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.
Can you use frozen chicken breasts?
Yes add one more hour to the cook time!
Sara is right…this was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever made in my crock pot! I’m usually skeptical of doing chicken in the slow cooker because it can come out so dry, but this recipe made me a believer. I prepared it exactly as written, and wouldn’t change a thing. I served it over rice. Hubby went nuts for it!
I made this tonight and omg was so so good!! I didn’t have any chicken broth so I used beef broth and served over buttered penne noodles! Very good! The chicken was fall apart tender!
Should you adjust cooking time if only using 3 breasts?
You can cook for one hour less!
Made this today. Followed the recipe exactly as written. Served with buttered egg noodles SMS peas. it was delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing. This one’s a keeper! Thank you!
This was by far the best tasting meal I’ve had out of a slowcooker in my life! I added in potatoes and carrots while it cooked and only put in 3 breasts. I will be using the leftover chicken for wraps this week and I’m so excited!
Don’t know how you came up with this, but it’s truly amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Cooked this today. Only used one tablespoon of sugar. Turned out absolutely delicious! Husband thinks it’s the tastiest gravy he’s ever had. A family favourite from now on! Thank you!
Probably the most delicious thing I’ve made in my slow cooker ever.
Total comfort food! Definitely going to become a staple!
Excellent dish. I made the sauce an hour before serving and let the chicken cook further in the sauce. Delicious and absolutely not too sweet!
I’m making this for my family tomorrow but I’m not a fan of sweet things. Is the gravy sweet at all?
I personally don’t think it’s sweet but you can reduce the sugar to 2 teaspoons if you’re concerned!
I have cooked dinners for a residential home for autistic boy for the past 9 years. And that comes out to roughly 12,000 meals.
Our guys have large appetites and particular tastes. This delicious dish has received a resounding thumbs up and is being touted as one of the best meals ever made at the house. Thank you Sara, you make a difference!
I was skeptical and a little scared to put some of these ingredients together but it actually turned out really well! I probably needed to add more corn starch to make my gravy thicker but I’m really glad to have another recipe to add to my crock-pot stock. I work until 8:30 every night so it’s great to have a nice chicken dish cooking and not have to work at it.
Absolutely delicious. I was looking for something different than the add cream of mushroom soup type of recipe. This was spot on! The gravy was definitely a bonus. I made some fried potatoes and put the gravy on those too it makes a lot of the gravy which is excellent. This is definitely a keeper.
Delicious. Chicken so tender and not dry like many by other dishes
Delicious! Used 2 chicken breasts, so cut the sauce measurements in half. Cooked on high 2 hours and served with garlic mashed potatoes. Winning combination.
Nice and tender, easy to make. It’s worth the time to brown the chicken, makes it even tastier!
This was delicious and got the seal of approval from the hubby.
I only had 2 chicken breasts so cooked for 2 hours on low in the slow cooker and it came out perfectly.
Look forward to making again!
Can I use white flour as thickener for gravy instead of cornstarch?? I do hope so because I do not have cornstarch. (Fixed my typo ☺️)
I haven’t tried it this way but I think it could work!
First recipe I made using my crockpot for the first time and oh my god… so goooood.
This was fantastic! I am not a good cook at all but love using my crockpot. Had chicken breasts in the freezer and needed to do something with them so I tried this recipe and it turned out great! I have never made gravy before in my life and to be honest, I wasn’t very confident, but it came out perfect! Served over left-over mashed potatoes. Definitely a keeper. Thank you for making me look like a real cook!
Hi 👋
Can this be kept warm for a gathering please ?
If so, how long would you recommend
Thank you 😊
You could keep in on the warm setting in the crock pot for up to 2 hours!