Cracker Barrel Hen and Rice Copycat Recipe (Straightforward Dinner)

31 de December de 2025

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By Stephanie Manley Revealed December 30, 2025

Cracker Barrel’s Hen and Rice succeeds as a result of it leans on a couple of confirmed fundamentals: correctly cooked long-grain rice, well-seasoned rooster browned for taste, and a pan gravy that builds depth from sautéed mushrooms and a basic roux. This copycat model retains the ingredient listing sensible and the tactic easy, whereas delivering the identical “full dinner” really feel Cracker Barrel is thought for. You get tender rooster cutlets, fluffy rice that tastes like greater than plain rice, and a savory herb gravy that ties all the things collectively. Add a easy vegetable on the aspect, and you’ve got a dependable weeknight dinner that eats like consolation meals.

Copycat Cracker Barrel chicken and rice with mushroom gravy.

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What makes this Cracker Barrel Hen and Rice recipe so good?

While you’re on the lookout for taste with out fussiness, you may’t go flawed with this recipe. This dish is straightforward to make with cheap elements that you simply in all probability have already got at house, and it’ll have everybody in your loved ones cleansing their plate. The tender rooster, well-seasoned rice, and the herb gravy come collectively in an ideal fundamental. Add a aspect or two, and make an on a regular basis dinner really feel like a midweek celebration.

Hen and Rice elements and their roles

For the seasoned rice, you’ll want:

Lengthy-grain rice – cooks up fluffy as an alternative of gummy, and absorbs flavors effectively.
Water – used for cooking the rice.
Dry rooster bouillon – flavors the water and the rice.
Unsalted butter – provides a bit of richness to the rice and prevents the grains from sticking.

For the rooster, you’ll want:

Boneless skinless rooster breast – the primary protein of this dish. Hen is gentle sufficient to tackle different flavors.
Seasoned salt – a one-stop mix of salt and seasonings to simply taste the rooster breasts.
Vegetable oil – crucial for cooking the rooster. Utilizing a impartial oil gained’t introduce any new flavors.

For the mushroom herb gravy, you’ll want:

Unsalted butter – provides richness and combines with the flour to type a roux.
Cremini mushrooms sliced ¼ inch thick – introduce an earthy component to the gravy.
All-purpose flour – thickens the gravy.
Hen broth – is the bottom of the gravy and provides the umami taste.
Complete milk – lends physique and a contact of creaminess to the gravy.
Poultry seasoning – boosts the standard poultry flavors.

For garnish, you’ll want:

Parsley, chopped – provides a contact of freshness to distinction with the gravy’s heaviness.

Copycat Cracker Barrel chicken and rice ingredients on a marble surface.

Find out how to make this Cracker Barrel Hen and Rice recipe

To organize the seasoned rice:

Rinse the long-grain rice in a sieve till the chilly water runs clear.
Place the rinsed long-grain rice, water, and dried rooster bouillon in a medium saucepan and convey to a boil over excessive warmth.
Cut back the warmth to a simmer, cowl the saucepan, and prepare dinner till all of the water is absorbed, about 18 to twenty minutes. Take away the coated saucepan from the range.
Maintain the rice coated for 5 extra minutes, then uncover and fluff with a fork. Stir within the unsalted butter proper earlier than plating.

To prepare dinner the rooster:

Cut up the rooster breasts in half horizontally, then season either side with seasoned salt.
Place a big skillet over medium warmth. When it’s sizzling, add vegetable oil.
Sauté the rooster breasts in batches for 4 or 5 minutes per aspect till they’re calmly browned and simply cooked by way of. Place the rooster on a plate and put it within the oven set to WARM.
Repeat with the remaining rooster, ensuring the pan reaches temperature earlier than including the rooster.

To organize the mushroom herb gravy:

Place the identical unwashed skillet that you simply used to prepare dinner the rooster over medium warmth.
Add the butter and let it soften.
When the froth subsides, add the sliced cremini mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms till they’re tender.
Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and saute for a couple of minute extra.
Slowly add the rooster broth, stirring till the flour dissolves.
Pour in the entire milk and poultry seasoning.
Improve the warmth to excessive and simmer the gravy for a couple of minutes, stirring often.

Making copycat Cracker Barrel chicken and rice with mushroom gravy.

To serve:

Add the cooked rooster breasts to the skillet with the gravy and switch the cutlets to coat.
Plate the seasoned rice and high with the rooster. Spoon further gravy excessive of the rooster.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve instantly.

Copycat Cracker Barrel chicken and rice with gravy and a fork and knife on a napkin.

What to serve with Hen and Rice

Since this dish already incorporates a protein and starch, all that’s lacking is a vegetable. Make your favourite or strive one of many veggie-forward recipes under to finish your meal.

Outback Steakhouse Candy Potato – Scrumptious sides don’t must be advanced. Take these baked candy potatoes from Outback Steakhouse, for instance. They’re lifeless simple to make, however the spiced compound butter topping transforms them into an actual delicacy.

Crimson Lobster Roasted Brussels Sprouts – Don’t skip this recipe since you suppose you don’t like Brussels sprouts. Oven-roasting them brings out their pure sweetness, and a fast toss in brown butter provides them a wealthy, barely nutty taste. Nutritious, scrumptious, and positively value making.

Oven Roasted Asparagus – This foolproof aspect dish makes use of simply 4 elements and goes with nearly all the things. Easy seasonings hold it versatile, however you may simply gussy it up along with your favourite spice blends or by including a drizzle of cheese or hollandaise sauce.

Storage and reheating directions

To retailer, enable the meals to chill to room temperature, then switch the rice, rooster, and gravy into separate hermetic containers—place within the fridge and reheat inside three days.

To reheat, preheat the oven to 325°F. Place the rooster in an oven-proof container and add a tablespoon of rooster inventory or water. Cowl tightly with aluminum foil. Heat the rooster within the preheated oven for 15 to twenty minutes.

In the meantime, microwave the rice till heat, about 1.5 minutes. Warmth the gravy within the microwave in 60-second bursts till sizzling.

Copycat Cracker Barrel chicken and rice with mushroom gravy garnished with parsley.

Extra copycat Cracker Barrel rooster recipes

Try extra of my simple rooster dinner recipes and the very best copycat Cracker Barrel recipes proper right here on CopyKat!