Cheesy Chicken And Rice (Crock Pot Version)
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 also 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 the oven casserole version 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
- Onion
- Shredded cheddar cheese
Place your chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker (spray with first if needed).
Chop up the onion and toss on the top.
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, drain your corn and toss that in.
Add your cheddar cheese.
And last but not least, add in your 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 slow cooker cheesy chicken and rice leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days or the freezer for up to three months. When it’s time, reheat in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- You can use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast.
- You could also add a selection of frozen vegetables to the slow cooker when you add the onion, like carrot, frozen broccoli florets, and peas.
- Another option is to use cream of mushroom soup or celery instead of this creamy chicken version. For even more mushroom flavor, add some sliced mushrooms to the slow cooker.
- I love Zatarain’s yellow rice, one of my favorite meal helpers. But you can use any you like, such as long-grain 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.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with cheesy chicken and rice?
I recommend serving this slow cooker and with a side salad or vegetables. Try fresh green beans, zucchini and squash, or low-carb broccoli cauliflower salad.
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 chicken breasts boneless skinless
- 1 onion large, chopped (I use Vidalia)
- 8 ounce Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix 1 box, cooked according to directions
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 - 10.5 ounce cream of chicken soup regular or fat-free
- 1 -15 ounce whole kernel corn drained
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot. Scatter chopped onion over top. Spoon cream soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.4 chicken breasts, 1 onion, 1 - 10.5 ounce cream of chicken soup
- A few minutes before serving, add the cooked rice, corn, and shredded cheese to the crockpot. Stir to combine. Serve hot.8 ounce Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 1 -15 ounce whole kernel corn
Video
Notes
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.
It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”
~Charles Schultz. Submitted by Amy
if I wanted to cook this in the oven, how long and what temperature? I found this recipe after I cooked the chicken so sorry for the odd question!
If the chicken is cooked, stir it all together and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for about thirty minutes. 🙂
Would you still need to precook the rice?
Great idea, . My granddaughter has decided to do vegetarian, this could be made to qualify. I have to think it through. I try to use recipes that I can use for all of us. With a little thot, it can be accomplished. For CHRISTmas / New Years holidays I made uncabbage rolls, put pork sausage,into part, they were equally good. I have the recipe her somewhere, I will give here.
I am glad I found this common sense site. Thanks.
He’ll canninAlready cook the chicken Breast then mix it all in the crockpot?
Hello Can i*
sure thing! It won’t need to cook nearly as long.
In the description on Pinterest, this is labeled as being gluten free. It is NOT gluten free, as the cream of chicken soup contains wheat flour.
I have nothing to do with the labels pinterest decide to put on some of my recipes. I, too, shake my head at them. Why anyone would think this is gluten free is beyond me but someone, somewhere in pinterest land, sure does 🙂
Hopefully you have the wisdom not to be offended at this.
Lots of crazy things to be found on pinterest, for sure! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
For a gluten free substitute for the cream of chicken soup, mix 3/4 cup chicken broth, 3/4 cup milk and 3 Tbsp cornstarch together and cook over medium until thick and bubbly. Use this in place of the cream of chicken soup and the recipe will be gf.
Thank you so much, Shelley!!
Stores in our area sell gluten free cream of chicken soup. It’s Pacific foods brand and comes in a small box
Just make it with gluten free cream of chicken soup or make your own gf soup to use and then it is gf! That’s what I do our hyvee has little boxes of gf cream chkn amd mushroom soups. Used to always make homemade but in a pinch so much quicker to have ready made and a lot less amd healthier ingredients than the original soup.
Hi Christy, I have the chicken, onions and soup in the slow cooker… I realized I don’t have the rice mix in the pantry only a blend of white/brown/wild rice blend of regular rice… I found a recipe for Seasoned Texmati White, Brown & Wild Rice… It calls for 1 1/3 cups of the rice and tons of different dried seasonings… Do you think 1 1/3 cups “dry” rice when cooked with the seasoning will be enough for your recipe??? Or should I double the rice recipe??? Thank You…
Do you put the chicken in frozen or does it need to be thawed?
I do both, it just depends. If you put it in frozen make sure you let it cook all day. 🙂
If you cook this and refrigerate it and re warm it in crock pot the next day is there any thing need to do different.
The only thing I would do is just reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop. It reheats really well so there is no need to put it back in the slow cooker. 🙂 Hope you get to try it soon!
Super yummy! I used rice a roni four cheese rice and left out the cheddar cheese. Definitely making again
My people love some rice a roni so I’ll be trying that! Thanks for the tip!
Question: I’m making this today, BUT shopping yesterday, only found 6.9 oz. pkg. of rice or 12 oz. pkg. I’m using the 6.9, hoping it works out. My granddaughter-in-law made this and highly recommended it as something the WHOLE family liked, a high recommendation indeed–lol. P.S. Granddaughter-in-law with husband (handsome and wonderful guy) and 3 children (beautiful and wonderful), proving that I, at this age, still love to try new recipes.
The size you bought will work just fine!! I hope you enjoy!!