This Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe is a remake of the Mexican restaurant classic dish. This version packs in all the same vibrant flavors, but also boasts tons of fiber from vegetables and whole grains.
Contents
A full Mexican Inspired Dinner, Slow Cooker Style!
You can’t beat a good slow cooker recipe, and this one will not disappoint! I love having the flexibility to cook earlier in the day, so when the family is ready for the meal in the evening, a hot meal is ready to go.
This one is easy to prep (just throw everything in the slow cooker!). Turn it on a few hours before dinner, and a cozy meal is done with little effort.
This chicken and brown rice recipe is adapted from my favorite Mexican Chicken and Rice dish from Mexican restaurants. The sauce, plus fun toppings, makes it a crave-worthy meal!
Bonus points that it’s packed with fiber and protein.
What You’ll Need
- Boneless Chicken Breast (or Boneless Chicken Thighs)
- Onions
- Green Bell Pepper
- Diced Tomatoes
- Black Olives (optional, or whatever olives you love!)
- Tomato Paste
- Spices (cumin, paprika, chili powder, Mexican oregano)
- Sea Salt
- Brown Rice (white rice or even quinoa work as well! See notes for substituting these, since they have shorter cooking times.)
- Chicken Broth (or bone broth, for even more protein!)
Optional Toppings:
- Cheddar Cheese (NOT optional, in my opinion!)
- Cilantro (is cilantro every really optional?!)
- Chopped Red Onion
- Avocado
- Sour Cream – the list goes on!
How to Make Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken and Brown Rice
Step 1: Into the crockpot, add the cut chicken, brown rice, onions, bell peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, spices and salt. Slow cook on low for about 3 hours (until the chicken is very tender).
Step 2: Mix the dish well. Add shredded cheese to the top of the chicken and rice mixture. Add the lid back onto the crockpot for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted.
Step 3: Add the toppings either to the whole dish if serving right away, or add toppings to individual servings.
How to Store Leftover Mexican Chicken and Rice
Once the chicken and brown rice has cooled, add it to airtight containers and refrigerate it for up to 4 days. Reheat it in a saucepan on the stovetop with a little extra chicken broth until simmering.
Freeze it: Freeze the leftovers in individual portions! I do this and it’s amazing to have meals ready to go for my lunches. Allow it to thaw long enough to take it out of the container, and reheat it in a saucepan with a little water and a lid over low heat. Fresh toppings will make it taste fresh again!
Tips for Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken and Brown Rice
Make it Paleo/Whole30: I often use cauliflower rice in place of grain. This dish uses whole grain rice, but if you are following the Whole30 or a Paleo diet, it can be omitted.
- Omit the brown rice & cheese.
- Up the amount of chicken to 2 pounds. Reduce the chicken broth to 2 1/2 cups.
- When there is about 1 hour left of cooking time, add in 4 cups of cauliflower rice.
- If the mixture is too watery
Make it Dairy Free: Omit the cheese topping and add extra avocado or cilantro to up the flavor. The cheese really isn’t necessary.
Up the Protein/Lower the Carbs: Follow the directions for making this a Paleo/Whole30 dish!
Other Crockpot Chicken Recipes:
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Crockpot Mexican Chicken and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts cut into chunks
- 1 cup brown rice uncooked
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 bell peppers diced
- 1 15-ounce can black olives sliced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or more, to taste
- 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded, optional
- clantro and avocado to garnish, optional
Instructions
- Into the crockpot, add the cut chicken, brown rice, onions, bell peppers, oives, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, spices and salt. Slow cook on low for about 3 hours (until the chicken is very tender).
- Mix the dish well. Add shredded cheese to the top of the chicken and rice mixture. Add the lid back onto the crockpot for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted.
- Add the toppings either to the whole dish if serving right away, or add toppings to individual servings.
Notes
How to Store Leftover Mexican Chicken and Rice
Once the chicken and brown rice has cooled, add it to airtight containers and refrigerate it for up to 4 days. Reheat it in a saucepan on the stovetop with a little extra chicken broth until simmering. Freeze it: Freeze the leftovers in individual portions! I do this and it’s amazing to have meals ready to go for my lunches. Allow it to thaw long enough to take it out of the container, and reheat it in a saucepan with a little water and a lid over low heat. Fresh toppings will make it taste fresh again!Tips for Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken and Brown Rice
Make it Paleo/Whole30: I often use cauliflower rice in place of grain. This dish uses whole grain rice, but if you are following the Whole30 or a Paleo diet, it can be omitted.- Omit the brown rice & cheese.
- Up the amount of chicken to 2 pounds. Reduce the chicken broth to 2 1/2 cups.
- When there is about 1 hour left of cooking time, add in 4 cups of cauliflower rice.
- If the mixture is too watery
This sounds like the perfect dish for cold winter nights.
Yes, exactly!
OMG, this sounds amazing. I LOVE slow cooker dishes and Mexican food is a staple in my house. And I really enjoy the idea of sneaking some extra veggies into my guys’ diets. Thanks for sharing!
No kidding– extra veggies is always a good thing. This is a great combo for kids because they really need the carbs from the brown rice, but veggies are important, too 🙂 Slow cooker meals really are great for when you have kids at home because they are so hands-off.
I love slow cooker meals too, and this Mexican recipe looks delicious. I’m not familiar with the dish as we don’t have many Mexican places here but loving all the flavours!
What a fabulous recipe! and so healthy too yet so much flavour in there. I will be trying this one in my slow cooker for sure
Great Jayne 🙂 Yes, I think I will be making this again this week. We really enjoyed it!
This looks like a great meal! And I love that it’s made in the crock pot. I bet I could leave the chicken out to make it vegetarian and it would still be great!
Yes, you certainly could! You could sub beans too, and just cut the cooking time in half 🙂
This looks like the perfect winter meal!I am trying to add more whole grains into my family’s diet, I will definitely be trying this.
A slow cooker makes meat especially tasty and tender. This dish looks packed full of flavour. yummy!
This one looks like a perfect weeknight dinner! Love that you are including a nutritional information 🙂
That looks like a keeper! I can taste it now… Thanks for making my life easier and tastier!
I love slow cooker recipes but have never tried mexican rice !! Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to try this!
This sounds perfect for today’s lunch! Thank you!
My pleasure! Ooh, this dish is so good– and perfect for the summer because crockpots don’t heat up your house! Win Win.
As a new owner of a slowcooker looking for recipes, this looks great. One question; I would like to omit the cauliflower ‘rice’. Should I alter something else in the recipe because of this? For it will surely do something to the consistancy, leaving those 2 cups out, I imagine
Hi Linda! You can just omit the cauliflower rice! I use it to bulk it up and add more veggies, but the dish will cook fine without it.
We LOVE this simple method – soul satisfying meal!
So simple to make – I LOVE coming home to this meal!