Vegan Chickpea & Rice Casserole (Dump and Bake)

GFGluten FreeNFNut FreeOFOil FreeVVegan

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

This dump-and-bake Chickpea & Rice Casserole is easy AND delicious! Made from only 10 plant-based ingredients, it delivers big flavor with minimal effort.

Dump and bake casseroles have pretty much become a staple for From My Bowl. I love to make them almost as much as you love to eat them! 

But really though – what’s not to love about throwing everything in a casserole dish, covering it, and then baking it in the oven?! You get maximum flavor with minimal prep-time, hands-on time, and kitchen cleanup.

ingredients for chickpea rice casserole arranged in white casserole dish on marble background

INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKPEA RICE CASSEROLE

This casserole is made from only 10 plant-based ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry! Here are some of the key components:

  • White Rice: for fragrant flavor and fluffiness, I’d recommend jasmine or basmati rice. White rice has a different cooking time than other grains, so if you’d like to use brown rice please see the recipe notes! 
  • Chickpeas: for plant-based protein and fiber. If you’re using canned beans, make sure to drain and rinse them first!
  • Broth and Coconut Milk: to add flavor and creaminess to our casserole, I found it best to use a combination of vegan chicken-flavored stock  and coconut milk.
  • Flavorful Veggies: a.k.a. onion, garlic, celery, and mushrooms!

This casserole is essentially a riff off of the classic Chicken & Rice Casserole, which is normally made with chicken, rice, and a few different cans of pre-made soup. The broth, coconut milk, and vegetables combine to replace the soup cans, which aren’t traditionally vegan. Swap the animal protein for some chickpeas and we’re good to go!

cooked chickpea rice casserole topped with black pepper and parsley on marble background

HOW TO MAKE CHICKPEA RICE CASSEROLE

  1. Add the broth, coconut milk, and nutritional yeast to a pot and bring to a boil
  2. Layer the rice, chickpeas, and vegetables in a casserole dish
  3. Pour the boiling liquid into the casserole dish, then
  4. Cover and bake until the rice is fluffy!

Not only is this a totally hands-off cook time, but the rice and chickpeas get infused with extra flavor while everthing bakes away in the oven! Once the rice has cooked for 45 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

chickpea rice casserole on white plate with fork on marble background

I love this Chickpea & Rice Casserole because it’s the perfect comfort food – it’s creamy, cozy, and also packed with veggies. I like to top mine with a little freshly ground black pepper, but it would also be good with some extra dairy-free cheese or maybe even a drizzle of Vegan Ranch.

This dump-and-bake Chickpea & Rice Casserole is easy AND delicious! Made from only 10 plant-based ingredients, it delivers big flavor with minimal effort. Perfect for meal prep or a weeknight dinner!

If you’re looking for more dump-and-bake casserole recipes, you’ll also love this Buffalo Cauliflower Casserole, this Southwestern Black Bean Casserole, and this Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole!

Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂

Print

Vegan Chickpea & Rice Casserole

This dump-and-bake Chickpea & Rice Casserole is easy AND delicious! Made from only 10 plant-based ingredients, it delivers big flavor with minimal effort.

  • Author: Caitlin Shoemaker
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 Minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F and set a 9×13″ or similar pan.
  2. Add the stock, coconut milk, and nutritional yeast to a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. While the liquid heats, add the rice, chickpeas, onion, garlic, celery, and mushrooms to the casserole dish. Mix them around and spread evenly across the bottom of the casserole with a spatula.
  3. Once the liquid comes to a boil, carefully pour it over the casserole and cover with a layer of parchment paper (optional) followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
  4. Remove the casserole from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes, then uncover. Top with parsley and serve warm; leftovers will last in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Notes

  • Brown Rice: if you wish to use brown rice instead of white, preheat the oven to 400F instead and bake for 60 minutes instead of 45. I have not tested this recipe with any other grain substitutions

Keywords: chickpea rice casserole, vegan chicken rice casserole, healthy chicken rice casserole, chickpea casserole, vegan rice casserole

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

About the Author

Hey there, I’m Caitlin! I make easy-to-follow, wholesome, and budget-friendly vegan recipes that are mostly gluten-free and refined sugar-free. I’m also an avid yogi, love the great outdoors, am chocolate-obsessed, and enjoy eating almond butter straight off of the spoon.

Learn More

FREE GUIDE: 5 Tips for Quick & Easy Vegan Dinners

Plus, get all of my recipes sent straight to your inbox!

You May Also Like

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. This was sooo good and easy! I didn’t use onion or garlic, I love both of those but my stomach is unpredictable as to if it’ll be ok with those and it was still so flavourful! I added zucchini and squash and I baked for 30 minutes and it was just so perfect. I can’t wait to try other veggies in it and make it for my family and friends!

    1. When you added zucchini, how small did you chop it? I hate soggy zucchini, but have some and am thinking of adding it in!

  2. I’ve made this several times and we love it but am out of full fat coconut milk. Will light coconut milk work?

    1. You may be missing some of the creaminess in the final result, but I think it would still work!

  3. This recipe is easy and so delicious! I like to add in carrots too!
    I hardly ever re-make recipes, but I’ve re-made this twice and making it again tonight.
    Thank you!!

  4. SO COMFORTING and delicious! With how stressful things are in the moment it was so nice to make something warm, comforting, without too much labor involved. Thank you for sharing and can’t wait to try out the others!

    1. So happy to hear you found comfort in the recipe! It’s important. Thanks so much for making it!

  5. Hi Caitlin, I would like to half this recipe. If I use brown rice and an 8×8 dish, would it take 60 minutes to cook still? Also, I don’t have mushrooms right now, could you recommend a substitute? I was thinking more celery, but I’m open to your suggestion…

    Thanks!

    1. If you’re halving it, that size dish sounds about right. It might not take 60 minutes, mostly you just want the rice to be cooked. I would check it around the 30-40 minute mark. As for the mushroom, extra celery would be fine!

  6. We are loving the casserole recipes – keep them coming. I am making this again tonight but adding frozen cauliflower and broccoli. We are trying to get as many veggies in as we can during these crazy times in the world. I have recommended this site to so many of my vegan friends. Thank you!

  7. Making this for the second time tonight! But tonight we are doubling it. Our family of 6 all loved it! Made exactly as written except I added some of the Trader Joe’s Vegan chicken less seasoning salt! So good!!

  8. This turned out so creamy and delicious!! The coconut milk makes all the difference. I used plain vegetable broth since I didn’t have any vegan chicken flavored broth. Next time I make this (because I am DEFINITELY making this again), I would probably add some chicken-y spices to the liquid mix if using plain veggie broth.

    Thanks for all that you do, Caitlin! You never disappoint 🙂

    1. Yay! Love hearing when some on the fly changes work out. Thanks so much for making it and all the kind words!

    1. Wild rice would work well – I think! If you give it a shot let us know how it turns out!

    1. The nutritional yeast does add to the flavor with that sort of cheesy flavor. If you don’t have it you could leave it out in a pinch.

  9. Loved this! I added chopped spinach and a couple of tablespoons of Franks hot sauce. Delicious and an easy dump and bake dinner.

  10. Love these Dump & Bake recipes! Making a casserole that can be used over several days (or frozen for later enjoyment) is such a time-saver. Cheers!

  11. Hi Caitlin! I love your content and all your recipes! I am in the process of setting up a food blog myself and I was wondering how you created your content slider on your homepage? are you using a plugin?
    Other than that stay safe and healthy in times of the corona virus.

    All the best,
    Anna

    1. Hey Anna! Thanks for the well wishes, hope you’re healthy as well. The slider is a combination of what is built into the theme and some custom coding.

  12. This was delicious! Thank you for sharing. I ended up using canned mushrooms because that was what I had on hand and added a finely diced cherry pepper and thinly sliced carrots. We ate ours with some broccoli and the flavors worked well together. Everyone in our family thoroughly enjoyed it.

    1. I’ve made this several times and it is so delicious. If I have some cashew cream made I like to drizzle it over too as well. I also like to eat with sauteed kale either placed right on top of my bowl or eaten alongside.

      Yesterday decided to try with Right Rice instead of regular white rice to mix things up and it was SO good! I shortened the cook time to 25 minutes and the texture of the “rice” was good, maybe could have even stood to bake for just a few minutes less. I think even longer than 25 min will yield mushy RR. Just make sure to slice your onion and celery extra fine so they aren’t still crunchy at the end. I used the garlic and herb flavored RR and loved the flavor it added.

      1. That’s cool that you tried it with right rice! And it’s true, the right rice seems to cook a bit quicker than typical rice.

  13. I didn’t have any mushrooms, , red onion Instead of yellow onion, frozen kabocha l had leftover. It added a creamy sweetness to the dish. I like the dump and bake recipes. I made the Black Bean Southwestern dump too. Both were very good and I will make them both again. Thank you.

  14. Hi Caitlin!

    Can’t wait to make this recipe— chicken and rice casserole was a huge comfort dish for me growing up. I have a question— I have some fresh broccoli and asparagus I want to use up. Could I add those to this casserole?

    Thanks!

  15. Hi, have you tried adding any other kinds of veggies to it? Just curious; maybe sweet potatoes? Green Beans? Broccoli? It looks so wonderful but not sure it has enough ‘umph’ or ‘oomph’ for my partner, who likes a good ‘bite’ of something…

    1. This is yummy! It’s so similar to cream of mushroom soup chicken it’s making me want the chicken texture! Do you think it would work to throw some soy curls in there?

      1. Soy curls could definitely add more dimension and texture to this dish. Thank you so much, Shannon! 😊