Crockpot Chicken and Rice is so easy to make in your slow cooker – no soup can is required! Just add frozen veggies, sour cream and cheese.
How to make easy crockpot chicken and rice
Because this recipe is made in the crock pot, you just dump in all your ingredients then press start!
- Spray the pot with cooking spray
- Add all the ingredients, except for sour cream, cheese and parsley.
- Cook on high for four hours or low for eight.
- Stir in sour cream and cheese just before serving.
- Enjoy!
Can you put raw chicken in rice cooker with rice?
Yes you can! As long as there is liquid, the rice and chicken will cook either on high or on low for the time designated in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Raw chicken is totally safe to cook in the slow cooker. Just make sure it's not frozen raw chicken as it takes too long for the chicken to reach a safe temperature and increases the risk of harmful bacteria in the food.
It is safe to put frozen chicken breast in an Instant Pot. The chicken heats and cooks so quickly, it does not have time for bacteria to develop. Check out my instructions for making this recipe in the Instant Pot!
Making this recipe in the Instant Pot
You can easily make this 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, then 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!
Ingredients and substitutions
There are several ingredients you can swap to make this recipe different each time you make it.
- 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 sub for this. You can try leaving it out or using 2 tsp dry mustard.
- chicken breasts – chicken thighs can be used instead, and may give you more flavour!
- 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 won't be as good in my opinion
- cheddar cheese – any type of cheese will work here, but I find cheddar gives the most kick
- parsley – try some fresh herbs/seasonings at the end such as parsley, cilantro or lemon zest
Adding more vegetables
An easy way to change up this crock pot chicken and rice recipe so you can use it in your regular rotation is to choose different veggies. Try some of these ideas:
- Choose a different frozen veggie blend – stir fry blends are great for this!
- Bell peppers
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes
- Green beans
- Jalapenos
- Carrots
- Peas
Storing and reheating
You can keep this chicken and rice in the refrigerator for five days. It makes great leftovers for lunches. Reheat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, sprinkling some water overtop before reheating to help your rice avoid drying out.
Freezing crock pot chicken and rice
You can freeze this whole meal together. It will keep for about a month. Combined with the other ingredients, the rice will lose some of its texture but it's a good option to reduce food waste and save any leftovers that you can't eat after five days. Freeze in individual portions in glass bowls with lids, then sprinkle some water overtop before reheating in the microwave for 6-7 minutes, stirring halfway through the cook time.
Another way to turn this into a freezer meal is to cook the chicken and vegetables and freeze them separately from the rice. Rice freezes well independently and reheats to the right consistency.
You could also make a fresh pot of rice in your Instant Pot the day you want to make this meal and combine it all just before eating.
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More easy crockpot recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing individual portions of the leftovers
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months
- Here's the Crock pot I use
- Here's the Instant Pot I use
Creamiest Crockpot Chicken and Rice {Healthy Dump Dinner}
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups frozen vegetables
- 1 cup long grain white rice dry, not cooked
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 lb chicken breasts, diced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 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!
Comments & Reviews
Emily says
Can you use cream of chicken instead of sour cream?
Taylor Stinson says
I’ve never tried it but you are welcome to try it out!
Stephanie says
So so delicious. Comforting and creamy! It honestly tastes so creamy even without the cheese and sour cream. Even our toddler loved it. We used the instant pot method and it came out perfect. Will be added to our rotation of meal preps.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed 🙂
Becca says
I love how easy this recipe is to make! I like to make crockpot meals on Sundays so I have dinner prepped for the week, and the less chopping of ingredients the better! Very tasty too 🙂
Alison says
Can you use frozen chicken?
Taylor Stinson says
Not with a crockpot unfortunately, it’s not safe to.
Laryssa says
I’m not exactly understanding what about a recipe that includes white rice, cheddar cheese and sour cream makes it “healthy”???
Taylor Stinson says
I’m not exactly understanding why you would waste your own time leaving such a pointless comment???
Jhynnifer says
It’s a reasonable question to ask as we’re raised to think cream cheese and cheese in general are always unhealthy.
But super professional response. 👍
Taylor Stinson says
Honestly I’m so sick of people on the internet thinking they can make rudely phrased comments, especially in this case when they are clearly not going to make the recipe, and then be shocked when they receive attitude in return🤷♀️ You see it as unprofessional, I see it as life is too short to take crap from people lol. It’s sort of freeing when you realize this.
Bee says
Why are there pictures of casserole dishes? Can this be made as a casserole?
Taylor Stinson says
You mean in the meal prep bowls? It’s just pictured to show the leftovers portioned out.
Tyson says
I’m about to try this tonight an hopefully use it as a meal plan so I’m wondering how much is exactly one serving of this ?
Taylor Stinson says
I don’t provide servings by weight/cup unfortunately! You will need to take the number of servings listed and divide into portions. Each portion is a serving.
Alicia Campbell says
I made this dish today and it was a hit with the kids and myself! Thank you
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed!
Anika says
Very tasty! I made this with brown rice because that’s all I had. I also just dumped a 16 oz bag of frozen veg into it, which is about two cups I think. I also used 230g of cooked chicken I put in at the end. I did not need any extra water for the brown rice (I think the frozen veg added enough). It was fine for me on 3-4 hours high heat. Also, for those asking, mine made 6.5 cups total.
Kirsten says
Hello, can you use fresh vegetables?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Kirsten – you should be able to. I haven’t tried it before, but depending what you use, you should be able to add them raw at the beginning with the raw chicken and rice.