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.
Everyone loved it! Even teenage son who hates balsamic vinegar. He loved the gravy and had no negative comment when I told him what was in it!
I don’t have balsamic vinegar. What can I use instead?
You can omit it if needed!
You could use rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar if you have that!
I don’t have Italian seasoning can I use oregano instead.?And can you put Broccoli and it also should I add it in the beginning?
Oregano is fine, add the broccoli during the last hour or two!
Great recipe, the chicken and gravy were fantastic! I put carrots on the bottom, then chicken thighs, then fingerling potatoes on top, then put the sauce on. Potatoes were maybe a little tough but still certainly edible.
One thing that can really take it up a notch, is instead of browning the chicken first, cook it in the Crock-Pot and then take it out to the grill. 4 minutes on high for each side on medium/medium-high heat and it’ll have a nice crispy outside and be tender and juicy still.
Thanks for the recipe!
Best crock pot chicken I’ve ever made according to my family!
Thank you for the recipe. I have a question, for the Italian Seasoning. Is it specifically the herb mixture or the Italian dressing mix in the packet?
Thanks!
It’s the dried herb mixture in a bottle in the spice area!
Similar to chicken adobo flavor. My husband and kids loved it! I too strained the juices, sautéed mushrooms and followed the gravy recipe. I browned 3 chicken breast and place them in the slow cooker on high for 3 hours. The only thing I would have done differently is checked the temperature before the 3 hours because it was well over 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Thankfully, the gravy saved it from tasting dry. One of our all time favorites!
This was amazing!! I served with homemade mashed – my husband was raving about how good the entire dish was. I made it exactly as written. I only had 4 breasts and cooked for 5 hours, next time I’ll do it for 4.
Thank you so much!
Question, if I just have 2 chicken breasts or dinner for two should I halve the rest of the recipe?
Yes that’s fine!
And low for maybe 3 hours?
Smells delicious already in my crock pot
This was delicious! Served it to my family of 6 tonight and everyone loved it. So tender, juicy and flavorful!
So easy and a family pleaser. It is a great dinner for pantry cooking on a weeknight.
Making this for the first time today. was wondering…if you shred the chicken up after, would that taste good if you eat it on a roll? 😋
Absolutely would be good!
Can this be frozen and reheated ? If so would you freeze before of after the cornstach has been added ? Many thanks x
That should be fine and it’s ok to freeze with the cornstarch!
Do you think this would pair well with mushrooms? Like a sautéed mushroom? Just wondering have them here at home. Want to make this and add some mushrooms……
Yes mushrooms would be great!
I am tired, I hurt and I hate cooking. This is the recipe I found and it is so good and just hits the spot! I followed it pretty much exactly, only subbed in garlic powder. Delicious, thank you!
This was delicious. Hubby and I enjoyed it. The gravy was amazing.
Does the sauce need to fully cover the chicken?
No it should cover about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way depending on the size of your slow cooker.
Made this today and followed the direction exactly. (I did strain the crock pot juices as I poured them in to a pot to make the gravy.) Super easy. Fabulous flavor. Tender chicken. This recipe is now among our family FAVORITES. Seriously. The chicken and the gravy are so good that not a morsel or a drop was left.
Wow it’s amazing taste we love it. Thank you.
Amazing! I wouldn’t change a thing!
Would love to make this – but have 4 chicken breasts. How should I adjust my cooking time?
Cook for 3-4 hours on low!