Cajun Butter Crockpot Chicken thigh and rice is one of the easiest Chicken dinner recipes where Chicken is pan-seared and then slow-cooked with low-sodium chicken broth, Cajun Seasoning, Light brown sugar, and a few cloves of minced garlic. I got the inspiration of this recipe from Teighan at Half baked Harvest and I just absolutely love her recipes. And her One Skillet Cajun Chicken and Rice recipe got me to make this one. It's one of the easiest Crockpot Recipe for Dinner. Also its the best Summer dump and forget Dinner recipe in the Slow Cooker.
Don't miss this Baked Cajun Chicken recipe and these Cajun Rub Chicken Wings and this Cajun Pasta recipe
If you love Cajun Pasta, also try these Salmon Pasta in Creamy Cajun Sauce & this very popular Easiest Cajun Shrimp Pasta
Last week I made Cajun Shrimp and rice in my Instant Pot. It went out so well in the family. My kids loved the recipe.
I loved it way more than I can explain. Today, I wanted to try Cajun Butter Chicken in my Crockpot. I was so excited about it.
Cajun Butter Crockpot Chicken Thighs in one pot Louisiana Style
You see, I love making Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs. The dark meat is juicy and full of flavors.
And using Chicken Breasts as well - Honey Bourbon Chicken in Crockpot, Crockpot Coconut Lime Chicken, Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken with Sweet Pineapple Glaze, and Chicken Thighs - Crockpot Chicken Thighs in Lemon Garlic Sauce, Crockpot Chicken Thigh Recipe with Asian Glaze.
What is Cajun Seasoning?
Before we begin I would like to tell you about Cajun Seasoning. Do you know the history of Cajun cuisine, where does it come from, how it gained popularity? Learn everything about Cajun Cuisine here.
Interested in learning more about Cajun food! I found this Reddit link really informative. Have a look at it.
Also, before we begin here are the spices that you'd need to make cajun seasoning:
MORE Cajun Recipes:
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
- Salmon Pasta in Creamy Cajun Sauce
- Easiest Cajun Shrimp Pasta
Jump to:
- Cajun Butter Crockpot Chicken Thighs in one pot Louisiana Style
- What is Cajun Seasoning?
- 🍲Ingredients needed to make Cajun Chicken Recipe
- 🍽️Instructions on making Cajun Chicken & Rice
- 📖Substitutions
- 🔖Variations
- 🧊Storage
- 💡Top tip to make the best Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs
- 🚰How much water is Adequate to cook rice?
- 🥗Side Dishes
- Cajun Butter Crockpot Chicken Thigh and Rice
🍲Ingredients needed to make Cajun Chicken Recipe
These are the ingredients you'll need to make Cajun Butter Crockpot Chicken thigh and rice.
- Bone-in Chicken thighs: You can also use chicken breasts. But, chicken thighs are the juiciest.
- Salt, Freshly cracked black pepper, smoked paprika - Some basic spices to get the chicken seared.
- olive oil - You can use any other vegetable oil or canola oil
- melted unsalted butter - I like unsalted butter to give a creamy, buttery touch to my chicken.
- onion powder & garlic powder - Both of these basic spices to coat chicken.
- oregano - just some dry herbs to make the chicken more flavorful.
- cajun seasoning - I love store-bought cajun seasoning.
- Jasmine rice - you can use brown rice in its place.
- Low sodium chicken broth - you can also replace chicken broth with water.
- light brown sugar - brown sugar balances the heat of cajun spice.
- minced garlic cloves - garlic has that sharp kick which I love.
- freshly chopped parsley for garnish
See the recipe card for quantities. Also, check out the video for a visual🎥
🍽️Instructions on making Cajun Chicken & Rice
Here I'll take you through step by step images so that you can make Cajun butter Chicken thighs with ease.
Step 1: Coat chicken in spices
Pat dry chicken thighs using a paper towel until they are dry. Add the spices and herbs along with melted butter, cajun seasoning, and olive oil. Coat both sides of the chicken evenly.
Step 2: Pan-Sear Chicken
In a heavy-duty non-stick skillet heat some olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil gets hot, add chicken (skin side down) and cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin gets light brown. Flip over and cook another side as well.
Step 3: Dump in Slow Cooker
Grease the bottom of the slow cooker with some olive oil. Add pan-seared chicken pieces along with a cup of rice, low sodium chicken broth, brown sugar, and few cloves of minced garlic. Give this a good toss and then cover the slow cooker with a lid. Slow cook on low heat for 8 hours or on high heat for 4 hours.
Step 4: Garnish and serve
Finally, garnish and serve with freshly chopped parsley.
Hint: Pan-Searing and then the slow cooking of chicken is called braising. This cooking method ensures you get the best taste for your chicken. The chicken gets a crispy golden brown coating on the outside, and after slow cooking, they get juicier, soft, and tender. That's another reason for me to like Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs.
📖Substitutions
- Keto Sweetener: To make a Keto version of the exact same recipe, all you have to do is substitute brown sugar with keto sugar.
- Mild Paprika: You can replace smoked paprika with mild paprika
- Chicken Breasts - Instead of Chicken thighs, you can use chicken breasts to make this Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs.
- Brown Rice - Instead of Jasmine rice you can use brown rice. For 1 cup of brown rice, you'll need approximately 3.5 cups of chicken broth OR 2.5 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of water.
- Coconut Sugar - For a healthier alternative to light brown sugar feel free to use coconut sugar or maple syrup or honey.
🔖Variations
- Spicy - To add more heat you can add some cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes.
- Potatoes: Along with cajun chicken and rice you can add some Yukon gold potatoes or new potatoes.
- Carrots - You can chop carrots and add it to the crockpot. It would get cooked with chicken and rice.
See this Oven Baked Chicken and Rice recipe and learn more.
🧊Storage
You need to cool down your Cajun Butter Chicken and Thigh before serving. Once the rice cools down, transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for 2 days.
I do not recommend freezing this chicken.
💡Top tip to make the best Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs
- Make sure you use unsalted butter while coating your chicken.
- Adjust the salt of your recipe as per your taste if using store-bought cajun seasoning.
- Keep a close eye on chicken while pan-searing. It gets cooked in an instant. You don't want to cook them completely.
- Make sure you place your chicken "skin side down" while searing in the skillet and "skin side up" while placing them in the slow cooker.
- Keep the chicken close to the each other in the crockpot. They cook into each other.
- Don't mess up the water and rice ratio while cooking rice in the crockpot.
- Make sure you check the temperature of chicken with an instant read thermometer before serving. It should be at least 165°F.
- Make sure you keep the chicken and rice on the countertop and allow them to cool down completely before transfering them to the refrigerator.
🚰How much water is Adequate to cook rice?
Rice to water ratio is one of the most crucial aspects of this Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs recipe. You don't want your rice to be half-cooked or overcooked.
I follow a rule of thumb that was taught to me by my mom. She says that the amount of water should be almost twice the amount of rice.
Therefore for 2 cups of rice, you need 4 cups of water.
But, I have changed that concept. I love to break rules😜
For 1 cup of Jasmine rice, I use 2.5 cups of low sodium chicken broth and 1 cup of water OR simply 3.5 cups of chicken broth.
🥗Side Dishes
Crockpot Cajun Chicken and Rice is a complete meal in itself. But, if you are looking for some sides then I have the following recommendations for you:
- Ranch Mashed Potatoes
- Broccoli Mac and Cheese
- Miso Carrots (Roasted)
- [2-Ingredient] Crispy Broccoli
- Crispy Fried Green Beans
- Creamy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
If you are making Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs using this recipe, please provide a rating below. Also, take a snap and share it on Instagram with #recipemagik. Tag me @recipemagik so that I can see how it turned out.
Cajun Butter Crockpot Chicken Thigh and Rice
INGREDIENTS
- 6-8 medium bone-in chicken thighs approximately 2 pounds
- Salt as per taste
- freshly ground black pepper as per taste
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning see note 1 for recipe*
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 tablespoons butter or ghee optional (for added richness to the rice)
- 1½ cup Jasmine rice washed and drained
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- freshly chopped parsley for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Rub chicken with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, Cajun Seasoning, melted Butter, and olive oil.
- In a non-stick pan heat some olive oil. As soon as the oil gets hot, add chicken thighs skin side down, and sear until it turns light brown for 2-3 minutes. Flip over and sear another side as well.
- Glaze the bottom of the slow cooker with some olive oil. Add in butter or ghee for added richness to the finished rice. Add pan-seared chicken thighs in one single layer. Add in jasmine rice, low sodium chicken broth, light brown sugar, and minced garlic cloves. Toss lightly and cover your crockpot with a glass lid.Slow cook on high for 4-hours or on low for 8-hours. Stir the rice at 1-hour mark
- Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve right away.
Video
Notes
- Recipe for Cajun Seasoning.
- Make sure you cook your chicken upto 165°F
- If you're cooking in low add the rice only after 6hours of cooking. Jasmine rice cooks really fast.
Gina Smith says
Love this recipe!! Made this tonight me everyone loved it 💓💓👍👌
Anjali says
So glad to hear that.
James says
Wow 🤩 we loved it 😍 this is going straight to my bucket list.
Steve says
Your recipe for Cajun chicken in the crockpot is my favourite!! This one calls or even better just screams my name!!!
Anjali says
thank you so much!
Ashley says
Could I use long grain white rice?
Anjali says
Yes you can use Long grain white rice. And, you don't have to make any changes in the cooking time. But, if you are using brown rice you might want to increase the time for another 1 hour.
Kennie P. Coco says
Not sure why it is called cajun chicken. But with the addition of a few more ingredients it was rather good. Thanks.
Anjali says
Its not really an authentic Cajun recipe. But its called Cajun Chicken because of the heavy use of Cajun Seasoning. I am so glad you liked this recipe!!
Rose Gardner says
Is the rice pre-cooked or cooked in the slow cooker?
Thank you in advance!
Anjali says
No. The rice is cooked in the slow cooker.
Rebekah says
Very tasty! I thought this was seasoned just right and the rice absorbs all the wonderful flavors. Loved that the rice cooks right with the chicken, so less fuss. I like my rice a little more firm, so next time I will cut back on the liquid a little. Definitely a keeper.
Anjali says
Thank you! Lots of Love to you for trying this and more importantly enjoying this...
Clarity says
Very good! My rice did end up mushy, kinda like Porridge so next time I’ll use less broth. I cooked it on high for 4 hours. (3 cups of broth for 1.5 cups of rice. - prob will scale it back to 2 cups of broth next time)
Michelle C Nicodemus says
I made this last night, only able to try it this morning. The flavor is fantastic!
On a side note, the dish was done in 2 hours on high. I finished the bag of rice, with maybe an extra 1/2 cup and put in some extra broth. I also stripped all of the meat off the bone and mixed into the rice once it was finished cooking and cooled. I actually made this in the Ninja Foodi Cooker - so I was able to complete all the steps in the crockpot. Could also be why the dish was done early, maybe?
Thank you for sharing! This is def a saved recipe!
Surup says
Hey Michelle! So glad to hear that you liked this recipe. And yes! the ninja foodie cooker cooks the chicken real fast.
Kevin says
Made this recipe flavor was there but the rice came out mushy ! Followed the instructions carefully! Too much liquid?
Surup says
Hi Kevin. Actually the recipe calls for 11/2 cups of Jasmine rice and 3 cups of chicken broth to cook it. This is a standard amount of liquid to cook rice. However your rice must have overcooked for either of two reasons. Maybe you cooked it in low heat for too long. Jasmine rice cooks really fast and tends to get mushy when either its over stirred or cooked for too long or isn't sauteed properly before adding the liquid.
Sara says
If you skip the searing and put boneless skinless thighs directly into the CP, do you still rub with the seasonings as listed?
Surup says
Yes, you can skip the searing part! However, rubbing the chicken with the season will make them taste juicy and delicious.
Lucas says
How much liquid should be put in the crockpot if I'm cooking the rice separately?
Surup says
about 1/4 cup of water or broth should be enough to cook the chicken if you're cooking the rice separately.
RJ says
Out of Cajun. Injured, can’t drive to store. Can I sub jerk seasoning?
Surup says
yes you can! Jerk Seasoning is somewhat similar to cajun except it has allspice, cinnamon & nutmeg which makes it a little heavy on the aroma. However it should still work perfect for this recipe.Alternatively you can even make your homemade cajun seasoning with garlic, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, thyme, salt & pepper if you have these ingredients at home.
Carla says
While the flavor is absolutely delicious.. chicken turned out perfect.. I found the rice to mushy after just 2 hours of crockpot time.... next time I'll try cooking the rice separate and add in the last 40 minutes or so to soak up the flavor!
Anjali says
Hey Carla! I'm glad you liked this recipe. Many people have told me the rice gets a bit mushy post-cooking. If that's the case for you, too, you can add it later or just 10 min before you serve.
Kylie says
Delicious dish. I just wanted to add here, because it seems others have struggled. Jasmine rice is softer than regular white rice. This recipe uses a 2:1 ratio of liquid to rice, which would be correct if using regular rice, however, 1 1/2:1 is a more appropriate ratio for jasmine rice. So, cut the broth back to 2 1/4 cups. I did this and it was great!
Kathleen says
When you write “stir rice at the one hour mark” does that mean one hour before the end of cooking?
Anjali says
yes stir one hour after it gets cooked so that the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the crockpot.
elle says
made this tonight and it’s delightful. i had a bunch of chicken leg meat i needed to use so i used 3.75 lbs chicken, made a single serving of the cajun mix from your recipe using t instead of T, and then after reading all the comments i did 4.5 c broth (better than boullion in hot water). it came out perfectly. the chicken is moist and flavorful, the rice is the perfect texture and just a little sweet. will go into regular rotation.
Anjali says
I am so glad it turned out perfectly for you! Using chicken leg meat was a brilliant move, it’s so forgiving and stays incredibly juicy in the slow cooker. I also love that you tweaked the broth and seasoning to fit your preferences; that’s the sign of a great cook! Thanks for sharing those helpful tips for others to see.