Tasty Bites: Creamy Italian Chicken For The Slow Cooker

By Beth V

Heading into a particularly hectic day recently, I knew I needed a dinner game plan or we would be hitting a drive-thru. My standby crock pot meal is typically pot roast - you really cannot go wrong with a slow cooked beef chuck roast. It is always so flavorful and tender. I didn’t have any beef on hand, and chicken dishes in the crock pot sometimes makes me a bit nervous. In my limited experience, boneless, skinless chicken tends to either dry out or just become a sort of pasty when crock-potted. I took a gamble knowing my family isn’t super-picky and I was really pleased with the result. This is a slow-cooker meal that truly involves dumping ingredients and turning it on. No chopping or pre-cooking necessary. You can even start with frozen chicken. The end  result was saucy, flavorful, moist chicken that our whole family thoroughly enjoyed.

Add about 2 to 2 ½ pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the crock pot. If you have individually frozen breasts or tenders, just place them in frozen. If you have a package of chicken frozen together, just defrost in the microwave until they are easily separated and place the partially frozen chicken into the crock pot. Add in 1 can cream of mushroom soup, ½ cup Italian salad dressing, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and 2 tablespoon dried, minced onions. If you’re feeling adventurous, I bet a splash of white wine would also taste amazing...I may try that next time. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours or in high for about 4 hours.

At this point, you will be inhaling delicious smells coming from your crock pot.  Open the lid and, using two forks, shred the chicken. This is extremely easy to do because the chicken will be fall-apart tender. Stir to thoroughly combine the juices with the shredded chicken. Looking good!

Next, stir in ⅓ cup heavy cream or half and half and ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Cover and return to high heat until bubbly, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve over rice, pasta or mashed potatoes or anything else that will soak up the delicious sauce. Yummy!

I’m happy to have another go-to crock pot recipe that is outstanding in both flavor and texture. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Creamy Italian Chicken for the Slow-Cooker

2 - 2.5 lbs individually frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breast

1, 12.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup

½ cup Italian salad dressing

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons dried minced onions

⅓ cup heavy cream or half and half

⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place frozen chicken in the bottom of the crock pot. Layer on the next 4 ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

Open crock pot and shred the chicken, stirring to combine with the juices. Add cream and Parmesan cheese. Cover and return to high heat until bubbly, about 10 minutes.

Serve over pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.

Beth is a stay-at-home mom of three wonderfully active children ages seven, four and one. She is married to Jason V (who also writes for us here at MAD21) and spends her days teaching, changing diapers, sweeping up Cheerios, stepping over Legos, keeping peace among the kids, and enjoying the creative outlet of cooking.

Comments

[Janice Chan]

I am cooking this tonight! Soccer + boyscouts + no time = Beth's recipes!

[cecelia]

Looks great. I would love to do this tonight but it is a little late at this point. Tomorrow will be a great day for this. Thanks Beth!