This slow cooker chicken breast is simmered in a flavorful garlic and herb gravy until tender. Serve your crock pot chicken breasts over mashed potatoes for a comfort food meal that’s sure to earn rave reviews.
When I’m looking for an easy dinner I know that the whole family will love, I turn to my slow cooker for savory soups and main course options. I regularly make slow cooker chicken marsala, slow cooker whole chicken and these tender and juicy chicken breasts smothered in the best gravy.
This slow cooker chicken breast recipe is one of the most delicious dinners that will ever come out of your crock pot! The chicken comes out tender every time, and the gravy is full of flavor. Best of all, it takes just minutes to put together. You’ll be able to come home at the end of the day with your meal ready to eat!
Slow cooker chicken breast ingredients.
This recipe contains olive oil, chicken breast, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, chicken broth, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic, cornstarch, butter and parsley.
How do you make slow cooker chicken breast?
To bring out the flavor of the chicken, first brown the chicken breasts in a pan with a little salt and pepper. The next step is to make a sauce featuring chicken broth, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, garlic and herbs. Put the chicken breasts in a slow cooker with the sauce and let it cook. When the chicken is done, pour the liquid from the slow cooker into a pan and simmer it with some corn starch and a little butter to make a nice thick gravy. Pour the gravy over the chicken and serve it sliced or shredded. The tender chicken with pick up all the flavors from the gravy and will be irresistible.
Tips for slow cooker chicken breast
- I highly recommend browning the chicken before cooking it in the crock pot. Browning the chicken adds a lot of flavor to the dish. If you don’t have time, browning the chicken is optional.
- Don’t worry about the chicken breasts drying out because they will cook up in the sauce and will have gravy on top to keep them tender and moist.
- You can add some vegetables like carrots and potatoes to the crock pot for a one pot meal. Just be sure to cut the veggies in large pieces so that they don’t get overly soft after the long cooking time.
- Serve your chicken with traditional side dishes, or slice it up and put on rolls for amazing sandwiches.
- This recipe will stay fresh in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
- Sometimes I make a double batch of crockpot chicken breasts, and use them for meal prep all week long.
Recipe FAQs
I don’t recommend putting frozen chicken breasts in a slow cooker. Frozen chicken breasts take more time to heat in a slow cooker than thawed chicken. Frozen chicken breasts may take too long to heat to a safe temperature. The best way to cook chicken breasts in the crock pot is simply to thaw the breasts first and then cook them up. In addition, if you brown the chicken breasts as per this recipe, you will want to thaw the chicken before putting it in a pan to brown.
Chicken can be overcooked in a slow cooker. I recommend that you follow the cooking instructions in this recipe for a great result. While you can overcook chicken, this recipe is particularly forgiving as the chicken cooks in sauce and is topped with gravy. Even if the chicken gets a little overcooked, the gravy will help save the meal.
Use a meat thermometer to tell if slow cooker chicken is done. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165 degrees F. Properly cooked chicken should not look rubbery on the inside. If you cut into the chicken, the juices should run clear.
Flavor Variations
This recipe is delicious as written, but you can customize the flavors to suit your tastes.
- Protein: You can also make this recipe with chicken thighs or drumsticks. Use whatever cut of chicken you prefer. It also works great with pork tenderloin.
- Gravy: Feel free to add more flavor to the gravy with ingredients such as lemon juice, onion powder, Dijon mustard, springs of fresh thyme, garlic powder, rosemary, oregano, basil or paprika.
- Vegetables: If you choose to add veggies to the slow cooker, I recommend using heartier options such as carrots, onions and potatoes which will hold up well during the cooking process.
This slow cooker chicken recipe makes tender flavorful chicken topped with a savory gravy. This easy recipe will quickly become one of your favorites.
More delicious slow cooker recipes
- Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
- Barbacoa Beef
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Korean Beef
- Slow Cooker Meatballs (Italian Style)
Slow Cooker Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided use
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium high heat.
- Season the chicken breasts on all sides with the salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
- Sear the chicken for 4-5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
- Place the chicken in a slow cooker.
- In a small bowl, mix together the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, chicken broth, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and garlic.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours, or HIGH for 2-3 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and place on a plate; cover with foil to keep warm.
- Pour the liquid from the slow cooker into a pot. Heat the pot over medium heat and bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of cold water. Add the cornstarch to the pot and bring to a boil.
- Cook for 1 minute, or until sauce has just thickened.
- Add the butter to the pot and stir until melted. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Slice or shred your chicken and pour the sauce over the top. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Notes
- If you’re short on time, you can skip browning the meat and simply season your chicken and add it straight to the slow cooker.
Easy & delicious! Thank you for posting this recipe! Chicken was so tender! I like that the searing gives that extra flavor! Only thing I did different was I put the remaining oil, chicken broth, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and garlic in the same pan I seared the chicken in to scrape the bits of flavor.
Absolutely delicious! A keeper!
Hi Sara. This recipe really worked for me because the ingredients are always in my cupboard or refrigerator. The taste was excellent but unfortunately my slow cooker obviously runs too hot. I cooked pretty large chicken breasts for four hours on low (after searing) and they ended up dry. Thank heavens for the sauce/gravy! I am definitely going to make this again but either reduce the slow cooker time or do it stove top. Thank you for the recipe. It is definitely a keeper.
I’ve made this chicken recipe twice, and my family and I love it. In fact we nicknamed it crack chicken because we’re addicted to it. I did add a sprinkle of nutmeg, because I love the scent. I also added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice by mistake. It’s absolutely delicious and so easy to do. We’ll be making this on the weekly! Thank you for the recipe!!
My family loved this chicken! I substituted honey for the brown sugar which I didn’t have. It was delicious and so easy to make. We actually call it Crack Chicken because my adult daughter asked me if I put crack in the recipe because she couldn’t stop eating it.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Really good! Browned the breasts along with onion and garlic first! Really tasty and served with stuffing and rosti potatoes!
Made this yesterday and it was Amazing ! Followed your recipe, Easy Peazy. Will definitely make again. Thank you !
This is delicious! Very happy for a recipe using different ingredients. We seem to get stuck in a rut with bbq chicken or chicken cutlets. I made this with rice, steamed carrots and corn muffins.
Could this be made in a pressure cooker?
This is a similar recipe that uses the Instant Pot! https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/instant-pot-chicken-thighs/
we loved it ,thank you so much.
My slow cooker broke – how long would I need to cook it for in the oven? and on what temp?
I’d probably sear the chicken then bake for about 20 minutes at 375 and make the gravy separately.
Life changing. The most perfect bite of chicken breast I’ve ever tasted. Never ordering dry breast from a restaurant ever again! Just wow.
This was really good and I had everything on hand to make it. Quick and easy dinner for a busy weeknight. I did have to double the cornstarch to get the gravy to thicken up. Served over brown rice with some green peas. Loved it and will be making it again!
Can you use boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts?
Yes that’s fine!
This recipe is amazing and makes fabulous gravy. I make it often cuz it also delicious as leftovers. I double the sauce to make extra gravy so the next day we can do shredded chicken on waffles with gravy. Thanks for this. So good
Delicious.
Excellent! This is a keeper!
Omg this is sooooo good ….I started to put veggies in there but only the chicken ….veggies separately….omg I have saved this and the balsamic and soy sauce….this was soo easy and the gravy is that FINAL TOUCH !!!! I WILL BE MAKING THIS AGAIN