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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How long do I cook in crock pot if my chicken is already cooked?
you’ll use the same cooking time so the rice can cook properly
I have made this dish twice, and each time it taste kinda bland. What can I add to it to give it some flavor?
I add 2/3 of a diced onion, and maybe increase the garlic a bit, plus add breadcrumbs when broiling.
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!
★★★★★
So glad to hear it! Thanks for the 5 stars 🙂
Do I have to cut the chicken breasts?
yes so they cook at the same rate as the rice and the broccoli
The nutrition facts do not add up in myfitness pal
I made with fresh broccoli and cauliflower and my wife loved it! Thanks!
★★★★★
So glad you and her loved it!
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
★★★★★
So glad you hear that your went well. I think the difference is the slow cooker people use. They all cook differently.
Could I use knorr brocoli and cheddar rice ?
I have no idea! Is it partially cooked rice??
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!
Can you substitute quinoa for the rice?
You could try that but quinoa will cook quicker than rice.
I used Trader Joe’s frozen organic brown rice and fresh broccoli and it came out delicious!
★★★★★
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!
Good to know! Thanks Kourtney.
My crock pot doesn’t have low setting for 2/4 hours only high which setting should I use
I did and it was sooo good. 2 1/2 hrs on medium high was perfect.
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.
★★★
Okay good idea for next time!
Instead of rice what can I use.
Can you use white minute rice instead of brown
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.
Do I have to use rice ?? Do I need to cut the amount of chicken broth if I don’t use the rice
You could leave out the rice. Just add in 1/2 cup broth then.
Can you use regular rice instead of the instant and would you have change anything to do so?
I personally haven’t tried that but you could try it. You’ll probably need to increase the cooking time by about an hour.
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!
★★★★★
Hello! I made this recipe, but I used jasmine rice and fresh broccoli instead. Turned out perfectly!!
Great! Thanks for sharing your experience.
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!
I’m wondering the same thing!!
This was an amazing dish I used white rice and velveeta cheese and it still tasted great.
Thank you.
★★★★★
My rice was an epic fail but I know now what I forgot to do
★★★★
What is the calories per serving?
I just added in the nutrition info at the bottom!
Can you use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead?
yes and it would be amazing
Can frozen chicken be used? How would that affect cooking time?
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.
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.
Nice!!
Do you cook the rice before?
no it should be uncooked.
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!
★★★★
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!
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…..
My My kids loved this one. Added some fresh mushrooms towards the last 30 mins.
★★★★
Love me some mushrooms!
Wondering if i could substitute brown rice for “cauliflower rice” and if you think what would change anything? 🙂 thanks!
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.
I added some fresh onion and mushrooms for additional veggies hoping for the best!
Yummy
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.)
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.
Do you have nutritional information on this receipe? Calories, etc?
★★★★★
No, but you can plug it in here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
Is the chicken cooked or is it safe to put it in uncooked would lvve to try this.
mine was uncooked.
if I want to double the amount of chicken do I have to double all ingredients? Also do I double cooking time?
you can just double the chicken if you’d like. Don’t double the cooking time. keep it the same.
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.
★★★★★
Just add it in with everything else…it will be fine.
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
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.
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?
The rice was mushy?
Too much liquid
Any thoughts on using regular rice, instead of minute rice? More liquid? Longer time?
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!
Could I replace the rice with orzo?
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???
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 ?
I bet regular white rice would work fine. I haven’t tried it though so I can’t say for sure. Let me know!
Can you use fresh broccoli? Should I add it in at the same time as indicated in the recipe??
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!
I just used fresh broccoli in mine & it turned out good. The broccoli just broke into smaller chunks as it softened.
good to know!
Can you use fresh broccoli?
How does it work out if you use regular (not minute) white rice?
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 🙂
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!!
I no likey the long way!
Glad you found this in time 🙂
Such a great hearty dish – love that it's made in the slow cooker!
I know. The slow cooker is the best!
Oh yummy! Proper quality comfort food this – pass us a bowlful, will you? 🙂
Sure thing 🙂
So simple and heartening!lovely recipe, pinned for later.
hope you like it 🙂
Simple and tasty, great recipe. I too am not a fan of recipes that have too many steps or ingredients.
Me too, Julie!
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…
★★★★★
So happy you could find something to cook for him 🙂