Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Casserole

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A home-cooked meal with little effort.

There’s nothing better than a bowl of warm comfort food after a particularly trying or chilly day. It’s a shame that so many of our favorites are often accompanied with unhealthy fats and processed ingredients, or they take hours to prepare. Thankfully, now you can have your comfort, your waistline, and your evenings, too.

Our slow cooker chicken and rice meal will satisfy even the toughest critics, but this surprisingly healthy dish is made with only 100% clean ingredients. We combine nutrient-rich flavors, like lean chicken, brown rice, vegetables, and the perfect amount of seasonings to bring smiles to the dinner table, while also feeding your family right. This home cooked meal is easy to fit into your busy schedule, too. Just plop the ingredients into the slow cooker, and let it do all the work. Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Casserole is sure to become a household favorite!

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Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Casserole

This comforting dish is a warm reminder that with clean ingredients, any dish can be healthy and still taste divine.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 10 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Yield 4 people
Serving Size 1 cup
Course Dinner
Cuisine American

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into chunks of about 1-inch
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups chicken broth fat-free
  • 2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced or diced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt more or less, to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups brown rice or quinoa, cooked
  • 1 cup peas thawed
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

  • In the slow cooker, add the chicken, olive oil, carrots, broth, salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high 3 to 4, or until chicken is done and carrots tender.
  • When cooked, add pre-cooked rice, peas, and parmesan. Stir to combine and continue cooking for 10 minutes.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 833mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g |
SmartPoints (Freestyle): 9
Keywords Gluten-Free, Kid-Friendly, Slow Cooker

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Rowena Dumlao-Giardina

Rowena is a recipe developer and food & travel writer/photographer from Italy with Asian roots. Creating healthy dishes in her own kitchen is priority. She believes there is nothing more satisfying than knowing that her family is eating natural & nutritious meals.

More by Rowena

45 Comments

    1. We found the problem and are now working on a solution. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.
      We truly appreciate reader’s like you. 🙂

  1. Any chance you can copy and paste the directions into the comments here? I’ve started the chicken in the crock pot and don’t know the rest of the order.

    1. Of course! It’s now working but here you go:

      In the slow cooker, add the chicken, olive oil, carrots, broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high 3 to 4, or until chicken is done and carrots tender.

      When cooked, add pre-cooked rice, peas, and parmesan. Stir to combine and continue cooking for 10 minutes.

    1. Kim, Pinterest never shows the directions. We fixed the issue on our site and the recipes are now showing. 🙂

  2. Mine doesn’t look like the picture. I used cooked quinoa. It appears that the liquid in crockpot didn’t burn off. Do you drain it?

  3. I made this for supper tonight in crock pot and it was sooooo good!! I added an extra cup of chicken broth and put a cup of long grain brown rice in with the chicken, carrots and other broth so that it would truly be a crockpot type meal and then added frozen peas and Parmesan cheese last 10 minutes! It was a good comfort type meal with half the calories and very very filling !!

  4. My husband, toddler, and I loved this recipe. It’s actually cooking again in my crockpot right now as I type. I was a little worried there might be a lack of flavor, bc it seemed so simple (the first time). So, I added a bay leaf and little minced garlic, and it was fantastic! This time, I’m doing the same thing but added an extra carrot, and I may throw in some mushrooms an hour or so before it’s done. Thanks for a great recipe!

  5. I’m having 3 adults for dinner and I would love to make this recipe. How much chicken do you suggests (lbs) please. Also does the chicken have to be defrosted? Thank you so much!

    1. Julie, Yes you can but it easy to get mushy. If you’re short on time, I would recommend making the rice the day before and adding to the slow cooker shortly before serving. 🙂

    1. Hi Monica,

      If you have too much liquid leftover after cooking the chicken, you can drain off some of the liquid before adding the rice, peas, and parmesan. I would recommend draining all but about 1/2 cup of liquid from the chicken.

  6. Hi, Audrey. We recommend that you thaw the peas prior to adding them. Adding them later in the cooking process keeps them from getting mushy.

  7. I made this recipe tonight and it was very good. I only made one change and that was because I didn’t have any Parmesan cheese so I used Romano cheese instead. There was a lot of liquid and looked more like soup. If there are any leftovers I would think there won’t be any liquid tomorrow. (My husband does late night snacking).

    The chicken turned out so tender and just fell apart. I will make this recipe again but next time I will add a lot more carrots and more spices.

  8. I made this recipe yesterday. I only made one change. I didn’t have Parmesan cheese so I used Romano cheese. I thought it had a lot of liquid so I put more quinoa in at the end. It was very easy to make. The chicken was so tender. We really like recipe and I will be making it again.

    1. We’re do glad you enjoyed the recipe, Lucy! Great idea substituting the Romano for the Parmesan!

  9. Hi yah 🙂 I’m looking forward to making this but I’m also looking for recipes that I could keep in the fridge or freezer would this keep for a couple of days? Also do you have a link to other recipes that could keep for a couple of days ?

    1. Hi Rebecca. You could prepare this casserole and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for about 2 weeks. Any casserole dish on out site should be easy to prep ahead of time and we also have a few meal prep recipes. We have a great search function at the top of the page!

  10. I was looking for non-dairy! What’s up with the Parmesan cheese in the slow cooker chicken and rice recipe??

    1. Hi Carly, Here’s what I would do to feed up to 7 people. No need to make a lot of adjustments. Let me know if you had enough.

      2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into chunks of about 1-inch
      1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
      2 cups chicken broth fat-free
      2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced or diced
      1 teaspoon sea salt more or less, or to taste
      1/2 teaspoon black pepper
      1 teaspoon dried oregano
      3 garlic cloves
      1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
      3 cups brown rice or quinoa, cooked
      1 cup peas thawed
      1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated

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