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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.
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.
What's in this post: Southwest Crock Pot Chicken and Rice
Why We Love This Recipe
Being a busy mom of 8, this Southwest Crock Pot Chicken and Rice makes dinnertime a breeze. It is easy to throw into the slow cooker for a delicious meal whenever everyone gets home.
The flavors are amazing and I can easily change the ingredients to what we have on hand. If you like this recipe, make Chicken and Rice Casserole.
Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts – You can use other types of chicken such as thighs or tender
- Onion – See Best Onion Substitute if you are out
- Black Beans – Drained and Rinsed. Feel free to also use pinto beans
- Corn – We used canned whole kernel corn
- Cream of Chicken Soup – Learn How to Make Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
- Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles – We like using Rotel
- Milk – Use milk of your choice
- Taco Seasoning – Make Easy Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe
- Cooked White Rice – Make Instant pot White Rice Recipe ahead of time
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese – Use any type of cheese that your prefer
Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe and ingredients in the recipe card.
How to Make Southwest Chicken and Rice in the Crock Pot
Step 1 – 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.
Step 2 – 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.
Step 3 – Top with the remaining cheese. Cover and allow the cheese to melt (3-5 minutes).
Step 4 – Serve immediately and store the leftovers in an air tight container. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Crockpot Recommendation – If you are needing a new crock pot, check out Best Slow Cookers of 2024. You may also love this programmable crock pot. I love coming home to a nice meal ready and waiting!
- Liners – 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.
- Chopped Veggies – 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. I usually just chop the entire vegetable and freeze what I don’t need. Learn how to freeze peppers and how to freeze onions and you will save so much time in the kitchen!
- Shred Chicken – You can easily shred the chicken with two forks or learn how to shred with a stand mixer.
Serving Suggestions
This Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Recipe is a complete meal idea. I love to serve topped with sour cream, diced avocado, fresh cilantro, lime juice and Homemade Salsa Recipe.
I even like to serve with Cowboy Queso with tortilla chips for a delicious side dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no need to brown the chicken before placing in the slow cooker. You can even cook frozen chicken in the slow cooker.
Yes, we like to use boneless chicken breasts but you can also make this chicken and rice recipe with boneless chicken thighs.
Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. We actually think it taste better the next day.
How to Freeze Chicken and Rice
- Put all ingredients in your labeled freezer bag and place in the freezer. I told you it was easy!
- 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. You can even freeze cooked southwest chicken and rice once it has cooled in a freezer safe container.
More Easy Crock Pot Chicken Recipes
Easy Slow Cooker
Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowl Recipe
Easy Slow Cooker
Crockpot Chicken Tacos Recipe
Easy Slow Cooker
Cilantro Lime Chicken Crockpot Recipe
We love to hear from you. If you make Southwest Crock Pot Chicken and Rice Recipe, please leave us a comment or a star review.
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!
Can I use brown rice?
Yes, just make sure that it’s cooked before stirring into the crock pot.
I have made this 3 times!! I absolutely LOVE it and it lasts me weeks (some I freeze). 10/10 recommend, especially if meal prepping and not good at cooking like me, because it’s easy to prep and simple. The only thing I changed is added cilantro, and also only 3 chicken breasts not 4. Four seems like way too much chicken. The instructions are missing adding the onions from the ingredients in so just don’t forget those!
What is considered a serving size?
Is there a substitute for milk? Unfortunately I’m out ?
Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream would work great or you could just leave it out as well.
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?
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.
Can I used cooked shredded chicken instead of raw? If so, do I need to adjust the cooking time?
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.
Is this gluten free?
Yes this is 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?!