Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken

This simple slow cooker Cajun Chicken is chock full of succulent shredded chicken, a flavor-loaded broth, and plenty of tender veggies. Spoon it all over rice for a hearty and filling meal!

Pair slow cooker Cajun Chicken with a quick and crunchy salad like this cucumber salad or this panzanella salad.

slow cooker Cajun Chicken

This dish is a little bit of everything — the actual slow-cooked portion is part soup, part stew. And then everything from the slow cooker gets spooned over a bed of cooked rice, making it a thoroughly filling, hearty and warming meal. This dish is pure comfort food, but a meal that you’ll feel good after eating (thanks to all the veggies).

The inspiration for this dish began after a bowl of very nontraditional gumbo my boys and I shared at a local restaurant. The gumbo wasn’t authentic by any means, but it was so satisfying. When creating this dish, I kept the ingredients similar — chicken, stewed tomatoes, and lots of veggies in a rich (but not overly heavy) sauce.

After mimicking the overall ingredients, I then simplified the prep to make this meal a simple “dump it and forget about it” process. Thank you, slow cooker!

slow cooker Cajun Chicken couldn’t be easier to assemble. There’s a bit of work involved after everything has slow-cooked, but overall, it’s a fairly simple meal and the reliable kind of cold-weather comfort food.

slow cooker Cajun Chicken ingredients

Add the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook until tender — no other initial preparation is needed! Below I have a few ingredient notes to help you get the best possible flavor and texture.

• Celery. Slice into 1/4th-inch thick slices.
• Yellow onion. To avoid chunks of under-cooked or crunchy onions, be sure to dice the onion into small, even pieces. To save prep time. you can buy pre-diced onions in the produce section of the grocery store.
• Green bell pepper. Dice into 1/4th-inch pieces.
• Minced garlic. While jarred garlic works, you will get more flavor from fresh. Use a garlic press for ease and quicker prep.
• Stewed tomatoes. This is arguably the ingredient that makes the biggest difference in this slow cooker Cajun Chicken meal! Get the best-quality tomatoes you can afford; the tomato is really the base of this meal. You can get stewed tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano already added in which adds loads of flavor (without needing additional seasonings).
• Chicken. While chicken breasts will work, I highly recommend boneless skinless chicken thighs. The thigh meat becomes exceptionally tender in the slow cooker and shreds quickly and easily.
• Chicken stock or broth. Good chicken stock will add so much flavor; use from-scratch if you have it! My personal favorite brand to use in this recipe is Swanson’s® chicken stock (not sponsored).
• Cajun seasoning. This seasoning can vary a lot from brand to brand. We personally use McCormick’s® reliable Pinch Cajun or Tony Chachere’s® Original Creole Seasoning (neither sponsored). You can also make your own Cajun seasoning mix if you’d prefer. (If making your own, only add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon to this dish, not all of the blend you create).
• Cayenne pepper. A little of this seasoning goes a long way! If you’re worried about spice, I’d recommend either leaving out the cayenne or very gradually adding it in.
• Bay leaf. Dried bay leaves work great in slow cooker Cajun Chicken; you can find them among other spices and seasonings in the grocery store.

Once everything has cooked to perfection, there’s a bit of prep required before eating. The chicken needs to be shredded, the rice needs to be cooked, and a quick roux gets whipped together and then poured into the slow cooker to thicken everything up and add flavor. I discuss these finishing elements of this dish in the next few paragraphs.

Let’s talk roux

Once the slow cooker has finished cooking everything, we add a roux to the mix. The roux is essentially just a thickened sauce of melted butter and flour.

There’s not a whole lot of it, but it gives the meal a nice creaminess, thickness, and overall enhanced flavor.

Here’s a great step-by-step guide to making the roux. That guide includes pictures, so you can choose how dark and flavorful you’d like the roux to be. A traditional gumbo recipe will use a dark roux, whereas we like to keep it on the lighter side for this particular meal.

Quick Tip

Once the roux is finished, you can pour it into the slow cooker and then use the same pot to make the rice if you’re looking to save on dirty dishes–and aren’t we all?

The rice

Despite my best efforts to get the rice to cook alongside everything else in the slow cooker, I never did have success. The rice did not cook evenly (some rice grains bloated while other grains remained hard). Overall, the texture wasn’t ideal, so I do recommend cooking the rice separately from the slow cooker.

While rice can sometimes take upwards of 20-25 minutes to make, I have a short-cut method for foolproof satisfying rice every time (the one catch is you’ll need to use basmati rice); here’s how:

• Measure the basmati rice and rinse it in a fine-mesh sieve until the water runs clear.
• Place that rice in a bowl and cover it with water to soak for about 5-10 minutes (just until the water is boiling).
• While the rice is soaking, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
• Once the water is at a rolling boil, drain the rice and add it to the pot.
• Cook without reducing the heat, for 5 minutes (taste and test to make sure it is tender, if not add another 1-2 minutes) and then drain and fluff with a fork.

You’ll love the texture of this rice and how straightforward it is to whip together!

slow cooker Cajun Chicken Storage

slow cooker Cajun Chicken stores beautifully for 4-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. We prefer to store the chicken mixture separate from the rice and combine the two right before eating.

Warm the chicken gently over low to medium-a low burner to avoid the sauce breaking. Because of the added roux, this dish doesn’t stand up well to freezing and thawing; the sauce tends to break upon being thawed.

More satisfying slow cooker recipes

• Creamy Chicken Chili virtually zero prep time!
• Instant Pot or slow cooker Mexican Tortilla Soup
• slow cooker Chili winner of dozens of chili cook-offs!
• Beef Ragu reader favorite recipe!
• slow cooker Hash Brown Casserole with melty Cheddar cheese

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery (2 to 3 stalks)
• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion (1 onion)
• 1 cup green bell pepper (1 pepper)
• 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic (4 cloves)
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes (I use stewed tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs (breasts will also work, but I prefer thighs)
• 2 cups chicken stock (or broth)
• 1/2 to 1 full tablespoon Cajun seasoning (see note 1)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (skippable)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• Salt
• 1 cup basmati rice (see note 2)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Green onions (skippable)

Method

1. Prepare the veggies (or buy pre-chopped veggies for an even quicker prep). Slice celery into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Very finely dice onion. Cut bell pepper into 1/4-inch pieces. Finely mince garlic. Trim excess fat from chicken thighs.
2. Add everything to the slow cooker: trimmed chicken thighs, sliced celery, diced onion, diced pepper, minced garlic, undrained stewed tomatoes, chicken stock, Cajun seasoning, ground cayenne pepper, and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper (I typically add 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Stir everything together.
3. Cook on low for 5–8 hours or on high for 3–5 hours, until chicken easily shreds. Every slow cooker cooks a bit differently, so watch yours carefully! Avoid opening the slow cooker more than needed, as it takes a while for everything to return to temperature.
4. Once everything is cooked, use tongs to remove the chicken thighs to a bowl. Use two forks to shred.
5. About 30 minutes before serving, place a pot on the stovetop and heat to medium-high. Add the butter and whisk until completely melted and frothy. Briskly whisk in the flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, adding slowly. Whisk until smooth between each flour addition.
6. Whisk constantly until a creamy mixture forms (if it clumps, you’ll need to start again). Lower the heat and allow to slightly thicken, then remove from heat. Carefully pour it into the slow cooker (it sizzles when added, so be careful!) Gently stir the roux into the chicken-veggie mixture.
7. Add the chicken back into the slow cooker. Stir, taste, and adjust to preference, adding more salt and pepper as needed and/or additional Cajun seasoning. Remove bay leaf and discard.
8. Rice: (You can use the same pot as the roux to save on dishes!) Cook rice according to package directions or follow my foolproof method for cooking basmati rice in a fraction of the time! See note 2.
9. Divide rice evenly among bowls. Spoon the slow cooker mixture on top and stir the two together. If desired, add some chopped green onions to each bowl. Enjoy!