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This cheesy and delicious Southwest Crock Pot Chicken and Rice is freezer friendly and super easy in the slow cooker. Come home to the best comfort food ready to enjoy for dinner.
Southwest crock pot chicken and rice
I have a delicious and super easy crock pot freezer meal for you today – Southwest Crock pot Chicken and Rice. You are not going to believe how easy this is to make. If your family is anything like mine, this is going to become a go-to meal, just like this Crock pot Chicken and Dumplings and Crock Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice recipe.
The chicken is so tender and the crock pot does all of the work. The southwest flavor is amazing!
If you like this Southwest Crock pot Chicken and Rice dinner, try my other Crock pot Freezer meals. They really are very easy to throw together.
You will need a good crock pot to make this southwest chicken and rice.
If you are in the market for something new, I really love my Ninja cooker. The nice thing about this is you can brown the meat in the same slow cooker.
It is so handy to just have the one pan to clean. It has become of my favorite kitchen appliances.
Another favorite is this programmable crock pot for when I am am not at home all day. I love coming home to a nice meal ready and waiting!
I also like to use crock pot liners to make clean up a breeze. These are worth every penny and save a ton of time.
Ingredients for southwest chicken and rice:
- 4 Chicken Breasts
- ½ Onion diced
- 1 can Black Beans Drained and Rinsed
- 1 can Corn Drained
- 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 Tbsp Taco Seasoning
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 3 cups Cooked White Rice
- 2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese Shredded
How to make southwest chicken and rice in the crock pot:
Place the chicken at the bottom of a crock pot. Top with the beans, corn, tomatoes, cream of chicken soup, milk, paprika, taco seasoning and pepper.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
Remove the chicken, shred and return it back to the crock pot. Stir in the cooked rice and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
Top with the remaining cheese. Cover and allow the cheese to melt (3-5 minutes).
Serve immediately and store the leftovers in an air tight container. Enjoy!
How to Freeze:
1. If you are going to freeze this, make sure you write “Southwest Crock pot Chicken and Rice” on the bag before you add your food. It’s a little easier that way. 😉
2. Put all ingredients in your labeled freezer bag and place in the freezer. I told you it was easy!
3. Once you are ready to make this, place the contents of your freezer bag in your crockpot (ingredients can be thawed or frozen). Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and add 2 cups of cooked rice right before you serve.
I love to keep a few bags of this in the freezer for easy meals during the week. It is so nice to just be able to grab and toss in the slow cooker.
Tips for southwest chicken and rice recipe:
We love to make things even easier. This recipe is already simple but you can save even more time with these tips.
I use a small food chopper or processor to quickly and easily dice the onions. If you do not have one of these, I highly recommend them.
They are such a time saver.
I usually just chop the entire vegetable and freeze what I don’t need. It’s so nice to be able to just take diced onion or bell peppers out of the freezer for recipes.
This is how I meal prep. It’s so quick and easy and helps get dinner on the table fast.
Learn how to freeze peppers and how to freeze onions and you will save so much time in the kitchen!
Little things like this make life much easier during the week. It all adds up to a lot of time savings and you can spend more time with your family.
You can save even more time and learn how to freeze rice and you can make this meal even easier.
I love to grab the rice from the freezer and use in recipes. Brown rice is also delicious in this recipe. We do this for lots of meals and it helps put together a quick meal. It is so easy and helpful for busy weeknights.
I love tips that save time and help make dinner time even easier. You can spend more time with your family!
Print this southwest chicken and rice crock pot recipe below:
Southwest Crock Pot Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts
- 1/2 Onion diced
- 1 can Black Beans Drained and Rinsed
- 1 can Corn Drained
- 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 Tbsp Taco Seasoning
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 3 cups Cooked White Rice
- 2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese Shredded
Instructions
- Place the chicken at the bottom of a crock pot. Top with the beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, cream of chicken soup, milk, paprika, taco seasoning and pepper.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Remove the chicken, shred and return it back to the crock pot.
- Stir in the cooked rice and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
- Top with the remaining cheese. Cover and allow the cheese to melt (3-5 minutes).
- Serve immediately and store the leftovers in an air tight container. Enjoy!
What is considered a serving size?
Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream would work great or you could just leave it out as well.
Is there a substitute for milk? Unfortunately I’m out ?
It’s difficult to but an exact size on it as each batch is different. 1 serving is approximately 1/6 of the entire recipe.
Yes, you can use already cooked, shredded chicken. Cook in the crock pot on low for 2-3 hours or on high for 1-1.5 hours with the beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, cream of chicken soup, milk, paprika, taco seasoning and pepper. Then follow the steps 4-6.
We all loved this dish! Substituted the white rice for yellow rice. Not spicy , but could substitute hot Rotel to give it a little more kick. Good flavor any way.
What is the size of a serving, ex. 1 cup?
Can I used cooked shredded chicken instead of raw? If so, do I need to adjust the cooking time?
Yes this is gluten free.
Is this gluten free?
This recipe is great! I have had bad experiences adding dairy to the crockpot during the cooking process. I omitted the milk and at the end added a bit of cream cheese. It tasted fantastic! Thanks for the recipe
I want to try this! Do the chicken breast need to be thawed first?!
Any green vegetable or a simple side dish would be great for an easy side dish.
Random question, but does anyone suggest a side for this dish? I’m going to try it this weekend. Thank you!
I wouldn’t let it cook all day. I have a full crock pot rice recipe here https://www.eatingonadime.com/crock-pot-rice/
Can you put uncooked rice in the crock pot right away and cook all day?
If you are cooking it over night. Then yes I would warm it up later in teh day.