Crockpot Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Orzo

Some nights I don’t have it in me to stand over a pot stirring risotto-adjacent anything. That’s basically what this is — broccoli cheddar soup and chicken and orzo had a baby, and the slow cooker did all the actual work. You dump, you walk away, you come back to shredded chicken swimming in cheesy broth. Then orzo and broccoli go in at the very end so they don’t turn to mush, and that’s the whole trick.

Why This Works

Cooking the chicken low and slow in seasoned broth first means it shreds without any effort — no shredding two dry chicken breasts with forks while dinner is already late. But the bigger thing is timing the orzo and broccoli separately. Orzo dumped in at hour one would soak up all the broth and turn to paste; broccoli cooked that long would be gray mush. Adding both in the last 30 minutes on HIGH keeps the pasta with some bite and the broccoli actually green.

Ingredients

• 1–1½ lbs chicken breast
• ½ sweet onion, diced
• ½ cup shredded carrots
• Chicka Licka Bam Bam Chicken Rub, to taste
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
• ½ tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1½ cups chicken broth
• 2 cups broccoli
• 1 cup orzo
• 1 (8 oz) block cheddar cheese, freshly shredded, plus more for topping
• ½ cup heavy cream
• Salt, to taste, at the end

Directions

1. Add the chicken, diced onion, shredded carrots, chicken rub, garlic powder, onion powder, chicken bouillon powder, paprika, black pepper, and chicken broth to your slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 4–5 hours or HIGH for 2–3 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
3. Remove the chicken, shred or chop it, and return it to the slow cooker.
4. Stir in the orzo, broccoli, heavy cream, and shredded cheddar. Cover and cook on HIGH for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the orzo is tender. Keep an eye on it toward the end since orzo can absorb liquid quickly.
5. Taste before adding any salt. The chicken bouillon and chicken rub already contain salt, so you may not need much.

Prep Time, Cook Time & Servings

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 4–5 hours (LOW) or 2–3 hours (HIGH), plus 30 minutes
• Servings: 6

Tips

• Shred freshly off the block. Pre-shredded cheddar is coated in anti-caking starch and it won’t melt the same way into the broth — you’ll get grainy sauce instead of the silky version.
• Check the orzo at the 20-minute mark, not the 30. It keeps cooking in residual heat even after you cut the slow cooker off, and orzo left in hot liquid too long turns bloated fast.
• If your slow cooker runs hot, start checking chicken doneness at the low end of the range — 4 hours on LOW instead of 5.

Variations

Swap the broccoli for frozen peas if that’s what’s in the freezer — they only need about 10 minutes, so add them later than you would fresh broccoli. Skip swapping the cheddar for pre-shredded, though; I’ve tried it to save a step and the sauce breaks instead of staying smooth.

Make-Ahead

The chicken-and-broth base holds up fine in the fridge for a day if you want to cook it the night before and finish with orzo and cheese the next evening. Don’t add the orzo ahead of time, though — it keeps drinking liquid even off the heat and turns to mush by the next day, no way around it.

FAQ

Closing Thoughts

This is the one I make on the nights we also need something for tomorrow’s lunch — it reheats fine with a splash of extra broth stirred in to loosen the orzo back up.