Buffalo Chicken and Rice Slow Cooker Casserole

October 22, 2015

Buffalo Chicken and Rice Slow Cooker Casserole Recipe | Fake Food Free
I rarely identify with the term comfort food. I think it’s because, unless you are force feeding me steamed broccoli or those crunchy fancy green beans, I consider all foods comforting. I may be partial to carbs, but a salad or spring roll can bring about as much comfort and nostalgia for me as mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. 

But I get it, and if you wanted me to come up with some comfort foods, using the true sense of the word, one thing that comes to mind is the classic casserole. 

Casseroles have gotten a bad wrap in recent years, and rightly so given the usual ingredients. But as most of us move on from mixing condensed canned soup with other boxes of ingredients and calling it delicious, there are still ways to make casseroles. 

The first thing that comes to mind with this recipe for me is that old school cheesy chicken and rice casserole. You know, where the rice is kind of mush and the chicken can barely be detected, but it’s so flavorful and comforting. 

Buffalo Chicken and Rice Slow Cooker Casserole Recipe | Fake Food Free

This one swaps out cheesy-ness for spicy buffalo chicken inspired flavor. Although, I can imagine that a sprinkle of blue cheese on top wouldn’t be half bad. 

I’m not a huge fan of cooking ingredients before they go into a slow cooker. It defeats the purpose for me. But that being said, I did brown the chicken for this recipe. There is just something about using chicken thighs that makes me want them a little firm and crispy around the edges. It only takes a couple minutes and you can pop them right into a dry, non-stick skillet. 

I use white rice in this recipe, but brown can be substituted. Just watch it closely towards the end in case the brown rice needs more liquid. You also don’t have to cook your rice down completely. I wanted my chicken to be super easy to shred, so the rice in this is almost like grits or a thick porridge verses defined grains. 

Serve it with extra hot sauce because as the recipe is written, it is lightly seasoned. That way, once it has finished cooking if you don’t want it to be spicy you can sprinkle in a little salt to your taste, but if you do like heat, you can skip salt and drown it in more hot sauce at the table.

Of course, we need a few greens. Finely chopped celery and celery leaves are perfect for sprinkling over the top. 

Buffalo Chicken and Rice Slow Cooker Casserole Recipe | Fake Food Free

Buffalo Chicken and Rice Slow Cooker Casserole
Makes: 6 to 8 servings
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Ingredients
  1. 2 lbs. chicken thigh filets, excess fat trimmed as desired
  2. 1 cup long grain white rice
  3. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
  4. 1 medium white or yellow onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
  5. 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  6. 1 1/2 cups water
  7. 1/2 cup hot sauce (I use Frank's)
  8. 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  9. For serving: salt to taste, extra hot sauce, chopped celery
Instructions
  1. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high. Brown the filets on each side in batches, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate.
  2. Pour the rice into the bowl of a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker. Top with the cubes of butter. Layer the onion over the rice and butter. Sprinkle in the garlic slices.
  3. Layer in the chicken thighs. Pour the water over the chicken and then add the hot sauce. Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hours, until the chicken is tender and shreds easily.
  4. Use two forks to shred the chicken in the bowl and stir with the rice. Stir in the black pepper. Serve warm with extra hot sauce and chopped celery.
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  • Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) December 3, 2015 at 10:22 am

    I’ve gotta try this! Sounds delicious.

    • Lori December 3, 2015 at 12:03 pm

      I hope you like it! It one of my new favorite comfort foods!

      • Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) December 17, 2015 at 9:16 am

        I made this last week and loved the flavors, though the rice didn’t cook in 2.5 hours on high. šŸ™ I had to take it out and finish cooking it on the stove in a pot. I think next time I will maybe cook for 6-8 hours on low. I don’t know if that’s too long to cook rice in the slow cooker or not. Besides that we loved it. My husband raved about the flavors.

        • Lori December 17, 2015 at 10:35 am

          Thanks for letting me know! That’s so strange because mine is like mush in that amount of time on high. Maybe it’s differences in the slow cookers? Glad to hear you liked it anyway! šŸ™‚

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