Great green chile rice recipe side dish you can make during the holidays or throughout the year for dinner. Cheesy and full of flavor, this casserole will hit the spot!
This easy green chile rice is so creamy and delicious. Easy and full of lots of flavor…and heat if you want it! One of our favorite quick and easy casseroles. (affiliate links present)
Hatch Chile Rice Recipe
I’m always down for a warm cheesy side dish when it comes to the holidays especially. A comfort food that pairs well with ham for Christmas or Thanksgiving is
Green chiles or hatch chiles come in many forms. Year round you can find them in the store canned and already diced if you like. For a few weeks out of the year you can find hatch chiles which I used in this pressure cooker sausage rice casserole recipe recently and it was amazing.
This easy side dish is always a hit at potlucks and holidays. You just need a few items from the store, or your cupboard. If you have the opportunity to smoke or char your own chiles than by all means start with that and get those ready. Canned can be used too.
Green Chile Rice Ingredients
- Baking dish – oven safe 2 quart
- Large bowl to combine ingredients
- Pre-cooked White rice or you can use Jasmine rice if you wish, both need to be cooked before adding
- Green chiles – you can find them canned at the store already diced or if you want to make your own smoked chiles in your smoker you can do that too (seen below)
- Sour cream and cheese
Should I use pre-cooked or uncooked rice in a casserole?
You do want to prep this ahead of time and cook long grain or Jasmine rice on the stove or in a rice cooker first until tender and fluffy. I find that even if I provide enough liquid in the dish, grains don’t cook evenly and to my liking if added uncooked.
It is really a throw it together appetizer or side dish. Going in the oven with everything else, it can easily sit on the counter for quite a while until everything is done. Casseroles tend to thicken up even more as they cool so no worries. Heating it up the next day too is amazing.
Here is a quick step by step but there is a printable recipe at the bottom of this post as well.
How to Make Green Chili Rice
Time needed: 37 minutes
Green Chili Rice
- Prepare
Cook white rice so you have 3 cups cooked, set aside. Use your large bowl to combine all your ingredients including your shredded cheese. Use prepared and diced canned chiles or if they’re fresh char the outsides and then remove the seeds and membrane. Scrape soft tissue out and dice to add.
- Preheat
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Get ready
Pour mixture into your casserole dish and smooth out so it’s the same thickness all the way across. This will ensure it bakes evenly and the middle gets done. As with any other casserole the edges will get a bit more done than the center. I like this as I prefer the crustier pieces, where others like a softer consistency. No worries, the whole thing will be absolutely delicious, believe me!
- Bake
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Optional step is to add 1/2 cup – 3/4 c. of additional cheddar cheese to the top 5 – 10 minutes before it’s done.
- Rest
Remove and allow to cool on a cooling rack for a good 10 minutes so it can thicken up just a bit more.
Serve and enjoy this cheesy cooked rice dish! Believe me, everyone will ask for this easy recipe and you can be the hero of the evening. 😉
Green Chile Casserole
If you’re looking for a creamy rice casserole for dinner this is a great choice, and really cheap to make as well which is always a win. Other hatch chile recipes you will love:
- You can try our Crockpot green chili chicken dish for dinner
- Cream corn casserole is a must during the holidays for us
- Our stuffed pepper casserole is amazing and low in saturated fat
- Chicken and hatch chile stew is fabulous
Then make our hearty green chile chicken casserole! Adding meat makes it a main meal instead of just a side.
Here’s the printable recipe and nutritional information.
Green Chile Rice
Ingredients
- 3 c rice, measure 3 c after it has been cooked, you're adding precooked rice to this
- 4 oz green chiles, canned, diced
- 2 c cheddar cheese
- 16 oz sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Spread the mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until the cheese begins to brown around the edges. Cool slightly before serving.
- If you want to add a layer of cheese on the very top, add another 1/2-3/4 cup 10 minutes before cook time ends so it can melt and brown.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We loved it! I only used half of the sour cream, maybe even less(not a big measurer) and it was perfect! Will definitely be making this often!
Thanks!
Has anyone used cauliflower rice instead of white rice?
I do better with chopped up Poblamo than hatch so I will do that. Probably will add a little garlic and onion powder and I will use brown rice as well. Love chili relleno at Azteca so I will probably love this too. Variations I might eventually try are adding chicken &/or cream of chicken soup. Cottage cheese might be good in it as well.
I am trying this tonight so wish me luck. I did add garlic and onion powder as well as S&P and reduced the amount of sour creams as it seemed like a lot. Any thoughts on using an alternative to sour cream that might be a little lighter?
Not sure, may not be as thick in the end
Wondering whether anyone has tried the recipe using non-dairy cheese and sour cream?
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I did change the green chilis to Hot Green Jalapenos to fit our taste. We REALLY enjoyed it.
Oh yay!
Thanks for sharing this Great recipe I Love rice anyway I can get it…Nice Change 👍👍
Made this tonight for a crawfish boil party, doubling the recipe. None left, so I guess that tells you it was good. I saw a few people going back for seconds. It tasted delicious to me when I sampled it during preparation. Thanks, this one’s a keeper.
OH yay!!
Made this tonight for a crawfish boil party, doubling the recipe. None left, so I guess that tells you it was good.
Glad it was a hit
Made this tonight and it was delicious, however too much sour cream for my liking, just made it too rich but I’m definitely keeping it and will just fold enough in for moisture next time and see how that works! Thanks for the great recipe!