Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Rule #280: Keep it easy. Keep it simple. But make it delicious.

This Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole is one of those amazing dump-and-go slow cooker recipes that really come in handy on those busy weeknights. ‘Tis the season for all the activities and sports and meetings and thing. Fun, but oi! The chaos!

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 and social media about people who genuinely think they’ve found the key to life and happiness and 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.

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…

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.

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!

Anywho – back to the Crock Pot Chicken and 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):

 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.

It’s pretty simple:

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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.

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My Crock Pot actually has a feature so that you can sauté the onion and celery and 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.

Otherwise, this is a dump-and-go recipe. It makes 6 very generous servings that come in at around 370 calories each. I hope you and your peeps enjoy it!

First, chop up a small yellow onion and about 2 stalks of celery.

Now, melt 2 tbs. unsalted butter in either your multicooker or a large Dutch oven or skillet.

Now, toss in the chopped onion and celery. Sauté until softened (about 8 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Then toss in about 4 minced or pressed garlic cloves. Sauté until fragrant (about 1 minute). This would be the point at which you’d transfer the veggies to your slow cooker if you’ve been sautéing them in a Dutch oven or skillet.

Next, pour in 1 quart or 4 cups of unsalted chicken stock.

Now we add in 2 (11-oz.) cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Now we put the “rice” in our Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole! We like to use just 2 boxes of the Rice-a-Roni brand Long Grain and Wild Rice Casserole (just toss the seasoning packet).

Next, add in about 1 lbs. of cooked, chopped chicken. Then, we season our casserole with 1 tsp. Kosher salt and 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Stir everything to combine.

Finally, sprinkle on 1/3 of an 8-oz. bag of shredded Colby Jack cheese. Save the rest for later!

Stir to combine, cover, then cook in your crock pot on low for 4 hours.

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