Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

#1 Thought this Thursday: Be a parent. Enough said.

it is your circus

#2 Thought for Thursday: I never want to appear that I think I’m even remotely perfect. I’ve been reading tons and tons of blogs + social media about people who genuinely think they’ve found the key to life + happiness + the perfect eye cream that also can tone your butt. Enough!!! I want to read the REAL side of life. Give me tips, yes. But also tell me how your kid stuck his hand in poop and put it on your face while you were changing his diaper.

And if you’re going to project perfection, work on your grammar first.

my-life-may-not-be-perfect-but-at-least-i-know-the-difference-between-your-and-youre-70b0c

These two are too much for me sometimes. Penny is the sweetest, most patient baby girl in the world. Corey is also the sweetest, but definitely 100% boy. Sometimes, he’ll purposefully step on her tail or her legs or even her belly (thank you, toddler rage). She just sits there and takes it – licking him profusely. Their hugs make any bad day better for me.

corey and penny

Can we just take a minute to appreciate a few things:

This kid’s love of food – notice the drool?

This kid’s attempt to use a fork like a big boy.

That strawberry falling…

corey douglas

and Corey’s quick cover-up of the folly. He gives a good attempt at using the fork. However, if it doesn’t get into his mouth on the first try, there’s always the hands. I call that tenacity.

corey douglas

Crock Pot Wednesday was a hit yet again! Toot, toot! I tweaked a combo of recipes I’ve had for a while to make a super comforting dinner on what turned out to be a very rainy day. It felt like fall for just a day (in the middle of Houston summer), so it was all worth it for me!

crock pot chicken + wild rice casserole

Fall is just around the corner, and I’m super excited to try these little witches’ hats. If you know me, you know that me + crafts = a lot of cussing and eventually me just running to Etsy or Hobby Lobby to buy what I tried to make. So, with that said, we’ll see what happens with these hats when the time comes.

Anywho – back to the Crock Pot Chicken + Wild Rice Casserole! I used a couple of boxes of this version of Rice-a-Roni (I dumped the seasonings it came with – sorry, not sorry):

crock pot chicken + wild rice casserole

 And I used another “recipe” if you can even call it that using my Crock Pot for the chicken. I use this 99% of the time when a recipe calls for cooked chicken or a rotisserie chicken. I keep tons of containers of this cooked, shredded chicken in the freezer so I can pull it out the night before I make something.

crock pot shredded chicken

It’s pretty simple:


Crock Pot Shredded Chicken

5 lbs. chicken breast
1 carton low sodium chicken broth
Water

Place chicken breast in Crock Pot, pour in broth, and pour in water until chicken is totally submerged in liquid. Cook on high for 8 hours or until chicken shreds easily with a fork.

Store in airtight containers in the fridge up to a week or the freezer up to 4 months. Thaw overnight before using cooked chicken.


My Crock Pot actually has a feature so that you can sauté the onion + celery + garlic right in the pot instead of having to transfer. It’s kind of sexy, if you ask me. One less pot to clean? I’ll take it.

crock pot chicken + wild rice casserole

Otherwise, this is a dump-and-go recipe. It makes 6 very generous servings that come in at around 520 calories each. I hope you and your peeps enjoy it!

chicken + wild rice casserole


Crock Pot Chicken + Wild Rice Casserole

2 tbs. unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 carton (4 cups) chicken broth
2 (11-oz.) cans/containers cream of mushroom soup
2 (4.3-oz.) boxes Long Grain & Wild Rice (discard seasoning packets)
2 lbs. cooked, shredded chicken (see recipe above or use rotisserie chicken)
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
8 oz. Colby-Jack cheese, shredded, divided
Green onions, for garnish

In a large skillet or Dutch oven (or your Crock Pot, if you have that option), melt the butter over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion and celery until softened (about 5 minutes). Add garlic; sauté 1 more minute. Place onion mixture in Crock Pot on the low heat setting. Add chicken broth, soup, rice, chicken, S&P, and stir to combine. Gently stir in 2/3 cheese, cover, and cook for 4 hours.

Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Cover with remaining 1/3 cheese, cover, allow cheese to melt, then serve. Garnish with green onions.

Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

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