Cheesy Chicken and Rice (Crock Pot Version)
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This crockpot cheesy chicken and rice recipe is one of the most popular recipes of all time on Southern Plate and with good reason. The combination of the flavorful Zatarain rice, cream of chicken soup, and gooey cheese make for a delicious (and easy) weeknight supper.
You talk, I listen. Well, I listen whenever I can, of course! Folks have been asking for more slow cooker recipes for a multitude of reasons. Who doesn’t like to come home and have supper all cooked and waiting for them? I know I sure do! This is a recipe I modified for the slow cooker and some of you will be happy to know I also removed the entire stick of margarine it called for.
This easy cheesy chicken and rice recipe in the crockpot uses simple ingredients like cheese, cream of chicken, yellow rice, and sweet corn that pack a punch when combined. It’s creamy, it’s flavorful, and it’s so easy to make, as your slow cooker does most of the work for you (don’t we just love that?). But if you want to speed things up, check out my oven version (cheesy chicken and rice casserole) of this crockpot recipe.
Speaking of the slow cooker, here are some recipes to try in your crockpot this week: crockpot lasagna, chicken fajitas in the crockpot, crockpot cashew chicken, and crockpot chili.
Alright, let’s get cooking!
Recipe Ingredients
- Yellow rice
- Cream of chicken soup (homemade cream of chicken soup recipe here)
- Whole kernel corn
- Yellow onion
- Shredded cheddar cheese
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Cheesy Chicken and Rice in the Crockpot
Place your chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker (spray with first if needed).
Chop up the onion and toss it on top as well.
Spoon or glob your cream soup over that.
Now cover this and cook it according to the following:
Low: 7-8 hours
High: 3-4 hours
This is great to put on in the morning on the weekends if you cook it on high and then have a nice meal at lunchtime.
When it is done cooking, it’ll look a little like this.
Now… it’s not cheesy chicken and rice without cheese and rice!
So your next step is to add the drained corn kernels, cheddar cheese, and cooked rice.
You’ll need to cook your rice before this step. What I like to do is cook my rice the night before and just stick it in the fridge. Then you can dump it in and stir it up and give it a minute or two to get heated. You can also cook your rice as soon as you get home, though. It’s still an easy and delicious supper!
Stir all of that up and give it a few minutes to get all heated and warm (this won’t take long).
This stuff is to die for. Prepare for a happy landing in your stomach!
Storage
Store your cheesy chicken and rice leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to three months. When it’s time, simply reheat it in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- You can use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. You can also use leftover rotisserie chicken.
- Want more veggies? You can also add a selection of frozen vegetables to the slow cooker when you add the onion, like carrots, frozen broccoli florets, and peas. Other options? Cauliflower florets, green beans, chopped celery, and chopped bell peppers. Add two to three cups overall.
- It is a-okay if you want to use cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup instead of this creamy chicken version. For even more mushroom flavor, add some sliced mushrooms to the slow cooker.
- Another easy way to add flavor is to add a teaspoon of both garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic) and onion powder.
- One more option… add a cup of chicken broth to the slow cooker in the beginning. This will make the chicken even more tender, if that’s even possible!
- Instead of cheddar cheese, swap it out for your favorite type of shredded cheese.
- I love Zatarain’s yellow rice mix, one of my favorite meal helpers. But you can use any you like, such as long-grain white rice, quinoa, wild rice, or .
- If you want to use the lower-fat cream soup that’s fine in this too. A lot of folks have been making my slow cooker chicken and wild rice with cream of chicken soup because they don’t care for the cream of mushroom soup and that is great, too! Make it your own and tweak these recipes however they work best for your family.
- Feel free to garnish with sliced green onions or chopped fresh parsley. Some freshly cracked black pepper ain’t so bad either!
Recipe FAQs
How do you chop the chicken for chicken and rice?
Now, a lot of folks have asked if or when they need to chop the chicken so the dish appears as it does in the photo. The great thing about this recipe is that by the time you add the rice, the chicken pieces are so tender from being slow-cooked that stirring in the rice will cause it to break up and become shredded chicken as pictured. Hope you enjoy it!
Can you freeze cheesy chicken and rice?
Absolutely! You can freeze leftovers for up to three months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge before reheating them for a couple of minutes in the microwave.
What side goes with cheesy chicken and rice?
I recommend serving this slow cooker and with a side salad or vegetables. Here are some suggestions:
- Boiled squash
- Fresh green beans
- Zucchini and squash
- Broccoli salad with bacon and raisins
- Roasted asparagus
- Candied carrots
- Collard greens with hot pepper sauce
You may also enjoy serving the chicken and rice with cornbread, biscuits, or homemade dinner rolls.
Here are more of my favorite chicken dinner recipes:
Instant Pot Butter Chicken Recipe
North Alabama Style Pulled Chicken BBQ
Chicken Kabobs Recipe In The Oven
Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large chopped onion
- 1 8-ounce box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 10.5-ounce can cream of chicken soup
- 1 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot. Scatter chopped onion over the top. Spoon cream soup over the top of that.4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 large chopped onion, 1 10.5-ounce can cream of chicken soup
- Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- A few minutes before serving, add the cooked rice, corn, and shredded cheese to the crockpot. Stir to combine, until the cheese melts. Serve hot.1 8-ounce box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.
It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”
~Charles Schultz.
I’m not sure what happened but it was a soupy mess! I used the healthy version of the cream of chicken, not sure if that made a difference. My husband did the last step of adding in the cheese because I was not home and he texted me saying something was wrong with the recipe. I will try this recipe again, but maybe cut back some of the liquid?
Haven’t made this yet, but saw your comment and had to ask…what liquid? As far as I can tell this recipe calls for a can of soup, but no liquid and a can of corn that is drained. Did I miss something?
My was soupy to. I am guessbmybwas from using frozen chicken. going to drain some off before adding corn cheese bad rice
My was soupy to. I am guessing due to using frozen chicken. Going to drain before adding corn rice and cheese
Did you use the water/milk to actually make the soup??? You only use the contents of the can, do not add water/milk.
Do you use frozen or refrigerated chicken on this recipe?
holy cheese and rice!!! (1) i’ve never used a crockpot before, so i was terrified when i left my 95 year old house this morning with the crockpot going. my husband reassured me throughout the day that this is what crockpots were made to do and that our house would still be standing when we got home. (2) i was rushing around this morning cutting the onions and for some onion in my eye(!!!!!) (3) this is possibly one of the best dishes i have ever made. love it!!! thank you!!!
LOL. (1) I am so glad to hear your house survived!! And yes, that is what crockpots are made for. (2) I hope you learn to love your crockpot as much as I do, it is so great coming home to a meal already cooked at the end of the day. (3) I hope your eye is ok and I am THRILLED you liked the dish!!! ~HUGS~
I was wondering….if I make this and use white rice instead, how much rice do I cook? Does the zatarans make like 2 cups after cooked or more/less?
I think it’s about a cup and a half dry but I don’t recommend straight white rice as a sub. The Zats has a lot of seasonings and spices for flavor that really make this dish so if you sub just know you’ll have to really play with the seasonings and it won’t taste like this recipe does. Having said that, here is an opportunity to get creative!
I was curious about the same thing, thanks for the update.
There are several impersonations of yellow rice online. Though proper yellow is made with saffron, turmeric and paprika are popular substitutes.
That’s what I am going to try tonight/tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it turns out 🙂
Ok, so I made the yellow rice from scratch and it was easy. Never buying yellow rice again! You can find a recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-spanish-yellow-rice-362868.
Anyway, it was a hit. My husband ate a bunch of it even though he’s lactose intolerant and I accidently made it too salty (the top came off the onion salt).
Will definitely be making again!
I’m going to make this this week! Any ideas of any other veggies to add into the mix anyone? Looking forward to it… Hubby will love this I’m sure.
I hope you enjoy it Kelly. You could use most anything, if you read through the comments you will see some ideas others have used.
This recipe was unfortunately a major dissapointment. I came home today to a crock pot full of overcooked, dry chicken and burned onions (cooked on low for 7 hours). There is definitely not enough liquid in 1 can of cream of chicken soup to make this dish even remotely creamy. I was very sad to come home to a mess instead of a delicious dinner.
Oh Ginny I’m so sorry! I make it exactly as written and its full of more than enough juices to even add a sauce to the rice. This has been one of the most popular recipes on SP and Pinterest and others have had the same result as me. A can of soup combined with the juices of the chicken and onion do create a great deal of juice. Unfortunately, some slow cookers cook very hot, so low ends up being more like high- which can still work well on cuts of meat such as roasts or stews and soups.
I use a Hamilton Beach 6 quart slow cooker that was purchased in the past two years. Older models of all slow cookers can get very uneven and if yours wasn’t purchased in the past five years with the new regulations in place, most companies suggest replacement for safety issues.
Either way, do be careful with a slow cooker that cooks that hot. If its a newer model it would not be a bad idea to contact the manufacturer. I sure do understand your disappointment though and I hope you had a joy filled day despite the ruined supper.
Gratefully
Christy
I had the same problem. I was surprised it didn’t call for water or chicken broth. I think I’ll try getting a new crockpot.
I was wondering the same thing. Where is the liquid in this recipe? Every other recipe I have made in my crockpot included liquid in with the meat. Wouldn’t adding just chicken and cream of chicken soup give you a burnt mess?
I’ve made it (as shown in the photos I took above) more times than I can count – never a burned mess 🙂 You are right though, it does need a liquid. Fortunately soup is soupy 🙂
Made this tonight and it is amazing. I have it in my folder to make again. Family loved it so it’s a keeper. Thanks for posting!! I used white rice since it was all I had on hand. Also used chicken tenders. Cooked on high for 3 hours give or take and dumped in the rice, corn and cheese a few minutes before serving. Served with fresh french bread. Yummy!!
I am so glad to hear you liked it!!!