Brown vs. White Rice- A Question

Morning All!

I am making Campbell's cheesy chicken and rice casserole tonight for dinner, and while I am confident about a few modifications that I will be making (swapping fresh chopped broccoli for frozen veg, using the low-fat soup and reduced fat cheese) I am nervous about swapping the white rice that the recipe calls for for brown rice. I really want to, but I am worried that it will mess up the cooking time, etc.

Any advice? Thanks :)

does the recipe have the uncooked rice in the casserole, then the rice cooks in the oven?

If so, yes, the cooking times will be different and it will need a little more water. brown rice takes almost an hour to cook while white is about 20 minutes.

Its worth the wait if you ask me!

I did a stuffed pepper casserole last night, but I pre-cooked the rice. Maybe that is an option? And just leave any water out of the casserole recipe?

You might also try cooking the brown rice half-way before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients, that way it still absorbs all the flavors without messing up cooking times?  Never tried it, so just a thought..

One more suggestion....

I use "converted" brown rice or "instant" brown rice......you get the same goodness and fiber, but it cooks very quickly!

It is supposed to go in uncooked, with e veggies and some water and the sondensed soup (with the chicken on top). Either cooking it for like 20 mins before I mix it in with the other ingredients or adding more water and cooking it longer are the 2 options I was considering, but I think that cooking it longer might make the chicken overdone? Maybe I'll try cooking the rice for a while first.

I often sub white for wild rice in recipes and since wild rice takes about an hour, I cook it on it's own first and then mix it in.  It always turns out just fine, though I usually tack on an extra 5 minutes to the cook time of the rice. (to account for cooling)

Original Post by ashleyrd:

It is supposed to go in uncooked, with e veggies and some water and the sondensed soup (with the chicken on top). Either cooking it for like 20 mins before I mix it in with the other ingredients or adding more water and cooking it longer are the 2 options I was considering, but I think that cooking it longer might make the chicken overdone? Maybe I'll try cooking the rice for a while first.

I would definitely pre-cook the rice some. The veggies will be mush if they go an extra 20 minutes!

I will definitely be boiling the rice for 20 minutes before I add it :)

Have you considered bulgur?  Same cooking time as white rice.

I actually mix my white rice and brown rice... I cook it in the rice cooker though so i wouldn't know how it would work in your recipe but it cooks the exact same.