Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken And Rice (The downside of being a Swan Princess)
I have a firmly held belief that the most important lessons in life are learned in Kindergarten. For this reason (and many others) when my five year old speaks, I listen. Oftentimes she’ll say something that has me stifling a giggle (Katy Rose does not like for folks to laugh at anything she says right now unless she clearly states that it is a joke beforehand), but others she’ll speak something truly profound and in her innocence has no idea that she has just opened her mama’s eyes to wisdom once again.
Yesterday, we were sitting in the living room together. Katy Rose was watching the Swan Princess while I worked on my laptop. The movie came to a part where the “evil guy” (as Katy Rose put it) was trying to keep the Swan Princess prisoner and Katy watched for a few moments before turning to me in absolute frustration.
“You see that, Mama? See that stuff right there? That is why I’ve decided I don’t want to be a princess when I grow up anymore – because you have to deal with that evil stuff.” She huffed and looked back for a moment, clearly disappointed in the downside of her now former dream before adding, “So here is what I’m going to do. If I have kids, I’ll just be a Mama. If I don’t have kids, I’m just going to live with you forever, okay?”
“Okay Katy Rose, that works for me”
Bless her heart, at five years old she just really feels compelled to have her entire life plotted out and realizing there was a downside to royalty threw her for a loop.
Fact is, there is a downside to every dream no matter how big or small it is. Look at people whose lives you dare to envy. Actors and actresses appear to have it all but can you imagine the frustration of not being able to run to the grocery store or go to lunch with a friend without folks stalking you with cameras and such? The hours they spend memorizing lines, being berated by directors for improper delivery, pressure of keeping up appearances. Reading glowing praise about yourself one day and scathing criticism the next. Sure, they may have a lot of money but they have a whole heap more bills than us that go with that. Staff, security, etc. There is a downside to it all and although we may hold them at arm’s length as if they are somehow a different class from us, they are just people beneath it all, same as we are.
I don’t reckon a lot of us think on the downside of our dreams and that is a good thing, because the upside of things is infinitely more inviting anyway. The funny thing that struck me most though, is that out of Katy’s two fallback dreams, both of them revolve around family.
With that in mind, how many of us are living the dream right now? You may look at starring in a movie as the “dream” but I packed two lunches this morning and watched two beautiful little blonde heads bob to the car as they headed off to school.
There may be a big reserved room for someone in a fancy restaurant with patrons dressed in formal attire but tonight I’m going to sit down to dinner with my husband and kids at an old oak dinner table and I doubt a single one of us will even be wearing shoes.
When I lay my head down at some point after the sun sets today I won’t be in a luxury suite, but I will be in our warm house, safely sheltered with a peacefully sleeping family and a big old dog snoring at the foot of my bed.
When I wake up tomorrow, I’ll have a big grin on my face and a song in my heart.
Living the dream, folks. Living the dream.
Now for the food….
You talk, I listen. Well, I listen whenever I can, of course! Folks have been asking for more slow cooker recipes for a multitude of reasons. Who doesn’t like to come home and have supper all cooked and waiting for them? I know I sure do! This is a recipe I modified for the slow cooker and some of you will be happy to know I also removed the entire stick of margarine it called for. Others, like myself, will shrug and go on with things. Because, in the grand scheme of the world, there are more important things to concern myself with than whether or not I’m ingesting a tablespoon of margarine with my chicken and rice ~winks~.
Alright, lets get cooking!
~revs up the engine~
Hello easy!
You’ll need: Yellow Rice*, Cream of Chicken, Whole kernel corn, onion, chicken breasts, and shredded cheddar cheese.
I love Zatarain’s rice, one of my favorite meal helpers. If you want to use the lower fat cream soup that’s fine in this. A lot of folks have been making my Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice with cream of chicken because they don’t care for cream of mushroom and that is great, too! Make it your own and tweak these recipes however they work best for your family.
Place your chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker. Chop up onion and toss on the top.
Getting ready for my book tour, I made Ricky watch me do this. I kept telling him “Now you can do a slow cooker, its easy to cook supper if you just throw it all in and then finish it up when you get home from work. See how I’m doing this? See how simple this is?” He nods and feigns interest but who are we kidding? It’ll be pizza and happy meals the whole time I’m gone…
Spoon or glob your cream soup over that.
Y’all don’t be fooled by me using name brand soup here. I got it on sale. I’d use Timbuktoo brand if it saved me ten cents.
Now cover this and cook it according to the following:
Low – 7-8 hours
High 3-4 hours.
This is great to put on in the morning on the weekends if you cook it on high and then have a nice meal at lunchtime.
When it is done cooking, drain your corn and toss that in along with your cooked rice and cheddar.
You’ll need to cook your rice before this step. What I like to do is cook my rice the night before and just stick it in the fridge. Then you can dump it in and stir it up and give it a minute or two to get heated. You can also cook your rice soon as you get home, though. It’s still an easy and delicious supper!
Stir all of that up and give it a few minutes to get all heated and warm (this won’t take long)
This stuff is to die for. Prepare for a happy landing in your stomach!
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large onion, chopped (I use Vidalia)
- 1 -8 ounce box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 - 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup (regular or fat free)
- 1 -15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
Instructions
- Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Scatter chopped onion over top. Spoon cream soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. A few minutes before serving, add in cooked rice, corn, and cheese. Stir to combine. Serve hot.
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Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large onion, chopped (I use Vidalia)
- 1 -8 ounce box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 - 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup (regular or fat free)
- 1 -15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
Instructions
- Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Scatter chopped onion over top. Spoon cream soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. A few minutes before serving, add in cooked rice, corn, and cheese. Stir to combine. Serve hot.
Are you living the dream?
Tell us how each day is a dream come true in the comments
section below!
I updated my Tales from the Tour section with the latest goings on. Click here to read that section of Southern Plate if you’d like. I don’t send those updates out to my email subscribers (don’t wanna bog down your inbox) so you might have missed a few posts. Right now we’re just gearing up over there but it will get more lively as I start to travel more!
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.
It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”
~giggle~
~Charles Schultz. Submitted by Amy. Submit your quote by clicking here.
The book is already showing up in some stores!
SIX days until the official debut and we’re still the #1 Southern Book on Amazon right now thanks to you!
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Sep 29 2010. Filed under Crock Pot, Main Course, Quick&Easy.
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Finally made this for the first time tonight, and I got rave reviews from the whole family, including my picky eaters! The seasoning was perfect for us. I told my daughters, “The Southern Plate lady said this is her favorite crock pot recipe.” My 6-yr-old said, “I can see why!” And the 4-yr-old chimed in, “Yeah. She has good taste.” They crack me up. Thanks for this keeper!
~giggles~ Give them a big hug from me. That is just too precious. I am so glad everyone liked the recipe!!!
Made this tonight and my picky teens couldn’t get it in their mouths fast enough. My 16 year old generally hates anything to do with rice and made the comment that he could eat this every night! Very delicous and filling! Thank you!
Oh WOW, I am so glad to hear it was a hit Renee!!!!
Have this in the crock pot now. Started it at 9am…I’m making it for my in-laws and my fam of 4. I left out the onion and corn (not a fan of onion and father in law has diverticulitus so cant have corn) I substituted the yellow rice with chicken flavored rice a roni. Super super excited to taste the final product.
I hope everyone enjoys it Miranda!!! Have a blessed day and enjoy the visit with your in-laws!!
Do you cut the chicken or do you just keep it whole?
Christine you just leave it whole! That is why this is one of my favorite recipes. Any recipe where i don’t have to chop up meat is a KEEPER!
I made this for our dinner last night and it is sooo good! Hubby said it is a keeper. I am making this for our next monthly potluck dinner…bet I come home with an empty crockpot!
I tried this a few weeks ago and loved it! I did, however, have a problem with the cream of chicken soup and chicken drying out. Luckily I had an extra can of cream of chicken that I was able to mix in with the cheese and corn, so it still tasted great. I think my crock pot might be too big … what size crock pot (4 quart, 5 quart, 6 quart, etc.) did you use? Thanks for the easy, tasty recipe!!!
i made this yesterday and i’m sad to say it did not turn out right, and i’m not sure why. i put it into the crockpot in the morning and i thought, “that doesn’t look like enough liquid” reagrding the soup, so i actually put in a second can of cream of chicken and set it on low for 8 hours due to work. i got home and the chicken was all but hardened to the side of the crockpot because there was no more liquid. thankfully enough was edible and not dried out to pull out to eat, but there was no chance of dumping the rice, corn and cheese into the crockpot after. i had to serve it all separately and it didn’t come out looking like the photos at all (keep in mind, i used TWO cans of soup and still had 0 liquid left in the crockpot). how in the world did this happen? this looked so good and i was so disappointed
I had this problem with my new crockpot. The lid on the pot was letting steam out. I covered the top of the open crockpot with plastic wrap and then put the lid on. This is probably not the best solution, but it worked for me.
Sounds like your crockpot cooks real hot. Next time try using your chicken right out of the freezer. That way you will have that extra moisture.
Laura- I just made this today and could totally see how you could have had a problem. I think if I had left it unattended for 7-8 hours mine would have turned out the same. Based on your comment, I stirred it every hour. And, even though it was set on low, it was definitely ready in under 6 hours.
did you cook it on high?
I cook chicken in the crockpot with cream of chicken soup all the time. I usually cook my chicken on low for 4-5 hours and it turns out perfect.
I’m going to have to try adapting this for our gluten free and dairy free family, sounds good!
This was delicious! Just made it for dinner. My almost 17 month old gobbled it up! I may even double-up the corn content next time for him
I am so glad to hear it was a hit Kara!!!
Tried it for dinner tonight and it was just like you said it was “great meal”. Taste really good and real easy to make, Thanks!!!!
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed it Sandra!!
Made this yesterday and it was delicious!! My chicken breasts that I used were really big and after I mixed everything together I added a little chicken broth and it turned out fantastic! Will definitely make again!
Cant wait to make this with some Fresh Sweet White Corn from the garden.
I’m making this for the second time today at the request of my family. Everyone loved it! I do add an extra can of soup because we are a family of six. I used regular long grain rice and also estimated for the amount of corn, rice, and cheese. You really can’t mess this up! Another great part of this recipe is that the leftovers are wonderful. So wonderful that kids actually fight over them! YUM!
I am so glad to hear it was a hit Cathy!!
well i feel kind of stupid because mine did get messed up (see my comment posted on june 13)
I made this today. This is easy and very good. I had seconds. I am new to your site and have already found some recipes I love. Thanks for sharing!
I made this tonight and it was amazing ! I used 2 cans of soup and also some chicken stock because I used 6 chicken breasts. I also omitted the corn because i don’t like it haha. I actually shredded the chicken towards the end and it turned out amazing ! Instead of putting the cheese in the whole thing, I put it in a bowl and let my kids sprinkle it on top of their own dishes. It was a huge hit and I’ll definitely be making this again !
I am so glad to hear it was a hit Danielle!!!
Planning on making this for dinner tomorrow, can the chicken be frozen or defrosted? Very excited about this receipe!!!
Either way Adrianna, I throw it in there frozen all the time. I am not know for being one to plan ahead
This is in the crockpot right now. I was concerned that it would be dry due to not enough liquid but after checking on it 3 hours later I think it will be fine. Smells awesome.
Can you just put in all the ingredients to begin with and cook the rice in the slowcooker at the same time as everything else?
Made this for dinner tonight!! So good!!
This was awesome && sooo easy!!
Thanks for sharing!!
[...] Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken – Michael’s favorite! [...]
This might sound really stupid, but is the chicken thawed or frozen when you put it in the crockpot? Lol. I really want to make this today, but I don’t want to mess it up with the first step!
I make this all the time. Sometimes my chicken is defrosted and sometimes I use frozen. Tonight it was frozen. To be honest, I like using frozen. The chicken gets cooked through but stays moist.
[...] Now, if I can just figure out what to do when they eliminate plastic bags from the meat section. Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice</a> on Christy Jordan’s Southern [...]
I am trying this recipe out this weekend. I was just wondering how do you think it would be to add sausage to the recipe? We make Chicken bog/ Perlot here and always add sausage. Just curious on yours or anyone else’s thoughts…..as Im not much of a cook myself
I made this last night for an easy and quick meal. The chicken came straight out of the freezer. It was a huge hit! My dad- who has been a picky eater lately- had two whopping bowls and finished the leftovers for breakfast!!! I’m definitely saving this recipe!!!
I am so glad it was a hit Bethany!!!!
This is in my crockpot now & I can’t wait to eat it!
I’m 35 weeks pregnant & waiting for this to cook has been torture, it smells so dang good! Mine also had no issues drying out which makes me super happy!
I think I’m going to make this a few more times in the next couple weeks, & freeze it so that after the baby is born we can have some yummy/homemade dinners!
I’ve got 2 boys who love chicken, & love cheese so I have a feeling this will become a staple in our house
Thanx for the recipe (found you on Pinterest)
How many servings did everyone get from this? Would you say it was a half a cup? A whole cup? We measure all our food for health purposes and I was just curious! Thanks!
This looks sooo delicious!!!! Going to make this week!,but was wondering what size slow cooker works best? Thanks
[...] Dinner: Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice (I will be substituting barley for the rice-never done that before so I hope it works in this recipe) [...]
You tell Katy Rose that if she believes in God than she will always be a Princess of The King! People see the word Princess and think of a spoiled girl. I think of God being MY King and since I am a child of God, that makes me a Princess!
I am going to add pineapple to mine. Has anyone done that? And is it good? It is in the crock pot as we speak, but I am just not too sure!
Making this right now! My house smells so good! Can’t wait!!!
I hope you enjoy it Corinne!! Please have a bite or two for me, it’s one of my very favorite meals!!
I am so excited to try this tomorrow. Growing up my favorite meal was white rice, cream of chicken and chicken.. When i met my husband I made it and he said gross. He loves cheese and corn though so I am thinking and hoping that this will mix our 2 favorites together and make an amazing meal tomorrow. Do you think white rice would be fine with this?
I hope you and your husband both enjoy it Jess. You can use white rice, it will just have a different flavor.
I have this in the crockpot now
I added 1 block of cream cheese and about 3/4 cup of chicken stock to mine… also I forgot to get corn at the store, so i omited that. I did however put about 2 cups of fresh raw greenbeans right on top of the mixure so the greenbeans can cook right in there with it and I can just scoop them out before adding the rice and cheese and serve as a seperate side dish. Yummo!
[...] Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken & Rice [...]
Christy, while everyone carries on about this dish (which sounds too wonderful) I have to comment on your essay. (sorry, was I supposed to call it a blog?) I stumbled onto your sight from a pinning by a young friend. I was entranced with your writing style. I felt the love for your little one. You have a most important understanding of her feelings which is priceless. You’re evidently a good enough cook to have a book and a following so I’ll trust you on that. But now I will join the hoards who follow; I do love a good read.
I’m cooking this now! I didn’t have that yellow rice so I’m using a country cheddar rice mix that I have! I figured it would work well because the recipe calls for cheese anyway. I’m also going to add some green beans in with the corn
I will post back after its done (SO excited)!
I hope it turned out great Savannah!!
I made it tonight and I used cheddar broccoli rice instead. We will see how it works out!!!
I hope it turns out great Colleen!!
[...] Dinner: Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice (I will be substituting barley for the rice-never done that before so I hope it works in this recipe) [...]
Do you think the yellow rice could be substituted for white rice? I have everything in the house, but yellow rice.
The zatarains yellow rice has lots of spices and seasonings, that’s where most of the flavor comes from on this so if you sub, you’ll need to really spice it up in order for it to be flavorful.
I cooked my brown rice in chicken bollioun and it was seasoned good for us. We added pepper to taste when dished up.
Made this a while back and got rave reviews. Going to make it again tonight…perfect for a rainy day! Everything I have tried of yours has been wonderful.
In my cp now.kinda. actually its turkey breast a big can of mushroom soup cheese singles green peas and brown rice.
I saw this on Pinterest and was excited to try it out today! After reading the others’ comments/reviews, I decided to add a can of water with the can of cream of chicken soup…I mixed it together like I was making soup then poured it over the onion/chicken in the crock pot. After cooking for 6 hours on low, it turned out perfectly, and I think the can of water not only gave it a more desirable amount of liquid, but also cut the saltiness of what the dish would have been without it. This is one of my new favorite crock pot meals!! I’m already excited about the leftovers tomorrow for lunch!
Made this tonight. We have another chicken recipe that we add rice to so I didn’t cook the rice, just tossed it in and mixed it up about an hour before we wanted to eat. To make sure there was enough liquid to cook the rice, I didn’t drain the corn. It cooked perfectly, just like it would have had I cooked it before adding it to the crockpot
It was delicious!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Megan!!!
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I want to make this for a work lunch on Friday. About how many people does this receipe feed? I will have about 10 men eating, so I’m guessing I will have to double the receipe! What do you think?
This is one of my family’s favorite recipes!! I make it very often.
I am so glad to hear that you like it Bethany!!! It is one of our favorites too!
I think this looks and sounds delicious! I’m wondering how it would be with some mixed veggies.
I bet it would be good, let me know if you try it!!