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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Made this today and EVERYONE in the house liked it. That never happens. I am so glad I found this recipe, thanks so much for posting this. It is so hard to satisfy three picky girls. It was a hectic day filled with birthday parties so threw this in the crock pot so we would have dinner….mmmmmmmm!
That looks sooo good. I think I’d omit the chesse, but I love chicken and rice, especially when it’s thick like that. With the weather cooling down, I’ll have to make a pot! Thanks for the recipe.
Can you use chicken cutlets? Looks delicious!
This was excellent! I used frozen chicken and plain rice! Took about 2 hours on high. THANKYOU!
was it really runny with the frozen chicken?
Found this recipe on Pinterest. This one is Pinterest GOLD! I’m pregnant and getting lazier and lazier as the days pass. Cooking is the last thing I want to do after working all day. Made this tonight and almost died when I took my first bite. This is DEF going into rotation. YUM!
I made this last week. Always make my yellow rice in rice cooker
Didn’t have chicken soup so I used cream of mushroom soup
and it was delicious . Served yellow rice on side with corn.
None left so I guess it was a hit!!!! : – )
I have some leftover shredded chicken. How would I make it with that?
I made this tonight, as best I could with what I had…broccoli instead of corn, and instead of cream of chicken I made my own concoction with sour cream, chicken bouillon, and basil…otherwise, followed the recipe, and it was a huge hit with my husband! Also, today was the first time I visited your blog, thanks to Pinterest, and I just love it! I’m a southern born & bred girl who was transplanted to California 8 years ago, so your blog is comforting:) Keep up the great work, and good luck with your book!
Made this today and eating now for tonight’s dinner……very tasty, ridiculously easy and something my girls will BOTH eat. Thanks for the recipe.
I am so glad to hear it was a hit Hollie!!
I love this recipe!! I changed some things though and everybody went crazy for it, there were no leftovers!!! Insteadof yellow rice i used chicken rice, chopped the onions up to tiny pieces, and added milk to it in the last hour while still in the cockpot!!
Are you supposed to cook the corn before adding it or just pour it straight from the can?Also, did you salt and pepper the chicken when you first put it in the crock pot?
Ah, bless you April. Canned corn is already cooked:)
Just pour it in straight from the can. I did not salt and pepper the chicken April. The rice has all the seasonings that you are going to need.
could you use frozen chicken or would it be too runny??
We had this last night. It was really good! Next time I think I will use low sodium ingredients. It was just a wee bit salty for my tastes.
How many servings does this make? I plan to make this tonight I would like to know if I should double up the rice, corn, cheese and cream of chicken? I am feeding 5!!
I make a similar dish on the stove top with a can of green chiles mixed in and serve a little salsa on the side. Awesome! that should work well with this, too. Just dump the chiles in with the onions.
LOVE the chilis idea. Just added that into the pot! Thanks!
[...] 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 on Christy Jordan’s Southern [...]
This looks so easy and delicious! I think I should buy your cookbook, because we seem to have the same taste!! Thanks for sharing your yummy recipes.
Blessings,
Leslie
It is one of out most favorite meals Leslie. If you get the cookbook let me know how you like it!
This was truly amazing and so simple!!! I too did not have cream of chicken so I had to use cream of mushroom. I imagine Knorr’s flavored rices would be good with this, too! My chicken was still partially frozen but it tenderized so nice. Very filling!!! ENJOY!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Elaine!!!
I am making this tonight but using what I have. I had chicken with the bone so I am cooking it with cream of mushroom soup and will cut the chicken off the bone when its cooked. Using brown rice instead of yellow. Other then that everything is the same! Hoping my version is still yummy!
This looks so good. I love yellow rice. I’m doubling everything so I can have it for left overs. I’m using minced onions since I have some on hand. I will have it tonight with my family . Thanks
Can anyone tell me how many people this served?
[...] Cheesy chicken and rice. Seriously, make it. It’s so easy (I LOVE the crock pot!) and delicious. I decided to [...]
Is it possible to make this with onion powder or minced onions instead of actual onion. I have digestive problems so I try to avoid foods like onions. Suggestions would be great! : )
I would think you can, as the onion would be more for flavor.
I sometimes do onion powder in my meatloaf rather than onions and it tastes the same.
Could anyone tell me how many people this recipe feeds? I want to make it for family supper, there are 8 people I am feeding(the guys eat alot too, there are 3).
This recipe usually makes five-six goodsize portions maybe a little bit more. I would just double it because the leftovers I think are better in my opinion. I have a family of five and we usually have a small bowl left but we have mostly girls.
[...] was roaming around on Pinterest I came across the recipe for Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice on Christy Jordan’s Southern Plate and thought this would be a great meal to make in my slow cooker. And boy was it. It took 7 1/2 [...]
LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!!! I found this recipe when was looking for something easy in the crockpot. It is great. I have had this several times since then Sometimes I vary the rice to whatever is on hand. Every time it is great. The best part of it is the leftovers I think it tastes even better then the first time around. Easy and delicious I would recommend this to anyone.
This is a delicious recipe!! I found it on Pinterest a couple months ago and have made it several times since then. Last time I added a little hot sauce just to spice it up a bit, but it’s really good without it too. The perfect comfort food for a chilly day.
What size crock pot did you use? I have a large oval one so I’m wondering if I might need to double something so it won’t be dry.
It should be just fine in whatever crock you have Leslie. I think the one I use is either a 5 or 6 quart. And I have made it in my oval one many times.
I made this because, as a full-time working mom, I am always looking for good slow cooker recipes. We all liked this one but found it a bit bland. Next time I would add some extra spices or, perhaps, some extra veggies to add more flavor. Thanks for sharing!
I am trying to patiently wait for my boyfriend to get off work so that we can eat this! It smells absolutely amazing in my apartment. I added green peppers and a little bit of Italian Dressing in it. I’ve already tasted it and it’s delicious! I was really worried that it would be dry but it’s not! The chicken breasts fall apart as you mix it! Hope this passes his test!
Thanks for the recipe!
I hope it passed his test too Nikki!! Let me know how he liked it.
Does chicken go frozen?
You can put it in frozen or thawed
Is it the same cook time for both frozen and thawed?
I cannot and do not eat onions. Is there something else I need to add when I place the chicken and soup in crockpot to keep it from drying out over the course of 7-8 hours? I know the onions will provide moisture….what about a chic broth?
If you have a slow cooker that cooks evenly, it won’t dry out so no worries. I leave the onion out whenever I’m making it for my mother and it turns out just fine
Thanks…can’t wait to try it!
Did not work for cooking on low for 5-6 hours, it turned into chicken jerky. :-/ will have to try again
Janeen, can you tell me about your Slow cooker? It’s definitely cooking very hot and I’d love to help!
Made this tonight and it was delicious…. now, can i freeze the leftovers?? The end result was great but there was not a lot of ‘sauce’…. I am affraid that if i freeze it it will be too dry when i reheat…
YUMMY! I also found this recipe on Pinterest, I followed the recipe except for the chopped onions, (I have a picky husband.) Instead I added onion powder. IT WAS DELICIOUS! We LOVED it! Definitely going into dinner rotation! Thanks so much!!
Welcome to Southern Plate Stephanie!! I am so glad to hear that you liked the recipe and hope you find several other that you like. I look forward to getting to know you!!
I made this yesterday & it was amazing. There was none left in the crockpot
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Kayla!! It is one of our favorites!
Do you shred or chop up the chicken at any time while cooking?
I did not, it shredded on its own while cooking.
Oh my goodness, been trying to figure out how to say that and your way is perfect!
It really does. “Shred itself ” once it’s done and everything is stirred in!
Made this for my family today. Put it together in the crock-pot, went to church came home and added the rice, corn and cheese. All I can say is……..Yummy! Everyone loved and and not a bit is left!
Thanks!
I made this today using frozen chicken and it turned out more like chicken rice soup! It tasted good, we just needed spoons to eat it! Other than using frozen chicken, I don’t think I did anything else differently…
I’m making this right now and it’s very dry and so stringy, is there anything I can do to fix this?
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Anyone make this using something other than rice? The hubs hates rice…
If you do, make sure you add plenty of seasoning to your taste because most of the flavor comes from that gloriously seasoned rice
Maybe I’ll just make him deal with the rice then, lol.
Made this for dinner tonight, after the first bite my husband said “WOW, this great.” We will make this again and I’ll be sure to rave about it in our family blog. I know my daughter and 4 year old grandson will love it when they try it. I’ll never make the baked chicken and rice again! Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Nancy!!!
I made this last night for dinner. Too my surprise everybody loved it. NO leftovers! I did cover the chicken with a package of italian dressing mix then add the cream of chicken soup and onions.
This was a hit in my family! Because of a picky eater, instead of onion I used minced garlic and it turned out excellent!
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Ive made it twice this week. Super easy… everyone loves it! Alot faster if you throw in some ready made rice!
I am so glad to hear that everyone liked it Erika!!
This was good, and very easy to throw together, but since there’s only 3 of us (one being 2 years old) there was a lot leftover, and it was pretty dried out the next day. It’s not a easy recipe to halve since it uses canned ingredients (not interested in saving half a can of chicken soup). I’m sure there are ways to fix the dryness, but I’ll probably save the recipe for when I have a bigger crowd to feed. Also, if you’re a cheese fanatic like me, you’ll probably want to add a lot more than a cup.
Making it for the first time tonight. Should I change anything if I am only using 2 chicken breast?