Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Here’s what I don’t want to do when I make a recipe:
A million steps and instructions.
And with this recipe for Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole I promise you won’t be doing that.
I finally figured out how to make a successful broccoli casserole in the slow cooker where you don’t have to pre-cook the chicken and you don’t have to cook the broccoli separately. The only thing you have to do is add the grated cheese at the end.
It’s a good day.
If you’re like me, you grew up on casseroles like this! They are comforting and delicious and can feed a crowd. This version contains no cream of soups though and it’s gluten free.
Slow Cooker Casserole Recipes
If you’re like me you love casseroles! They just remind me of the good old days of my childhood where Mom would make some concoction and bake it up in the oven. Here are some of my favorite casseroles that can be made in your crockpot!
Cheesy Scalloped Potato Casserole
Tortellini Sausage Lasagna Casserole
What Slow Cooker Did You Use?
For this Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole I went with my 3-quart casserole crock made by the Crock-Pot brand. I have loved this casserole shaped crockpot for recipes just like this. I love that the crock insert is completely oven and dishwasher safe. I love how if you want to brown the top of a casserole you can do that quickly in the oven after it cooks all day in the slow cooker. Or if you want to bake something in the oven and then put it into the crockpot and keep it warm on the counter, you can do that too. They cost around $40 and I think totally worth the investment!
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Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
An easy slow cooker version of one of our favorite casseroles of all time–Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole!
Ingredients
- 1 cup minute brown rice
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 12 oz frozen broccoli florets
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Pour the rice in the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour broth on top of the rice. Sprinkle in the garlic,salt and pepper.
- Cut the chicken breasts into small bite size pieces. Spread them evenly in the slow cooker.
- Evenly place the broccoli on top of the chicken breasts.
- Cover and cook on LOW for about 2-4 hours, until chicken is cooked through and rice is cooked through.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1 cup of the cheddar. Then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. (I like to let the cheese on top melt a bit. I put mine under the broiler in the oven for just 2 minutes.)
- Scoop onto serving plates and enjoy!
P.S. Check out these other casserole recipes too!
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Sandy says
Can this recipe be done in a 6 quart slow cooker and should I adjust the cooking time?
Karen says
yes, but it will probably get done closer to 2 hours than 4 hours
Krystle says
my rice is somehow both, not done & mush
Heather m Carrell says
How long do I cook in crock pot if my chicken is already cooked?
Karen says
you’ll use the same cooking time so the rice can cook properly
FREIDA ILENE MADDOX says
I have made this dish twice, and each time it taste kinda bland. What can I add to it to give it some flavor?
Travis says
I add 2/3 of a diced onion, and maybe increase the garlic a bit, plus add breadcrumbs when broiling.
Cassandra says
I just made this recipe and it was delicious! I had around 2 lbs of chicken so I doubled the recipe, and it turned out great and made a lot of food. I like that a lot of the ingredients are ready made, like the broccoli, so there isn’t much prep except for cutting the chicken. Highly recommend!
Karen says
So glad to hear it! Thanks for the 5 stars 🙂
Adrienne Bouxsein says
Do I have to cut the chicken breasts?
Karen says
yes so they cook at the same rate as the rice and the broccoli
Courteney says
The nutrition facts do not add up in myfitness pal
DJ Schrag says
I made with fresh broccoli and cauliflower and my wife loved it! Thanks!
Karen says
So glad you and her loved it!
Tabitha Austin says
Thank you for a delicious recipe, I doubled it and used brown rice. Followed another commenter suggestion of adding in more liquid for normal rice, came out amazing. Cooked for about 6 hours and also added in some sautéed mushrooms near the end
Karen says
So glad you hear that your went well. I think the difference is the slow cooker people use. They all cook differently.
Samantha says
Could I use knorr brocoli and cheddar rice ?
Karen says
I have no idea! Is it partially cooked rice??
Rachael says
Made this today for dinner and substituted Jasmine rice, it came out a bit dry, next time I would add a little more broth and chopped onions I think but overall it was still good! Nice to come home to dinner ready!
Erin Yoder says
Can you substitute quinoa for the rice?
Karen says
You could try that but quinoa will cook quicker than rice.
Lisa Youngworth says
I used Trader Joe’s frozen organic brown rice and fresh broccoli and it came out delicious!
Kourtney says
Wow! Delicious recipe. Loved it and so easy to make. Substituted jasmine rice as many in the comments did as well. I think it took a little longer to cook that way but came out great!
Karen says
Good to know! Thanks Kourtney.
Sharon Lockett says
My crock pot doesn’t have low setting for 2/4 hours only high which setting should I use
Kimberlyn says
I did and it was sooo good. 2 1/2 hrs on medium high was perfect.
Melissa W says
Easy recipe. I may try adding a can of creams of chicken/mushroom soup. My first go at the recipe turned out a bit thick.
Karen says
Okay good idea for next time!
Tracy Crayton says
Instead of rice what can I use.
Traxy says
Can you use white minute rice instead of brown
Karen says
I haven’t tried this personally but I would use long grain white rice before I’d use minute rice. I worry that the rest of the casserole wouldn’t be done by the time the minute rice was done.
Karen says
Do I have to use rice ?? Do I need to cut the amount of chicken broth if I don’t use the rice
Karen says
You could leave out the rice. Just add in 1/2 cup broth then.
Damian says
Can you use regular rice instead of the instant and would you have change anything to do so?
Karen says
I personally haven’t tried that but you could try it. You’ll probably need to increase the cooking time by about an hour.
Abby says
I parboiled the regular rice first! It worked great. Wash 1cup of rice until the water is clear, add 2cups of water, then bring to a boil. Boil for 4.5 minutes while stirring, then immediately wash with cold water again until the water is clear. Perfect sub if you don’t have parboiled!
Laura says
Hello! I made this recipe, but I used jasmine rice and fresh broccoli instead. Turned out perfectly!!
Karen says
Great! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Dawn says
How long did you cook for with the fresh broccoli and jasmine rice? I saw this recipe and was planning on swapping for same. Thanks in advance!
Stacy says
I’m wondering the same thing!!
Linnea Schwartz says
This was an amazing dish I used white rice and velveeta cheese and it still tasted great.
Thank you.
Monique says
My rice was an epic fail but I know now what I forgot to do
Bri says
What is the calories per serving?
Karen says
I just added in the nutrition info at the bottom!
Sophie says
Can you use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead?
Karen says
yes and it would be amazing
Samantha says
Can frozen chicken be used? How would that affect cooking time?
Karen says
If the chicken is cut into cubes it should be fine. But if it’s whole chicken breasts it wouldn’t work. I would add 30 minutes to cooking time for frozen.
Melody B. says
Thanks for a recipe with no cream of chicken (or whatever) soup. We don’t eat MSG and cream soups are usually full of that with other questionable ingedients. I’ve got this in the crock pot now.
Karen says
Nice!!
Heather says
Do you cook the rice before?
Karen says
no it should be uncooked.
Pam says
I made this tonight – love how easy it is and that it doesn’t take 6 hrs to cook! I cooked it for 3.5 hrs on low. But my minute rice and the frozen broccoli both were mush but the end. Any idea why? I did add an extra cup of chicken broth which might not have been necessary. I felt the chicken was just nicely cooked.. wasnt quite shredable but was cooked through.
Thanks!
Rhonda says
Hi there. I’ve used many of your crock pot recipes and they have turned out wonderful- thank you. Nutritional information is very important to me and I don’t see it listed on this recipe. Could you please provide it on this one and future ones if possible? Thank you!
Brian says
Why would you ask this? All of the ingredients used have nutritional information right on the packaging, and if not, are one internet search away. After that, the nutritional information is just some addition and division away…..
Epcamil says
My My kids loved this one. Added some fresh mushrooms towards the last 30 mins.
Karen says
Love me some mushrooms!
Kayla Carroll says
Wondering if i could substitute brown rice for “cauliflower rice” and if you think what would change anything? 🙂 thanks!
Karen says
My concern is that the cauliflower rice would let off too much liquid. You could try it though and see how it goes! The brown rice wouldn’t work because it takes too long to cook and the chicken would be overdone by the time the rice was cooked.
ReneeJoslyn says
I added some fresh onion and mushrooms for additional veggies hoping for the best!
Brenda says
Yummy
Phyllis says
I have made several crockpot recipes that include broccoli. I have had a bumper crop of broccoli this year.
My recipes, whether my broccoli is fresh or been in my freezer, the broccoli looks awful. Taste is ok, but the broccoli is pale, floppy, and I would not want to serve this to company.
Can you help me with this? (Recipe looks great, by the way.)
Karen says
Broccoli gets weird sometimes. I like to quickly steam it in the microwave in a bowl of water or blanch it on the stove. Then I’ll add it to my recipes. That way it retains it’s bright green color and it’s not mushy.
Theodore says
Do you have nutritional information on this receipe? Calories, etc?
Karen says
No, but you can plug it in here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
Mary says
Is the chicken cooked or is it safe to put it in uncooked would lvve to try this.
Karen says
mine was uncooked.
Misty says
if I want to double the amount of chicken do I have to double all ingredients? Also do I double cooking time?
Karen says
you can just double the chicken if you’d like. Don’t double the cooking time. keep it the same.
Destiny says
I have a question. I bought frozen broccoli for this recipe as calls for. But it got left in the fridge. Since the broccoli is not frozen, should i add it later on? Im not sure how long the broccoli would take to cook.
Karen says
Just add it in with everything else…it will be fine.
Mary says
Hi. I just found this recipe and it sounds so good! I’m very new to cooking and was hoping you could answer a couple of questions. If I double the recipe do I have to double the time? Also, can I cook it on high? Thank you in advance for your help
Karen says
Hi Mary, you don’t need to double the time. It may take about 30 minutes longer though. And yes you can cook on high. Probably about 90 minutes to 2 1/2 hours.
Tatyana says
I made this last night in the crockpot, left it in on low for 4 hours and it turned out very mushy. You think I should try for a shorter amount of time next time around?
Karen says
The rice was mushy?
Tabitha Austin says
Too much liquid
Elissa Michalski says
Any thoughts on using regular rice, instead of minute rice? More liquid? Longer time?
Karen says
You could probably do that. Regular white rice, I assume? Yes the same amount of water and cook about an hour longer…let me know how it goes!
Jenn says
Could I replace the rice with orzo?
Karen says
I’m thinking you could but by the time the chicken cooks through the orzo would be totally mushy. Maybe adding the orzo in later???
Alexis says
I can’t wait to try this! I am curious though, if I can use regular bulk rice, instead of quick cooking / minute rice? Perhaps it cooks a little longer? More liquid? Eagerly awaiting your advice ?
Karen says
I bet regular white rice would work fine. I haven’t tried it though so I can’t say for sure. Let me know!
Colleen Schafer says
Can you use fresh broccoli? Should I add it in at the same time as indicated in the recipe??
[email protected] says
I haven't tried it with fresh broccoli so I can't say for sure. But if I were to try it I would definitely blanch the broccoli first before adding it into the recipe. Good luck!
Sarah says
I just used fresh broccoli in mine & it turned out good. The broccoli just broke into smaller chunks as it softened.
Karen says
good to know!
Colleen Schafer says
Can you use fresh broccoli?
Alison says
How does it work out if you use regular (not minute) white rice?
[email protected] says
That's a good question! I don't ever use white rice, we are brown rice fans in our house so I'm not totally sure. I bet it would work. Give it a shot and let me know 🙂
Heather Kinnaird says
this has happened to me at least twice – I see a recipe here, that I was planning to make the LONG way. we were going to have chicken broccoli rice casserole tonight – and NOW I am going to make it in the slow cooker – can't wait to try it!!
[email protected] says
I no likey the long way!
Glad you found this in time 🙂
Melanie says
Such a great hearty dish – love that it's made in the slow cooker!
[email protected] says
I know. The slow cooker is the best!
Elizabeth S says
Oh yummy! Proper quality comfort food this – pass us a bowlful, will you? 🙂
[email protected] says
Sure thing 🙂
Ramya Menon says
So simple and heartening!lovely recipe, pinned for later.
[email protected] says
hope you like it 🙂
Julie S says
Simple and tasty, great recipe. I too am not a fan of recipes that have too many steps or ingredients.
[email protected] says
Me too, Julie!
Linda Conway says
Thank you for this recipe! This was a family favorite, but my husband was diagnosed with celiac disease 7 years ago. Can not tell you how much we enjoyed this! I did use regular brown rice, added an extra cup of broth and cooked it an hour longer. This recipe is very forgiving…
Karen says
So happy you could find something to cook for him 🙂