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!
Ashley Williams
can I use drumsticks?
Kristin King
I haven't done that so I can't provide any advice on what to change, such as cooking time, but I imagine that you can make it work if you're feeling a little adventurous!
Raelene Gaertner
Hi,
Could I double the rice and if so do I need more liquids?
Kristin
Yes, you can double the rice if you like, and yes you should also double the liquid. I haven't tried this myself but in theory it should work. Let me know how it turns out!
Phyllis
Can you make this with Cornish game hens?
Kristin
I would definitely give it a try if you are feeling adventurous. Just make sure your Cornish game hens reach the proper internal temperature to be safe. Let me know how it turns out!
Caroline
Can I make this this with Brown rice or brown Calrose Rice?
Kristin
I haven't tried it myself, and I'm not that familiar with brown calrose rice. But I would encourage you to give it a try and let me know how it turns out! If you use your own rice, don't forget to add the rest of the herbs and spices I list in the notes section of the recipe card so you don't miss out on all that yummy flavor. 🙂