This is the creamiest Healthy Crockpot Chicken and Rice recipe. It’s so easy to make in the slow cooker with no soup can required!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Cooking spray – feel free to use butter or a neutral oil to grease your crockpot instead.
- Yellow onion – shallots or red onion will also work.
- Frozen vegetables – choose different blends of frozen vegetables or use fresh vegetables.
- Long grain white rice – use basmati or jasmine rice instead. If you want to use brown rice, you may need to add another cup of broth. I haven't tested this recipe using brown rice, so you may need to test this yourself.
- Dried thyme – you can leave this out, or use fresh thyme or Italian seasoning instead.
- Garlic – the fresh stuff is best, but the jarred kind will work. 1 tsp garlic powder will also work in a pinch.
- Dijon mustard – there isn't a great substitute for this. You can try leaving it out or using 2 tsp dry mustard instead.
- Chicken breasts – chicken thighs can be used if you prefer them.
- Chicken broth – add cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup to the rice instead of or in addition to the broth.
- Sour cream – Greek yogurt will work here but the flavour will be different.
- Cheddar cheese – any type of cheese can be used, but I find cheddar gives the most kick
- Parsley – cilantro or lemon zest would also be good.
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How to make chicken and rice in the crockpot
Step 1: Prep your ingredients.
Step 2: Spray the crockpot with cooking spray.
Step 3: Add ingredients to the crockpot.
Add all ingredients except for sour cream, cheese and parsley in the order in which they are listed. Make sure to push rice down underneath liquid as much as possible.
Step 4: Cook on high or low.
Cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for 4 hours, stirring 2-3 times midway through cooking time.
Step 5: Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Stir in sour cream and cheese at the end of cook time, stirring well to combine.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Serve garnished with fresh parsley, and enjoy!
Making it in the Instant Pot
Short on time? You can easily make this healthy crockpot chicken and rice recipe in the Instant Pot! Here are the step-by-step instructions:
- Add 1-2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Add all ingredients except for sour cream, cheese and parsley in the order in which they are listed below (onions and frozen veggies first, followed by chicken, rice and broth).
- Make sure to push the rice down underneath the liquid as much as possible.
- Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
- Stir in sour cream and cheese, then garnish with parsley.
- Serve and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
One of the best things about healthy crockpot chicken recipes is that there’s no pre-cooking required – you basically just dump everything in the pot then set it to cook. For this recipe, you’ll add the raw chicken right into the crockpot along with the onion, frozen vegetables, rice, dried thyme, salt and pepper, garlic, Dijon mustard and chicken broth.
For this healthy chicken and rice crockpot recipe, you don’t have to be too concerned about the chicken being covered in liquid, but you should try and push the rice down below the liquid as much as possible. You want to make sure the rice is covered by the broth so it soaks up the liquid and cooks properly.
When it comes to healthy chicken crock pot recipes, you can cook the chicken and rice either on high or low, depending on your preference and how much time you have. You can cook this recipe on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours.
Storing and reheating
Like most healthy crockpot chicken recipes, this dish is great for meal prep! It will last in the fridge for up to 5 days in airtight glass containers or meal prep bowls and makes great lunch leftovers. To reheat the dish, sprinkle some water over top to keep the rice from drying out then stick it in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.
Freezing this recipe
This healthy chicken and rice crockpot recipe can be frozen for about a month, but it will likely lose some of its texture due to the sour cream. If you do freeze it, you can reheat is straight from frozen for 6 to 7 minutes in the microwave, stirring halfway through the cooking time. Don’t forget to sprinkle some water over top before reheating!
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- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing individual portions of the leftovers.
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Healthy Crockpot Chicken and Rice {So Easy!}
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb chicken breasts, diced
- 2 cups frozen vegetables
- 1 cup basmati rice dry, not cooked
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- Parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Spray crockpot with cooking spray, then add all ingredients except for sour cream, cheese and parsley in the order in which they are listed. Make sure to push rice down underneath liquid as much as possible.
- Cook on high for 3 hours, or on low for 6 hours, stirring 2-3 times midway through cooking time.
- Stir in sour cream and cheese at the end of cook time, stirring well to combine.
- Serve garnished with fresh parsley, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Risa says
Please correct the recipe time to 3 hours on high. I didn’t realize so I was really worried at 2 hours why it wasn’t cooking. my rice wasn’t absorbing anything but I think it will be okay after all.
Tiffany Anderson says
This was a major fail. I’m an experienced cook and didn’t make any substitutions for this recipe. after cooking for the recommended time on high, the rice was still very undercooked. I turned it down to low and let it go a little longer, but by the time the rice was cooked, it was just mush and the edges were burned. I’ve tried other recipes from this creator, and they all turned out great. This one was just disappointing.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. I recently retested this recipe and it turned out perfectly for me, the only thing I can think is that everyone’s rice varies and the amount of liquid that gets soaked up will be different based on that. I’m really not sure what is off here, but I do recommend that the cook time not be adjusted or it can burn. I’m wondering if we have different definitions of what it means for the rice to be done or not. The cheese and sour cream may have helped with that. Unfortunately there are some varying factors here that could have led to this not working out.
Debra says
Can fresh broccoli be substituted for the frozen veggies in this recipe?
Taylor Stinson says
The only way I would recommend this is by not cooking it in the slow cooker and instead steaming it to stir in after the rice is done cooking, otherwise the broccoli will get overcooked.
Debra says
Thank you for the quick reply Taylor! I might go ahead try frozen broccoli as you suggest in the recipe to make it an easy true one pot dish.
E says
Making this today… have a question. I see different info about time in the article. The article says high 4 hours, low 8 hours. The recipe instructions say high 3 hours. low 6 hours. What do you suggest is best?
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry for the discrepancy – the recipe card is always correct, it looks like the blog post needs updating. It is on high 3 hours and low 6 hours.
Patty says
I’m making this tonight and am wondering how you prep the chicken?
How do you dice raw chicken?
Taylor Stinson says
You cut the chicken breasts up into small 1-inch pieces with a knife
Shannon says
I am in the process of making this tonight and my rice doesn’t seem to be cooking though I followed the directions. Have I done something wrong? I doubled the recipe and am at the 3 1/2 hour mark.
Taylor Stinson says
I have not tried doubling this recipe so unsure if your crockpot can contain everything. Wondering if you used a different type of rice?
Luke says
I am also having this issue… doubled it for meal prep and it’s almost like the rice hasn’t absorbed anything. I used basmati rice just like the recipe said.