Southwestern Crock-Pot® Chicken and Rice Recipe

Name: Southwestern Crock-Pot® Chicken and Rice Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 300 min
Total time: 310 min
Ingredients: 8 oz can tomato sauce; 15 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed); 1 medium green bell pepper (chopped); 1 medium red onion (chopped); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 3.5 oz can green chiles; 15 oz can whole kernel corn OR heaping 1 and 1/2 cups frozen sweet golden corn; 1 cup long grain rice; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 3/4 teaspoon chili powder; 1/2 teaspoon paprika; 2 cups water; 14 oz . crushed tomatoes; 3 chicken breasts; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 chicken bouillon cube; 2 cups Colby Jack cheese (or a mix of cheddar and Jack)

Published: Sep 12, 2016 · Modified: Oct 22, 2022 by Anna 40 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links.

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Southwestern Crock-Pot® Chicken and Rice recipe - cheesy chicken, vegetable and rice dish made in a slow cooker for an easy weeknight dinner. Peppers, corn, beans and a good mix of spices add a Southwestern flair to a classic.

This post is sponsored by Crock-Pot® brand.

Since I turned the calendar page to August (okay, my calendar app did that), life got busy. Everyday seems not to have enough hours. School, errands, new recipes, photos, videos, laundry (ugh, that always appears out of nowhere!), dishes - so.much.to.do. At least dinner is easy. I said it so many times before, here on my blog and to my friends, that I am so grateful for the invention of a slow cooker. This machine saves me so often and our dinner time too. When Crock-Pot® brand invited me to create recipes this fall using their slow cooker, I was thrilled! I am a huge fan of the Crock-Pot® brand and all of it's countertop appliances, most of all the original slow cooker.

I know I am not alone in this busy time of year and try to find ways to make every day easier. I hope this recipe will do just that. Cheesy comfort food that takes only few minutes to prep and cooks pretty much itself. Yes, winning at dinner time every weeknight!

Southwestern Chicken and Rice in a crock pot.

My family adores Southwestern flavors so turning a classic chicken and rice dish that just seemed to be begging for a makeover was the way to go. Green bell pepper, red onion and fresh garlic already make a dish for me. But add green chiles, sweet golden corn, a few spices and there is nothing boring about this dish. Flavors to the max!

Everything cooks together in the Crock-Pot® slow cooker. Chicken and rice too. You can, of course, use already cooked rice, if you have some on hand (skip the water if you are doing so), but it's just so nice and convenient to have everything cook together.

To make things even easier, you can chop the fresh veggies the day before and pop them into a ziploc bag. I also used fresh corn I bought in bulk this summer and froze in freezer bags. I measured out a heaping 1 and ½ cups and added to the dish. You can substitute whole kernel corn in a can, drained and rinsed. To add more spice, you can use enchilada sauce in place of tomato sauce.

After all of the ingredients are in the Crock-Pot® slow cooker, stir them well together. Place the chicken breasts on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set the slow cooker to HIGH for 4:30 hrs. The chicken should be cooked through (165 degrees F internal temperature). Remove the chicken from slow cooker and chop into bite-size pieces on a cutting board. Return to the slow cooker and stir in. Cook on HIGH for another 30 minutes OR until the rice is cooked. With the Crock-Pot® slow cooker on WARM setting, sprinkle the cheese over the dish, cover and let sit for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt.