This is the creamiest Healthy Crockpot Chicken and Rice Recipe. It’s so easy to make in the slow cooker with no canned soup 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.
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – chicken thighs can be used if you prefer them.
- Frozen vegetables – use a frozen blend of peas, corn, peppers, etc. Fresh veggies would also work.
- Basmati rice – jasmine rice would work too. If you want to use brown rice, you may need to add another cup of broth.
- Dried thyme – you can leave this out, or use fresh thyme or Italian seasoning instead.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- 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 broth – add cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup instead of or in addition to the broth.
- Sour cream – Greek yogurt will work here but the flavor 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.
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!
Tips & variations
There are a few different tips and variations you can try for this slow cooker chicken recipe:
- Instant Pot method: Add 1-2 tbsp canola oil to the bottom of the pot, then add the onions, frozen veggies, chicken, rice and broth in order. Push the rice underneath the liquid, cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure. Stir in the sour cream and cheese, garnish with parsley and serve!
- Ingredient prep: If you want to cut down on prep time, dice up the chicken breasts, mince the garlic and grate the cheddar cheese in advance. Store everything in glass containers in the fridge until you're ready to use. Trust me, ingredient prep is a lifesaver on busy weeknights.
- Different toppings: Try out different toppings and different cheeses, or mix in some additional spices for different flavours!
- More veggies: Add in extra veggies like bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, green beans, jalapenos, carrots and peas.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
For this healthy 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.
This is an entire meal on its own, but if you want to serve a little something extra on the side, I'd recommend some crusty bread, brussels sprouts salad or garlic parm asparagus.
I'd recommend using basmati or jasmine for this recipe, as that's the kind of rice I tested with this recipe and it cooks in the proper amount of time. If you use another kind, it may take longer to cook and might turn out a bit mushy, so you'll need to test it out and increase the cooking time as needed.
You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts for this recipe, just make sure you dice them up into pieces.
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 stored in the freezer for about a month, but it will likely lose some of its texture due to the sour cream in the sauce. 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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Meal Prep Tools
- 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.
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Healthy Crockpot Chicken and Rice Recipe
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!
Comments & Reviews
Patty H says
Made this for first time following the recipe precisely. At two hours on high, it was almost done. Turned it to low and an hour later, the whole thing was mush, and the sides were starting to brown/burn. I told my adult kids, “I don’t think it’s supposed to look like that.” I added the sour cream and cheese which made the mush creamier as you would expect. I think next time I make this, I’ll add the rice halfway thru and not at the beginning, and add more broth if needed. Hopefully that’ll help not overcook the rice. I used regular basmati rice. It was still good and edible with flavor, but appearance wise, looked like slop. Wish I read the comments beforehand as I could have possibly avoided this, but glad that I wasn’t the only one it happened too.
Jenna says
Rice was not cooked. Now have to boil it after the fact and my veggies will me mush when it’s done. If I can’t fix it will be a waste of ingredients which I can barely afford.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m very sorry to hear it wasn’t cooked through. It’s strange because this recipe gets so many comments where people say the rice is overcooked and mush, but then I get the odd comment that it does not cook. The two results following the same recipe contradict each other and you wouldn’t think it’s possible. Would you mind sharing what type of rice you used? I’ve made this many times without issue, and I’d like to try to understand why it’s such an issue for some people.
Jennifer says
Rice ended up being mushy and the whole thing had an oatmeal-like texture. I used Jasmine rice. If I make i again, I’ll use 3/4 cup instead of a full cup and see what happens. I added frozen broccoli and jalapeños. It tasted good, made more than 4 servings so I have meals for later this week.
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry to hear that Jennifer. I think we may re-test this recipe again with different kinds of rice to ensure perfection. The rice is supposed to be on the softer side but not like oatmeal.
Erica says
I used basmati and the rice definitely turned the mush but the flavor was good after doubling the called for spices and adding garlic and onion powder.
Alessandra Bowser says
I tried this receipt out for the first time and it had good flavor, the only thing was that the rice was mush by the time it was finished cooking.
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.