Throw everything in the crock pot and in a few hours you have a delicious, creamy crockpot chicken and rice dish that can be served over rice, noodles, or potatoes!
Yup, this Crockpot Chicken and rice is the old classic you grew up eating. We will post the originally recipe of shredded chicken with a soup and cream cheese mixture and add the adaptations that we make.
This Crock Pot Chicken recipe is such a reader favorite that we are often looking to share new chicken recipes you can make in a crockpot. Sadly we sometimes forget about the old recipes so it was time to bring back the classic.
What to Serve With Crockpot Chicken
I’m sure that you could add some broccoli pieces or maybe even carrots to this crockpot chicken and it would help a little bit on the nutrition side of things.
Maybe you could even try adding a little bit of sour cream or plain yogurt if you aren’t a big fan of the cream cheese. Anyway, we eat this with brown rice or whole wheat angel hair pasta. I am sure you could serve it over mashed potatoes too!
What to Substitute for Cream of Chicken Soup
If you’re not into using a can of cream of chicken soup, no worries! You can actually make your own using milk or cream, butter and flour along with some easy seasoning.
Our post on Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole has a quick and easy recipe for canned soup at home. This particular recipe makes a cream of mushroom soup but just omit the mushrooms and use a few dashes of poultry seasoning and you’re all set!
Adding More Flavor to Crockpot Chicken and Rice
We really like to add more flavor to this crockpot shredded chicken and rice recipe so we like to add in Montreal Chicken seasoning, lemon pepper or other favorites as it is cooking in the slow cooker. We’ve found that depending on our mood we could use anywhere from 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of seasoning along with a little salt and pepper.
It’s up to you, and isn’t normally part of the recipe, but it’s a great addition.
Can you Freeze Crockpot Chicken?
Normally you don’t want to freeze anything that has a lot of cream or cream cheese in it as it can curdle when reheating or separate. This crockpot chicken and rice recipe is a different story as that can of soup really helps to keep things together.
We still have much better luck when we use a food saver to suck out all of the air, but ziplocs will do fine.
This shredded chicken will last for about 1 month or so if you use a food saver or 2-3 weeks if it’s in freezer bags.
More Crock Pot Recipes:
- Crock Pot Cafe Rio Chicken
- Slow Cooker Beef Brisket
- Slow Cooker BBQ Beef
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken
- Asian Slow Cooker Ribs
- Grape Jelly Slow Cooker Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Beef
- Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken
- Crock Pot Chicken Carnitas
- All our CROCKPOT and SLOW COOKER recipes here!
Crockpot Chicken and Rice
Crockpot Chicken and rice
Description
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts
- 1/4 Cup Butter
- 1 Italian Dressing Seasoning Dry Mix
- 1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 Cream Cheese, 8 Oz Pkg
Instructions
- In a crock pot, mix together the soup, butter and italian seasoning packet.
- Add the chicken breasts.
- Cook in crockpot on low for 5-6 hours or high 3 - 3 1/2 hours.
- Shred chicken and add cream cheese to the sauce.
- Mix until smooth. If it seems too thick add a little milk.
- Serve over rice or pasta!
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
Just place the entire bird in the slow cooker and it comes out like rotisserie!
This is the best pot roast recipe ever!
Valorie Y.
I always add frozen veggies (corn, peas, carrots, green beans…)…whatever I have in my freezer. 🤪. It always turns out great!
Sweet Basil
Yes, adding vegetables is a great idea! Thanks so much Valorie!
Amanda Smith
I put the cream cheese early by accident. It already touched the raw chicken! Ahhh
Sweet Basil
Oh shoot! Just let it cook with the chicken. It might be a little less thick, but should still taste great!
Lilly
I made this the other night and it was delicious! I want to make it again.. is there oven instructions? I want a fast way to make it. Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Hi Lilly! Thank you so much for your support! For the oven, add all the ingredients for the chicken to a baking dish and bake for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees. You could also do it on the stove top over medium low heat for 45 minutes.
JPT
I appreciate the nutrition facts label but what is serving size! for the chicken & rice recipe.
Sweet Basil
Hello! The serving size is about a cup of chicken and rice.
DEB
Made this last night and it was so good ! Didn’t have cream of chicken soup so I used mushroom and added a little poultry seasoning. I also added sliced mushrooms.
Next time I make it I am going to add diced carrots and frozen peas to up the visual appeal.
I will def make it again and serve it over rice.
Sweet Basil
Yay! Thank you so much for your feedback Deb! You could definitely add carrots and peas to it!
Ina
Love this over noodles and rice
Sweet Basil
It is definitely a family favorite for us! Thanks Ina!
Nyssa
I’m looking to prep meals in advance and freeze them–does this recipe work okay for that? If I freeze portions of it, will it thaw out okay and be just as tasty?
Sweet Basil
Yeah absolutely!!
Dakota Kaser
hi, I am wanting to make this but I have one question: do I need to melt the butter. the recipe doesn’t specifically say what to do with the butter. Thanks!
Sweet Basil
Just softened will work fine. It will melts and incorporate in the sauce. Enjoy!
Lw
15 paragraphs and cant get the recipe to show. Worthless!!
Sweet Basil
Here’s a link to the printable recipe: https://ohsweetbasil.com/wprm_print/55056
Sorry for the frustration!
Catherine
Is there anyway I can cook it for longer? I have to leave at 9 and have ppl over at 6. Would love to be able to make it for the day but don’t want it overcooked.
Sweet Basil
Does your crock pot have the feature were it switches to warm after the cooking time is done? If it does, you should be good to go. If it doesn’t, you could try cooking it for 8-9 hours but I’m afraid it might dry out.
Jen
I cannot find the actual recipe! Help!
Sweet Basil
Hi Jen! The recipe card is about half way down the post right underneath our list of other easy dinner ideas.
Elizabeth
Hi! Can this be modified for the instant pot? I did away with my crock pot after I received the instant pot as a gift. This looks so delicious & I really want it for dinner!
Sweet Basil
Hi Elizabeth! Yes, you can cook it in the Instant Pot on Manual for 8 minutes but it won’t be quite as think and creamy.
Maranda Ramos
How should I condense down the recipe for a mini crock pot or a single woman serving of like 2-3 meals ?
Sweet Basil
Hi Maranda! I would half everything. Enjoy!
James
Is it okay to top it off in the end with shredded cheddar?
Sweet Basil
Of course! I’m always on board with more cheese!
Teela
I already have this going with frozen chicken, ranch mix sub- before I saw your recommendation against frozen in the comments:( Am I doomed?? I’ve done frozen in the crockpot before, I didn’t even question it.
Help please!
Any tips for tonight’s chicken and rice??
Thanks in advance
Sweet Basil
Hey Teela! How did it turn out? Sorry, we don’t check comments on Sundays. It probably just needed longer to cook and maybe was a little watery. I hope it turned out ok!
Lisa
Love this recipe! It’s simple, cost effective and delicious! We’ve made it twice now and saved the recipe for future use. Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Hurray! Thank you Lisa! I love when I find a new recipe that my family love! Thank you for your comment!
Kim Armes
You can do the same using beef tips and substitute cream of mushroom instead of cream of chicken. It’s yummy over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.
Sweet Basil
Yes! That sounds totally delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Jessica
Silly Question: Am I supposed to add the water to the cream of chicken soup or am I not adding any water?
Sweet Basil
No water needed. Thanks Jessica! Enjoy!
Tabby
What size can of soup do you use?
Sweet Basil
Just the standard 10.5oz size.
C. Russ
Can you use frozen chicken? Do I need to cook it longer if the chicken is frozen?
Sweet Basil
No, I wouldn’t add the chicken frozen. It will make it too watery!
B. Scott
Do you have to use cream cheese? Will it still be good without it? Can I substitute it with something else? Can I use cream of chicken and cream of mushroom at the same time?
Sweet Basil
You can substitute sour cream or plain yogurt for the cream cheese. I wouldn’t totally omit it though. Cream of chicken and mushroom go great together!
Gabriella
Hi, I only have cream of mushroom soup on hand. Can I substitute the cream of chicken soup with that and have it taste just as good or do I need to have cream of chicken soup for the recipe?
Sweet Basil
It will taste different for sure, but it will be delicious! Especially if you are a mushroom fan! Throw some sliced up mushrooms in there…yummm!
Genna
I only have dry ranch dressing do you think that would work? Also how much chicken I have 2lbs.
Sweet Basil
Ranch would be totally delicious! You want 4 chicken breasts. It depends on how big the chicken breasts are but I’d say 4 chicken breasts is probably pretty close to 2lbs…maybe a little more.
Amanda Estrada
Looks yummy! I’m wondering if you could estimate how many lbs of chicken four breasts would be? I’m trying to cut the recipe in half but my chicken breasts are huge! Since they vary in size it would be helpful to know how many pounds. Thank you!
Marie
I can’t wait to try this! If I wanted to make it a little more Thai, do you think I could replace anything with a yellow curry sauce, or add it at any point?
Sweet Basil
Oh yum! Great question! We’ve never tried it, but it would be worth experimenting! I would add the yellow curry sauce or paste right from the beginning so the flavors get into the chicken. Maybe even adding a little coconut milk too! If you try it, let us now how it goes!!
Lea R Kraft
I bet this would b great as sandwiches??
Sweet Basil
Yum! That’s a great idea!
Des(:
Oh my goodness! My fiancé and I LOVED this! It was super easy to make and tasted absolutely DELICIOUS! We were skeptic over only one can of soup because the recipe doesn’t specify the can size and we thought it wouldn’t be enough, but it turned out great either way. Will definitely make it again! Thank you! 💕
Sweet Basil
Yay! I’m so happy you both enjoyed it! It is one of our favorite dinners!
MsSarahLynn
What size crock pot would you recommend using for this recipe? I have a 4-quart and a 5.5-quart and I wasn’t sure if I should stack the chicken breasts on top of each other in the smaller crock pot or try to spread them out in the bigger crock pot.
Thank you!
Sweet Basil
We use a 6qt so I’d probably go with the 5.5 🙂
Dre
New to cooking and first time cooking chicken in crockpot-am I removing chicken to shred and then adding cream cheese to sauce while chicken it out or am I shredding chicken IN crockpot/sauce and then adding cream cheese?
Sweet Basil
Either way works fine as in the end you stir it all back together again anyway.
Mashekia Turner
I have to watch my cholesterol, can I use less butter and it taste just as good!!?
Sweet Basil
Hi, you definitely can!
Anita Cook
When would you add the broccoli and about how much?
Sweet Basil
You could add broccoli the last 30 minutes and 1/2 a head would be good
Kaitlin
I was wondering if I could replace the Italian Dressing Seasoning Dry Mix with regular Italian seasoning? If not, what would you suggest I should replace it with?
Sweet Basil
The Italian Dressing has a bit more zip with the spices and herbs used in it. Poultry Seasoning, Italian Seasoning etc would all still be great options but you may need to increase the measurements
Lisa
Can u use margarine instead of butter
Sweet Basil
Hi Lisa,
You can but butter definitely tastes a lot better and not as oily
Kim
So nice to come home from work to dinner ready! I love to cook and this was super yummy. I was skeptical of the Italian Dressing Dry Seasoning packet (never used before) and I was worried about thickness since the instructions called for the can of soup – no mention of water. But alas to my sweet surprise this was really good. I served mine over rice with a side of green beans. The next day I had it over sour dough toast. I want to try it with carrots and celery… Thank you 🙂
Sweet Basil
I love the idea of it over sour dough toast!
Carmen
Can you cook the chicken on the high setting instead?
Sweet Basil
Hi, You can, just make sure you lower the cooking time to more like 3 hours. 🙂
Natalie Ellis
Adding broccoli is the good idea to make this plate more delicious 😋
Even I don’t often freeze my food but it came my surprise that the shredded chicken could be frozen within 1 month! It’s really a long time.
Sweet Basil
It really is but you have to be sure to use that food saver if you do.
Louise John
Dear Carrian: I have the same question as Raye Ann; how much is 1/2 cube of butter; I can’t wait to try this. Many thanks. LHJ
Sweet Basil
Oh, let me fix that for you, it’s 1/4 cup.
Raye Ann
How much butter is 1/2 cube? Not sure what size cube you are starting with!
Thanks!!!
Sweet Basil
1/4 cup, I’ve corrected the recipe. 🙂
Jen
How many people does the recipe feed? Great recipe!
Sweet Basil
Hey Jen! The serving size is 6 for this recipe.
Monica
When do you add the butter?
Sweet Basil
Hi Monica, you add it with everything else in the beginning. Sorry about that. Recipe is corrected.
Rachelle
it is good… :)our family loves it too!
MATAALII
I JUST GOT DONE EATING THIS WITH BRANDON! WE LOVED IT! THANK YOU! I’M TELLING EVERYONE I KNOW TO VISIT THIS BLOG!
Meagon
This is one of our favorite recipies. I usually only use 1/2 of the cream cheese. Christmas bread is a recipie that my grandma Mencl learned from her mother in law. (She had brought it with her from Checkaslvackia (sp)) It is a sweet white bread with lots of eggs and butter. Then you add almond slivers, white raisins and some candied fruit. I like it without the candied fruit, but those are easy enough to pick out. We always got a loaf from my grandma Mencl at Christmas, so the smell of it toasting is a strong “christmas feel”. Let me know if you would like the recipie.