The first time I made this parent recipe, it was a total disaster. The rice and lentils didn’t get cooked, and I had to decide between crunchy rice or a very, very late dinner. We ended up with both, as I baked the dish twice as long as it called for and still had underdone rice.
I’m not sure what made me try it again, but the remix has become a staple in the rotation, perhaps because it’s so easy and uses a lot of ingredients I often have on hand. I’m always trying to think of ways to use up my shredded chicken from the whole chickens I buy to make homemade chicken stock. For an easy meatless meal, you could certainly omit the chicken (as is the original recipe).
In keeping with the “Keep it Simple” theme for this week, I’m happy to share this simple slow cooker meal with you. I think it will be the first one I make when we introduce rice after the grain-free experiment. I was tempted to jump into that this weekend, but I’m sure we should have more than one week with the legumes brought back in before foraying into “real” grains. We’ve already introduced lentils – here’s how I use lentils and some recipes.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Lentil Brown Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dry green lentils
1/2 cup brown rice
1 c. water
2 1/2 –3 cups homemade chicken stock
1 cup tomato sauce or 1 can tomato paste (if using sauce, use 2 1/2 c. chicken broth)
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup of chopped green or red pepper
1 grated or finely chopped carrot
2 c. cooked, shredded chicken
optional: other vegetables like spinach, broccoli
3 teaspoons Italian seasoning or taco seasoning
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp salt
Dash pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese ( I prefer sharp cheddar, but Mexican blend with the taco seasoning or mozzarella with the Italian is also great)
Method:
Combine rice, lentils, and water in the slow cooker following this rice soaking method. Allow to soak overnight with the machine turned off. Drain the water off, saving some, then add all the other ingredients and mix everything together in the slow cooker except for cheese. Set slow cooker to high for four hours or low for 8 hours, adding cheese about a half hour from the end of the time.
Serve with salsa for the Mexican version, and optional spaghetti sauce with the Italian is great.
Recipe inspired by Cents to get Debt Free, where almost everyone loves her recipe. I must have been a fluke!
Although the finished dish will never win any beauty awards, I still cannot believe I don’t have a photo of it after as many time as we’ve had it!
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So do you have to soak the lentils if you sprout them first? I’ve always wanted to try sprouting but I don’t want to do anything I have to turn around and dry. Lentils seem like a good thing to start off with.
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Katie Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Kelly,
Katie
I’m embarrassed to notice this comment has no reply! Yikes! If you sprout lentils, you do not have to soak them at all. Good question! I don’t know how I missed answering it…
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Do you soak the rice and/or lentils first? Also, if I omit the chicken, do I need more or less of any other ingredients? Thanks!
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Katie Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Michelle,
Katie
I’m embarrassed to notice this comment has no reply! I don’t know how I missed answering it… You wouldn’t need to sub anything for the chicken, and yes, the rice and lentils soak overnight in the water, then drain the water and add chicken broth.
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I make lentil soup all the time. I think my family would like this too. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us.
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I think you might be missing a link to the soaking method?
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Katie Reply:
October 19th, 2010 at 2:05 am
By golly, thank you, Sarah, I was! It’s fixed now: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/04/01/phytic-acid-in-rice-reduced-96-with-accelerated-fermentation/
Katie
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So do we discard the water after soaking overnight and add in a new cup of fresh water? Or just add in all the ingredients after soaking, except for the lentils, rice, and water?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Krissa,
I have no idea how I missed all these questions on this post! Sheesh. So sorry.
Yes, you discard the soaking water (saving some if you’re doing the accelerated fermentation method), then add the chicken stock and other ingredients. No need to repeat the water unless your slow cooker is letting too much evaporate.
Thank you!
katie
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Introducing…Cooking Together | More Than Mundane // Nov 14, 2010 at 6:24 pm
[...] Slow Cooker Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole [...]
Good stuff! We had this tonight (italian style) and it was a hit!
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Hi Katie. I only have brown lentils. Would those work? Thanks
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Katie Reply:
April 17th, 2011 at 3:58 am
Shannon, Sorry I’m so late to reply; we’ve been on vacation! I’ve never heard of brown lentils, though, only green or red. I will say my green lentils look brown, so maybe that’s what you have. Give it a whirl!
Katie
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Dana Reply:
August 5th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
About the lentils. Brown are the most common kind you can get in the store. If they are green it is usually stated on the package. And red are more of an orange color. But the red almost dissolve when cooked, then the brown can get soft if cooked a long time and the green hold their shape the best even in long cooking. Hope this helps!
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I found your site not too long ago, and my family is starting to have a meatless meal at least once a week. This recipe was great…we made it Mexican style and really enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing it!
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So if you are soaking rice for the first time, would you have to soak the rice for 24 hours then soak it again with the lentil the night before making this recipe? Or would the soak with the lentils and rice be the first soak of the rice?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
June 7th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Jennifer,
Katie
You can just soak them together, one time, no problem. I just use part of my “rice water” from previous batches and save the rest for more rice.
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can you put your chicken in uncooked? i would think it would cook nicely over the 8 hrs… ?
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Katie Reply:
November 9th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Melissa,
Katie
I’ve never tried it, but you’re probably right – that’s plenty of time to cook chicken. Let me know how it tastes if you try it – I love offering options like this!
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melissa Reply:
November 10th, 2011 at 7:20 am
i DID try it (roughly cut up skinless/boneless breasts) and it turned out great! Logistically i didn’t add it until the lentils, rice, and garlic had been on low for a couple of hours, then turned it on high for about 2-3 hours. my crockpot cooks very quickly, so i wouldn’t necessarily reccomend that for everyone.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
November 11th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
Melissa,
Katie
what a great success – thank for letting us know how it went!
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May Update & Our Weekly Menu {nourishing traditions} #4 « think. plan. {oh, yeah, &} live. // Feb 4, 2012 at 1:59 am
[...] took the Lentils & Rice Casserole off our menu because we just didn’t care for [...]
Weekly Menu Plan {nourishing traditions} #3 « think. plan. {oh, yeah, &} live. // Feb 4, 2012 at 2:03 am
[...] Dinner} Lentils & Rice Casserole with Sautéed Vegetables & Garlic Toast on Sprouted Bread (we did not care for the lentil [...]
Weekend Update & Weekly Menu Plan {nourishing traditions} #1 « think. plan. {oh, yeah, &} live. // Feb 4, 2012 at 2:10 am
[...] Dinner} Lentils & Rice Casserole with Sautéed Vegetables & Garlic Toast on Sprouted [...]