Slow Cooker Mushroom Rice with mushrooms, caramelized onions and thyme is a deliciously buttery addition to your holiday meals! Stovetop directions too.
Slow Cooker Mushroom Rice is my official entry into the holiday recipes season. I actually had intended to share this recipe last year when I posted my Perfect Garlic Prime Rib and Roasted Garlic Butter Mushrooms but I was a little late to the game and everyone was over the holiday recipes.
This year I’m jumping the gun and giving you holidays in SEPTEMBER. This Mushroom Rice is going to be a welcome addition to your family meals, I promise. Assuming of course you like mushrooms, haha.
This Mushroom Rice is so good my husband actually requests it and he normally is not a mushroom fan. I can’t think of any higher compliment to give this dish. A guy who normally says things like “It was great…except for the mushrooms” enjoyed a second helping of this recipe.
This isn’t a cream of mushroom soup rice, but if you are looking for a cream of mushroom soup recipe I have a condensed version too.
Tips for this Slow Cooker Mushroom Rice:
- BUTTER. Butter and mushrooms should basically get married because together they taste like heaven. Use butter to brown those mushrooms and onions.
- Use a good pot. I used a dutch oven made with cast iron and it doesn’t have to be expensive for the mushrooms. When making a double recipe I use my slow cooker insert to brown those mushrooms.
- You don’t have to, but adding a tablespoon of butter to the slow cooker gives the rice a deliciously rich texture and keeps it moist.
- I use a regular long grain rice, you can certainly use brown rice as well – cook on high for 3 hours.
- I use dried thyme for the recipe, fresh thyme would also be delicious and make a great garnish as well.
One Pot Stovetop Mushroom Rice? YES. I’ve got you covered.
Looking for more side dishes?
- Rainbow Roasted Vegetables
- Roasted Garlic Butter Mushrooms
- Perfect Potato Latkes
- Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots
- Parmesan Garlic Crash Hot Potatoes
Tools Used in the making of this Slow Cooker Mushroom Rice:
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Better Than Bouillon: I almost never buy boxes of broth because I keep the beef, chicken and vegetable version of this Better Than Bouillon.
Mushroom Base: Made from the same people above, this is an easy way to pump up the mushroom flavor. Also helps if you’re using white mushrooms. It is much cheaper than buying by the box and you don’t have to worry about an opened box going bad in the fridge.
Cast Iron Skillet: This is my most used pan in my kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 pound crimini mushrooms sliced
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 2 cups rice
- 4 cups vegetable or beef broth
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed pot add 2 tablespoons of butter and the mushrooms.
- Cook on medium high for 3-5 minutes or until they start to caramelize.
- Stir and cook an additional 3 minutes.
- Remove the mushrooms and put them into the slow cooker.
- Add in the onions, salt, pepper and thyme along with the last tablespoon of butter and cook on medium for 3-5 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown.
- Add in the garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Scrape the onion garlic mixture into the slow cooker.
- Add in the rice and broth.
- Cook on high for 2 hours.
Nutrition
Made this on Saturday and it’s absolutely delicious ?. I added just a little smoked paprika and it’s an easy dish that was hard to stop eating.
Thanks so much.
Absolutely fantastic recipe!! I followed recipe to a T other than adding a few less mushrooms and maybe half an onion. Everything else I did exactly as stated. Rice was perfectly cooked and seasoned beautifully 2 hrs on high in slowcooker. Will use this recipe again and again. Thank you so much! So easy too!
Can I double this recipe and still cook it in the crock pot?
Cook times may differ!
Is it possible to add chicken into the slow cooker with the rice?
I wouldn’t suggest making it together. I have other recipes that are a one pot recipes that you could use instead.
https://dinnerthendessert.com/one-pot-greek-chicken-and-rice/
You wrote at the top that you use ” dutch oven made with cast iron” — is it okay to cook rice with water in it, as rice cooking will obviously need a lot of water (or broth)? I would love to use cast iron for this too but I have not yet cooked any rice dish in it because I read elsewhere that I’m not supposed to cook anthing with lots of liquid (and or acid) in cast iron.
Sorry for the confusion. You are correct, I was just mentioning the pot I used for the mushrooms.
All the recipes that I’ve made so far are delicious. I’m so glad I found this page
Thanks, Kristine.
I put in crockpot 2 hrs high did exactly as directed. Unfortunately rice wasn’t all fully cooked and came out gluey. Was there a particular long grain I was supposed to use?
I used regular long grain rice but brown rice would work as well, though will need an extra hour of cook time.
Where r stove top directions? This looks so good. Thank you Debbi
Here’s the recipe link https://dinnerthendessert.com/easy-mushroom-rice/
I made this twice for the holidays. Once with family and another time with friends. It was delicious! Everyone enjoyed it. So easy to make, effortless! Thanks so much for the recipe. It’s a keeper for future meals!
I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed it, Karie Ann. Thanks for the 5 stars.
Hi, I want to make this for supper tonight, but my crockpot settings are Hi 4hrs and 6hrs and Low 8hrs and 10hrs. Will cooking on Hi at the 4hr setting be sufficient to cook the rice in 2hrs? Thanks!
That should work. I’m not familiar with your slow cooker but unless it takes 4 hours to get to temp (which I doubt) it should be fine. Let me know how it turns out!
Hello I am planning on making this for a family reunion and have some beautiful brown and wild rice from Wisconsin, if using brown/wild rice mix is there any adjustment I need to do? Thank you in advance for your help and time.
That sounds amazing but the cooking time on wild rice is completely different and I haven’t had the chance to test it out in a slow cooker. Stay tuned in the future.
Hi there,
I look forward to trying this recipe. Do you think this would be a good side for enchiladas (& a salad)? We don’t really care for mexi-rice. Thanks!
Just printed this recipe. I’m always looking to change up my side dishes. I’ll be trying this soon!
Enjoy!
I have stomach troubles and I would like to know if you have anything that doesn’t have a hot and very little strong spices in it. I’m so tired of seeing these Great recipes but I can’t eat them. But I don’t want to lose the great taste.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes. With each one, you can always adjust the seasoning to your liking. I usually try and make most of the recipes to fit the middle ground of spice and then everyone can adapt to their preference. Hope this helps!
I would like to make this a meal by adding chicken breast fillets. Could I add them when starting the rice or is there a better way? Thanks Sandi
Just had a thought…If I started the chicken (breasts) first and cooked for an hour on high and then added the brown rice and other ingredients as directed do you think would it might work?
Not in the slow cooker. I would suggest following this recipe for a stove top version. https://dinnerthendessert.com/one-pot-greek-chicken-and-rice/
You can make it all together but I wouldn’t suggest using the slow cooker. You can follow this recipe https://dinnerthendessert.com/one-pot-greek-chicken-and-rice/ on how to cook it all together.
I modified this to go in my rice cooker…. it smells so yummy! (just put it in the cooker now). Instead of using the slow cooker, i put everything in my rice cooker and pressed the start button. Should take it roughly 30 minutes, i expect. I think this side dish is going to taste great with the smoked sausage I am going to fry up. I think I’ll use the same pan that I cooked the mushrooms and onions in, to spread the flavor love around. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome, Kate! Enjoy!!
How did this turn out in the rice cooker? Did you have to make any major adjustments?
I substituted 2 cans of French onion soup for the broth. Yum Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it, Roxann!
Hi,
I really want to make this, but I always get confused over measurements in ‘Cups’.
Are you able to advise the rice & stock in grams and ML?
Also I would need this for around 14 people, would you recommend doubling the ingredients?
Many Thanks
To convert the recipe as written, you’ll want to use 370 grams of rice and 960 grams of stock. I would recommend doubling the recipe for that many people but you may need to make it in 2 slow cookers to accomdate the ingredients. Hope this helps!
What size of slow cooker did you use for this recipe? I have a 7 quart so will probably have to double or triple it I’m assuming.
I used a 6 qt slow cooker for this recipe. 🙂
The recipe was awesome! My husband and I loved the flavors, but I would probably cut the cook time down to 2 to 2 and half hours instead of 3. The rice was cooked a little to long at 3 hours but other than that…phenomenal!!! Will definitely make again. Thanks
Melissa
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Can this be done on low for 4 hours or so?
I’ve never tested it so I’m not sure if it would work or not. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turned out. Thanks!
Is a dish that can be frozen? If so before or after cooking? I’m just starting to cook but love mushroom!
Yes, you can freeze this after cooking. Enjoy!
Does it matter what type of rice? Would basmati work or would it be too soft / mushy?
Basmati would be too mushy. I used regular long grain rice but you could also use brown rice if you’d like.
I can totally see why your hubby requests this (and I AM a mushroom fan!). I think it’s just an absolutely brilliant idea to use the slow cooker for this, but I also love that you included stovetop directions as an alternative – that’s so helpful, whatever equipment someone might have on hand. Great post!
Thank you so much Shelley!
These mushrooms are the way to my heart!!! Love this recipe idea!!!
Thank you Allyson!
Thyme and mushrooms are the best combo! Love it!
Thanks Abeer!
This is definitely going on my must make list!!
Thank you Amanda!
Mushroom rice is one of my favorite dishes!!
since i don’t own a slow cooker, ( there is just two of us) may i use a casserole baking dish? that is covered in the oven? And how long would i cook this?
Yes, you can definitely make this in the oven. I would recommend baking at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!
Good morning! So I’m a microwave queen, my mother tried to teach me how to cook I just wasn’t interested. However now I’m trying to be better about it. I love your recipes although sometimes I don’t get it lol. Anyway, can I add dark meat chicken to this recipe? If so how???? Thanx in advance!
Good for you for getting out of your comfort zone!! I’m not sure I would suggest making it in a slow cooker though. If you’d like to add chicken, you could follow this recipe https://dinnerthendessert.com/one-pot-greek-chicken-and-rice/ for cooking directions on how to cook it all together. Good luck!