:

1. The morning of the meal, leave out on the counter or in the refrigerator.
2. If coming out of the refrigerator, grab the meal as soon as you take your heels off walking through the door. This way it’s coldness has relaxed by the time you get comfortable and have pre-heated the oven.
3. Don’t leave in the refrigerator for more than 2-3 days. Not only are we talking about bacteria build up but the rice will get soggy. Ugh.
4. ALWAYS mark the dish with “CHEESY BROCCOLI CHICKEN BAKE”; “RAW/UNCOOKED”; “BEST BY”, etc. I keep some masking tape and a sharpie in my cabinet just for this reason.
5. Don’t ever think it. I’m guilty too.

alternate cooking instructions

Cooking from frozen: let defrost then add extra cheese to the top (optional) then cook at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes with the foil on top. Take foil off then cook an additional 5 minutes. Let the steam cool off and dive in!

Cooking from the refrigerator: let come to room temp as much as possible (no hard rules to this, meaning it’s optional) then, add more cheese on top (also optional) cook at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes with foil on, then take the foil off for 5 more minutes.

How to make this Cheesy Broccoli Bake!

Materials you will need:

1. Cutting board and knife
2. large casserole dishes specifically but not limited to 9×15 and 8×13 with lids for storing
3. masking tape and sharpie to mark the dish
4. oven and hot pads
5. large saucepan for making sauce. (This is the one I use)
6. whisk and spatula
7. liquid measuring cup and measuring spooons.

Now, lets get started!

Step 1

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Get all ingredients out on the workbench. (Chicken, rice, broccoli, butter, flour, thyme, salt, pepper, cheddar cheese, and milk.

Step 2

In a 9 x 15 dish and (optional) 13 x 8 in dish, put 1 cup uncooked rice and 1 cup water in the 9×15. In the 8 x 13 add 1/2 cup uncooked rice and 1/2 cup water in it. Put slices of uncooked chicken in tender strips down the center of each. Add broccoli to each dish as well.

Step 3

Make cheese sauce: In a large saucepan on medium heat and melt butter. Once butter has melted, add flour and whisk around until small beads happen. Add thyme, onion powder, and salt and pepper . Then, add 1 cup of milk at a time, whisking until flour is throughout and thickening milk. Add up to 4 cups milk.

Step 4

Once you have thick milk, add shredded cheddar cheese (and 1/4th bar of cream cheese if you want it thicker). (Keep 1 cup of shredded cheese for the top to the side.)

Step 5

Pour the sauce evenly over raw chicken mix on each dish. Add extra cheese to the top, not limited to 1 cup, and if you coat it with cheese…I’m coming over! We should be friends 😆.

Finally, cook covered for 20-25 min, and an additional 5 minutes without the foil to crisp up any edges (cause all cheese dishes should have little cheese crunches!) (NOTE! These instructions are if you are cooking right after making it)

Meal prep bake

This meal is part of my weekly meals ANYTIME I am not going to be at the dinner table that night. This is the perfect meal to place in the refrigerator (even with raw chicken) and cook the next day. Heck! You can FREEZE this (yes, even with raw chicken), let it defrost on the counter, and cook it that night (frozen up to 2 months). I like to leave the chicken raw so it’s not rubber by the time you make it. Don’t worry! I know it may be a bit uncomfortable, but I do this all the time —and I’m still here to write about it!.

The key is: the whole dish will be cooked, so having raw chicken in it is no big deal. Also, try to bring it to room temperature as much as possible for the best outcome. Especially, if it’s coming from frozen.

Add to the weeknight list

or your PINTEREST board for easy access!

Most of the ingredients are staples so it’s easy to throw together without plans. I love that, ah.

Plus, this is also a great dish for any POTLUCKS you may be obligated to. Throw it together to make it look like you spent all day on it. Plus, who doesn’t like cheesy-rice-bake dishes? If they don’t, you shouldn’t be friends with them anyway lol. 😝

Ok, y’all have to check out the other weekday meal preps I’ve been working on! Give me an idea and I’ll take it to the moon! —or something like that.

Yours truly,

Farmer McFranny