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
How many does this serve?
How hungry are you? 🙂
I would also like to know the serving size
I would say 5 or 6 depending on serving size. With a side of veggies or bread, you wouldn’t need a lot. It’s very filling.
I would like to know the actual serving size as well.
Can I use long wild rice instead of yellow rice?
You might want to check out this recipe, I think it’s what you have in mind. https://southernplatecom.bigscoots-staging.com/2010/08/slow-cooker-chicken-and-wild-rice-and-your-cheering-section.html 🙂 But I always encourage you to take my recipes and make them your own to suit your own tastes 🙂
My family loved this recipe and the amazing thing is my 2 year old even ate it. And she doesn’t eat anything besides hot dogs, mac & cheese, chicken nuggets and fries and even hot pockets.
I am so glad to hear it was a hit!!!
May I ask what yellow rice mix is? Is it basmati or long grain rice with turmeric or saffron in it? We don’t seem to have anything like this rice in Ireland or maybe I’m wrong. Thank you. This looks like a great recipe.
It is white rice made with Saffron or turmeric. I am sure ther is probably recipes online on how to make it since you aren’t able to get it locally.
Fabulous recipes…thank you!!
Thank you Patsy!!!
This recipe looks like it is screaming for some Rotel! What does the author think of adding a can of Rotel?
If you use Vigo Yellow Rice, you can get extra Vigo seasoning so your rice still tastes like yellow rice. All the recipes for this dish spread the seasoning that is meant to just flavor the rice way too thin and leave you with a weak flavor IMHO. If you find a low sodium cream of chicken and use extra seasoning, you’ll have a stronger flavor. I’m only saying low sodium C of C because I am unsure of the sodium in Vigo seasoning.
Wonder how the canned cheese soup would work instead?
Even just adding saffron would help. That is the main flavor anyway.
You can’t use Zatarain’s seasoning because it’s not like the Zatarain’s Yellow Rice seasoning and more of a cajun/creole seasoning. Which might be good if your family likes it spicy.
You could also buy the family size Zatarain’s Yellow Rice and use less of the rice.
Every time I make this recipe I throw in a small can of diced green chilies. Adds texture and just a hint of boost on the flavor. And it looks pretty. I think the Rotel would be too over powering!
Could frozen corn be used?
Yes, I use it often in this. I just like frozen corn better than canned so usually have it on hand.