This delicious slow cooker chicken and rice is the perfect, cheap chicken recipe for an easy weeknight dinner!
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👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice
The EASIEST slow cooker meals are the ones where you just toss a few ingredients in the crock pot, mix, and let it go all day, with no chopping, no pre-cooking anything, and very little measuring. This recipe fits all the requirements in my book to be labeled EASIEST.
Plus, it is a family-pleaser, with even my picky eater rating it as a TOTAL YUM! And if you're looking for easy, cheap chicken recipes, then this easy chicken and rice recipe is right up your alley, along with this One Pot Chicken and Rice.
(Pssst...if you want another chicken dish that's bursting with flavor, try this Lemon Feta Cheese Chicken with optional Mediterranean salsa. So delicious and easy!)
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- cream of chicken soup - helps make this dish delicious and creamy.
- milk - adds additional creamy texture and prevents the chicken from drying out.
- long grain and wild rice mix - with the seasoning packet, this rice blend lends so much flavor to this recipe.
- chicken thighs - can also substitute chicken breasts.
🔪 Instructions
- Place the cream of chicken soup, the rice with the seasoning packet, and the milk in a bowl.
- Mix well.
- Layer the chicken thighs in the bottom of the slow cooker. You may have to overlap them a bit.
- Pour the mixture from the bowl over the chicken.
- Cover and cook the chicken on low for about 6 hours.
👪 FAQs
Take a thermometer and check the internal temperature. Once it reaches 165 degrees F, your chicken is fully cooked.
Many people like to add this extra step, but if you're trying to cut down on prep time you can completely forego it (I think it tastes just fine without!).
One way to prevent this is to use the right cut of chicken. Chicken thighs are much harder to dry out than something like breasts.
Yes, just be sure to check that the chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
It typically takes around 4 to 6 hours, but it can also vary depending on your slow cooker.
Yes, the low but constant direct heat from the slow cooker combined with the steam it creates in the tightly-covered container combine to destroy bacteria.
It depends on your slow cooker, but it's typically around 200 degrees F.
💭 Top Tips
- If you're worried about drying out the chicken, check its temperature about 4 hours in and stop cooking once you see it's reached 165 degrees F. Make sure to keep cooking the rice until it's done.
- If you don't have access to Uncle Ben's, you can combine chicken bouillon powder, parsley flakes, ground cumin, black pepper, garlic powder, ground ginger, onion powder, onion flakes, ground turmeric, and salt to make the seasoning blend. Then just mix long grain white rice and uncooked wild rice. (See the recipe card notes for the exact amounts)
- You can double this recipe if you need to make more. I've made this with up to 10 pieces of chicken and everything turned out great! When I do this, I like to add an extra side dish like this Lemon Dill Rice to make sure there's enough rice to go around.
I love easy cheap chicken recipes like this one because they save me time during the week and they don't break my budget!
📖 Variations
- While chicken thighs are the best choice for this recipe because they're much harder to dry out, you can also use chicken breasts if you prefer.
- For some added nutrition and flavor, you can mix in some fresh sliced mushrooms.
- If you have a different blend of spices you prefer, feel free to omit the Uncle Ben's seasoning mix and season as you please. You can also add some red pepper or chili powder if you want to add a bit more of a kick to this recipe!
🥗 Suggested Side Dishes
Here are some potential side dishes that would pair well with this slow cooker chicken and rice!
🍗 Additional Chicken Recipes
For more easy cheap chicken recipes, check these out!
Easy Chicken and Rice Recipe
Love this recipe? Awesome! Please give it a 5 star ⭐ rating below! And if you make this, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram. You can find me at DizzyBusyandHungry or #dizzybusyandhungry!
📋 Recipe Card
Easiest Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 21.5 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup (2 cans)
- ¾ cup milk
- 6 ounces long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet (I use Uncle Ben's Original Recipe) (1 package)
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (or substitute chicken breasts)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients except the chicken in a bowl.21.5 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup, ¾ cup milk, 6 ounces long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet (I use Uncle Ben's Original Recipe)
- Mix well.
- Place the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker. Overlap as needed.1 ½ to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Pour the mixture from the bowl over the chicken. Cover and cook on low about 6 hours.
Notes
- If you are concerned about the chicken overcooking, check the temperature with a meat thermometer after about 4 hours and remove the chicken once it hits an internal temperature of 165 degrees. (This is more of a concern if you are using chicken breasts instead of thighs.) Then continue to cook the rice until it's done.
- For a little extra nutrition, add fresh sliced mushrooms.
- No Uncle Ben's? Make your own wild rice mix with seasoning:
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
- ½ teaspoon each: parsley flakes, ground cumin, and black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon each: garlic powder, ground ginger, and onion powder
- 1 teaspoon each: onion flakes and ground turmeric
- 1 and ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 and ½ cup uncooked long grain white rice
- ⅓ cup uncooked wild rice
- Cooking for a crew? I have made this with up to 10 chicken thighs and it worked out great. However I added another side dish to make up for the fact that there would be less of the rice mixture to go around.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
Update Notes: This post was originally published in April 2014, but was republished with tips, step by step photos, and a recipe change in January 2021.
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Happy cooking!
Coleen
Thank you for the recipe. Can I cook it on high? If so, how long would you recommend?
Kristin King
I have not tried cooking it on high, but you could certainly give it a shot! If I were to do it, I think I would plan on 3-4 hours. Let me know how it goes if you try it! 🙂
Emily
My son has a dairy allergy. Has anyone tried this recipe using almond milk instead?
Kristin King
Yes, Emily, I have actually switched to almond milk recently and I made this recipe just last week using it, and it tasted great. Go ahead and give it a shot! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Casandra
I LOVE this recipe! I know you don't know me, but it takes a LOT for me to admit something like this! I am the daughter of an Italian chef and cooking is a BIG deal in my family. This recipe is delicious!
Thanks for posting it 🙂
Bernnadette
Hi Kristin. I can't wait to try this crock pot version of some of my family's favorite ingredients! I have never cooked boneless thighs but instead the chicken breasts. Do you think the thighs are tastier?
Kristin King
Yes, I personally prefer dark meat in general because I think it is a little tastier and I like the texture better. I used to use chicken breasts because I thought they were leaner, but then I realized that when the thighs are skinless and trimmed they are only a little higher in the stats, so I am back to using the thighs. Some people just prefer white meat, however. And if I happened to have chicken breasts on hand instead of thighs, I would use them in this recipe and I think it would turn out just as good! Thanks for stopping by, Bernadette! 🙂
Krystal
I love anything that I can cook in the slow cooker! It makes things a lot easier!
Maggie at The Love Nerds
I love chicken and wild rice, and I am SO excited that you provided this crock pot version. Can't wait to give it a try.
Stephanie Pass
You had me at easy and slow cooker! I love a dish like this I can just throw in the crock pot. It also helps that it looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Joanne T Ferguson
G'day! Looks delicious! Reminds me of childhood!
Cheers! Joanne
Sandra
I love this recipe and can't wait to try. Thanks!
John
Really love the idea.
I just love the final picture from the other blog 🙂
Kristin King
Thanks, John! I appreciate you stopping by! 🙂