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.
What’s your opinion on adding mushrooms?
That would definitely work!
Hi Sara can I use chicken stock instead of broth?
Yes that’s fine!
If I throw a few red skin potatoes in there will it make redskins taste weird?
Nope actually it will be a good addition
I have to say that I LOVE every recipe of yours that I have tried!
Could I make these with bone in chicken thighs? And if so how long to cook and what temp?
Yes, cook on low and add one hour!
about how many pounds of chicken breast are you using?
It should be around 2 pounds!
Question on boneless chicken thighs-is the cooking time the same?
Yes the cook time is the same!
Hi I love the recipe but would like to only cook 2 chicken breast , how long would I cook it for?
I would try low for about 3 hours!
So excited to try!! Do you use regular butter or unsalted? And will it matter if I use low sodium soy sauce?
I use regular butter and low sodium soy sauce is fine!
Absolutely a winner on my table bloody beautiful
Could you use an apple cider vinegar in place of basalmic?
Apple cider vinegar has a harsher flavor so I wouldn’t use it!
My balsamic is old throwing it out. What could I substitute white wine vinegar? Love your recipes!
You could try 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce instead!
It’s always so good but I can never get the gravy to be thick. I’ve added so much corn starch and nothing.
If you don’t heat your cornstarch to a high enough temperature (around 203 degrees), your mixture will never thicken.
Quick question-when adding the butter, are you using regular or unsalted butter? Thanks!
After looking at several recipes for Slow Cooker Chix Breast I selected yours to try. Great choice! Delicious, so juicy and tender. And the GRAVY!!! mmmm…tasty! Used Four chicken breast pieces, about 2lbs. My slow cooker is 6Qt and tends to run hot, so my cook time was 3 hours on LOW and then a few min on the warm mode whilst wrapping up the sides.
Gravy was perfect, excellent blend of flavors . did not have soy sauce so I used a seasoning called “Maggi” similar to Worcestershire. In the base of the cooker I added a carrot, couple of smashed garlic cloves and half an onion rough chopped..
Definately will try this out for a big family dinner with more chicken. This fed two of us with healthy servings for weeknight leftovers!!
Just made it for dinner taste great and my husband said it’s a keeper. We both agree maybe leave out the butter in gravey. We like the soy flavor. Will definitely make again.
I made this today and it was delicious!
If i was to use more chicken, say 6 or 8 breasts, do you know how long I would need to cook it for?
Thanks
You can increase the number of servings and the ingredients amounts will automatically recalculate. I’d add another hour to the cook time, but it does depend on the size of your crock pot.
If I want to serve this with something with less carbs than mashed potatoes, what would you suggest? Will spiralized zucchini do?
Yes or mashed cauliflower!
Loved this recipe, fairly quick and absolutely delicious, the whole house smelled great while cooking, and my whole family loved it ! Thanks
Hi I have just put this is the slowcooker and realized I have put the cornstarch into the slowcooker. Have I messed this up?
I think it should be ok the sauce may just be a little thick, you can thin it with chicken broth if needed at the end.
Corn starch loses its efficacy when cooked for an extended time. You will probably need to add more at the end of the cook time, in the way the recipe describes (with water). The extra corn starch will not affect the flavor, so no worries there!
How many ounces are the chicken breasts that you are using in this slow cooker chicken breasts with gravy recipe?
Roughly 4-5 ounces each!
If I want to make it in a crock pot, is the time for cooking on HIGH or LOW the same as for slow cooker?
A crock pot and slow cooker are the same thing, same times apply!
Made it for dinner over white rice.. was delicious