This Chicken and yellow rice recipe is one of my favorite go-to dinners when I don’t want to think about what’s for dinner. Why you ask? Because it’s simple, something I can toss in my crockpot, and it’s basically a one-pot dinner. If that’s not a mom win I don’t know what is. In this post, I am going to show you how to make this stress-free one-pot meal.
Earlier I said it’s basically a one-pot dinner. Let me explain myself. One time I added the rice to the crockpot about 30 to 40 minutes before it was officially finished cooking. Not all of the rice was cooked.
Some of it was still kind of crunchy. I’m not exactly sure what happened (it didn’t cook long enough duh). But I told myself never again so now I cook the rice separately. It takes all of 25 minutes which is no big deal.
You just boil water, toss in the rice, give it a good stir, cover, and walk away. So technically it’s not a one-pot dinner because it’s not all cooked in the same pot. BUT I still like to call it that because it’s all mixed together in the end anyways.
This chicken and yellow rice recipe is also a kid-friendly meal. Also when I say “quick” and simple I mean it. I say quick in quotations because it’s made in the crockpot. There is nothing quick about the cooking time when it comes to a crockpot meal.
However, the prep time is ridiculously quick. Along with finishing up cooking the dinner part. It can all be done in less than 30 minutes with very little effort from you.
Shall we begin?
Crockpot Chicken And Yellow Rice
- 3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- Chicken Broth
- Onion
- Bay Leaves
- Salt and Pepper
- Yellow Rice
- Oil
- Water
The first thing you are going to want to do is whip out that crockpot of yours. I usually go for my 6qt one but every now and then I will use my 8qt. So it’s just whichever one you feel like washing in the end, big or small, haha.
Next, pour an entire 32 oz carton of chicken broth into your crockpot. Followed by salt, pepper (season with your heart), 2 dried bay leaves, and half an onion peeled. Put the onion in there whole, it’s there for flavor and you will be removing it in the end.
Stir everything together and then add your chicken breast. I typically buy my chicken breasts in bulk to then separate and freeze them in the quantities that I need. But this time I had purchased a huge bag of already frozen chicken breast from Costco. So that’s what I used.
It’s really whichever works better for you. Both kinds of chicken work great and both taste the same to me. But I will always use frozen.
Now cover your crockpot with the lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I usually shoot for around 7 hours, it just depends on what I have going on and when I will be home to finish up dinner.
When there are about 30 minutes of cook time left on your crockpot, start cooking your yellow rice. Boil some water and cook however the back of the package says to cook. You will need a good size pot with a lid, 3 tbsp olive oil (I never have that so I use vegetable oil), and 5 1/3 cups water.
I make a 16 oz family-size bag of yellow rice because I have a family of 5 who enjoys leftovers. If you choose to cook the smaller size yellow rice pack then you won’t need that much oil and water. Just FYI.
Once your yellow rice is finished cooking give it a stir to make sure the seasonings are mixed in well. Then set it aside while you finish prepping your chicken.
Move your chicken breast to a separate baking dish or bowl. Just whatever you want to serve your chicken out of. Then shred it up. I like to use my fancy pampered chef meat chopper but a fork works great as well.
After you have shredded all of your chicken up, take about half a cup of the leftover chicken broth from the crockpot and pour/mix it with your chicken. This step is optional but I found that this helps it from tasting dried out and it also gives it more flavor.
That’s it, my friend. Now it’s time to eat. I like to add the rice, then the chicken to a bowl and mix it all up. Whereas my daughter likes to eat the rice and chicken separately side by side. Kids are such weirdos, haha. Enjoy!
Here are a few more recipes you should try that are ready in 30 minutes and the kids will love:
Crockpot Chicken And Yellow Rice
Equipment
- Crockpot
Ingredients
- 3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- 32 oz Chicken Broth
- ½ Peeled Onion (leave it whole)
- 2 Dried Bay Leaves
- Salt and Pepper (measure with your heart)
- 16 oz Mahatma Yellow Rice
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- 5⅓ cup water
Instructions
- In your crockpot add chicken broth, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and onion. Stir.
- Add your chicken breast. Cover with a lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours
- When there are about 30 minutes of cook time left on your crockpot, start cooking your yellow rice. Cook it how it says on the back of the packaging.
- Once finished cooking, move your chicken breast to a separate dish to shred it.
- After you have shredded all of your chicken up, take about half a cup of the leftover chicken broth from the crockpot and pour/mix it with your chicken.This step is optional but I found that this helps it from tasting dried out and it also gives it more flavor.
- Serve both the chicken and yellow rice on a plate or in a soup bowl and mix together. Enjoy!