Crockpot Chicken and Gravy (without any mysterious condensed soup!) is incredibly easy, comforting, tasty, and the perfect meal for weeknights or any occasion.
This slow cooker chicken sauce is guaranteed to become a family favorite that you will make again and again! Juicy chicken wrapped in decadent velvety herb sauce over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes (or low-carb cauliflower rice, pasta, or rice) is a satisfying burst of flavor and luxurious texture in every bite. This chicken and sauce recipe takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, is made with pantry-friendly ingredients, reheats like a dream, and is wonderfully versatile. You can keep the recipe simple, use it for Hawaiian haystacks or add carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, etc. Best of all, the sauce is rich and creamy, there is no pathetic and watery sauce here! – without any “cream of” soups. This chicken and salsa recipe also reheats and freezes beautifully to prepare meals or prepare dinners in advance! Serve chicken and slow cooker sauce with some crusty bread or garlic bread for the full utopia of comfort food
I love using my slow cooker year-round because it creates the richest and most complex flavor profiles and the juiciest chicken, beef or pork with little effort in ONE POT. Some of my favorite crockpot recipes included tips and crockpot beef sauce, Mexican crockpot chicken, crockpot meat stroganoff, creamy white chili crockpot, Mongolian chicken crockpot and now this crockpot chicken and sauce!
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Chicken
and sauce
I’m in love with this cozy chicken and sauce recipe, it’s the kind of recipe you WANT. It is the best of rustic food with the ease of modern cuisine. It’s a preparation recipe and forget it formal enough for special occasions, easy enough for every day, easy to climb up or down, stays warm until it’s ready to serve, and gets rave reviews every time.
What you’ll especially love about this chicken and sauce is that it uses daily, pantry-friendly ingredients, you probably have most of the ingredients right now! All you need is chicken, chicken broth, flour, cornstarch and seasonings. You’ll be amazed at how these humble ingredients transform into a fascinating masterpiece that everyone will praise.
This chicken and sauce recipe is
easy to make by lining chicken rubbed with spices in the cooking pot, bathing it in homemade sauce, and then cooking until the chicken melts tender. Next, simply crumble the chicken and stir until every nook and cranny is wrapped in the elegant sauce.
What makes this the best chicken and
sauce recipe
Now, to the star of the recipe: the sauce. Homemade sauce is what really sets this recipe apart. It is silky, rich and creamy with a hint of intoxicating flavor. Thickening the sauce first in a saucepan produces a thick, creamy sauce foolproof every time, takes less than 10 minutes to make, and is worth every second. You will be so happy that you took a few extra minutes and a saucepan to ensure its perfection.
I know you can complain a bit when you hear that salsa isn’t a dumping ground and runs all the sauce made in the cooking pot, but there’s no other way to create a decadently creamy sauce in the cooking pot! Adding flour or a suspension of cornstarch at the end of cooking results in a thin, lackluster sauce, using condensed “cream” soups is not an option, and removing some of the sauce to thicken on the stove after cooking is a pain.
Stove sauce is the only easy step that will elevate your chicken and sauce recipe to a spectacular 5 stars, like no other chicken and sauce recipe you’ve
ever tried!
Ingredients for Crockpot Chicken and Gravy
This chicken and crockpot sauce recipe hardly requires any preparation work and has such a short ingredient list. Here’s everything you’ll need to make chicken and sauce in the slow cooker
: Chicken breasts
- : You’ll need about 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. I’ve detailed other chicken options below.
- Always use a high quality extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor
- Butter: Provides the base of the roux used in the sauce to make it rich and tasty. Use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt on your plate.
- I’ve only made this recipe with all-purpose flour, but I imagine you could also use a 1:1 gluten-free flour substitute
- Cornstarch: Thicken the sauce and make it ultra smooth without having to increase the flour and therefore the butter in the roux.
- Broth Chicken: Use reduced-sodium chicken broth so your sauce isn’t too salty. Low-sodium chicken broth also allows us to use chicken broth, a tasty secret weapon.
- Chicken broth: A couple of teaspoons add an even richer and deeply satisfying chicken flavor. You can use granulated broth (powder), broth cubes or better than broth. Add the broth directly to the broth without first dissolving in liquid. If you use cubes, you will need 1 1/2 that you crush and then add directly to the broth.
- herbs and spices: Dried parsley, thyme, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper cover the sauce with just the right amount of flavor.
Olive oil:
.
All-purpose flour:
.
Dried
Do I have to use chicken breasts?
No! This chicken and sauce recipe will work with any chicken you have on hand. Here’s how
:
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs: they are dark meat and therefore extremely juicy and more indulgent than breasts in terms of cooking time. The problem is that they have a stronger flavor and simply more “chicken-y”, so it is often not used in chicken and sauce recipes, but it all comes down to personal preferences. If you use chicken thighs, you will need to cook chicken thighs for less time than chicken breasts because they are usually much thinner, about 4-5 hours low and 2-3 hours high.
- Chicken breasts and chicken thighs: Crockpot meals are a great way to use random, miscellaneous chicken hanging in your freezer. I’ve combined chicken thighs and chicken breasts in this recipe before and it was fantastic! The key to cooking chicken breasts and thighs together is to make sure they are the same thickness. You’ll likely have to cut your chicken breasts in half across the equator to create chicken fillets about the same thickness as your thighs. Follow the cooking time for chicken thighs above.
- : You can also make chicken and pot sauce with bone with thighs or bone-in chicken breasts. If you choose this option, I recommend removing the skin first so that the sauce does not become super greasy. You will also need to extend the cooking time by about 2-3 hours.
Bone-in chicken thighs or breasts
CAN I USE FROZEN CHICKEN FOR CROCKPOT CHICKEN RECIPES?
Although it’s tempting to add frozen chicken directly to your cooking pot, this is a big no-no. The chicken spends too much time in the “danger zone” at room temperature, as it thaws and can develop bacteria. Here are safety tips for
cooker chicken recipes:
- Chicken, no matter the cut, should be thawed before being added to the slow cooker. This not only prevents the chicken from growing bacteria, but also allows it to drain excess water, which can make the dish watery.
- It is best to thaw the chicken overnight in the refrigerator so that it thaws evenly and completely.
- If you are in a hurry and needed your thawed chicken yesterday, you can use the microwave. Place the chicken in a microwave-safe dish and use the defrost settings, rotating the chicken occasionally. Be careful not to thaw to the point where the chicken begins to cook.
How to Make
Chicken and Crockpot
Sauce
This chicken and sauce recipe is easy to prepare in about 15 minutes without cutting! It is made by simmering a roux made with butter, olive oil and flour with chicken broth and seasonings until it is wonderfully rich and thick. The thick sauce is poured over the chicken and then becomes the ideal creamy consistency as it thins in the cooking pot. Here are the step-by-step instructions (see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for measurements):
- Step 1: Season the chicken. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, then rub with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Transfer the chicken breasts to the slow cooker (or you can even perform this step in the cooking pot).
- Step 2: Make salsa. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes to remove the smell and taste of raw flour before whisking the broth. Reserve some of the broth and beat the cornstarch in it so that it can dissolve completely and do not make the sauce lumpy, then add the mixture to the saucepan. Add the broth and spices. Finally, simmer until you get the consistency of the thick sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken.
- Step 3: Cook. Cover and cook chicken and sauce over high heat for 4-5 hours or over low heat for 6 to 8 hours.
- Step 4: Shred the chicken. Once the chicken is tender, mash with a fork directly into the slow cooker or transfer it to a cutting board if that’s easier for you. Stir the shredded chicken with the sauce and cook for another 30 minutes to allow the sauce to season every nook and cranny of the shredded chicken.
Tips for making chicken and sauce in the cooking pot thicken the sauce first: thicken the sauce on the stove so that it has the consistency of the thick sauce; you want it thicker than the desired end result because it will thin when cooking with the
- chicken in the cooking pot. This ensures that your sauce is rich, luxurious and the ideal consistency at the end of cooking rather than the unappetizing watery sauce that can’t seem to be thickened perfectly using a suspension of cornstarch in a slow cooker.
- Don’t skip olive oil: Olive oil insulates chicken from drying out during the extended cooking
- Use boneless chicken: You can use bone-in chicken breasts or thighs, but you don’t want to waste time collecting the bones when crushing the chicken. Using boneless chicken breasts makes crushing chicken very easy.
- Trim chicken: It’s tempting to add chicken breasts directly to the cooking pot, but you’ll want to inspect them first and trim any excess fat or cartilage or it will be crushed directly into your chicken and sauce and can have unappetizing and chewy results. Your chicken will also crush much more easily if it’s a nice, clean cut.
- early: There are many factors that affect cooking time, such as the type and age of the slow cooker and the thickness of chicken breasts, etc. Check your chicken breasts towards the front end of the cooking window to make sure they don’t overcook. Although it is more difficult to overcook chicken in the cooking pot, it can be done with dry results.
- Cook chicken long enough: At the other end of the spectrum, you’ll want to cook the chicken long enough for it to be crumbled and tender. If the chicken is not easily crushed with a fork, cook!
- Plan longer: I advise checking the chicken at the early end of the cooking window, but plan the full cooking time to be sure, especially if it’s your first time making a recipe.
- Use dried herbs: You don’t want to use fresh herbs because they will lose their potency due to the long cooking time. If you want to use fresh herbs, add them to the sauce during the 30-minute cooking time after crushing the chicken. You will need 3X fresh to dried herbs.
- Season to taste: As with all recipes, make it yours! With this recipe, you’ll want to season to taste at the end when the shredded chicken is paired with the sauce.
time.
Check chicken
Variations of recipes for tasting
Hawaiian
- haystacks: If you know, you know. This chicken and sauce would be the perfect sauce for Hawaiian haystacks! Enhance individual servings of rice with sauce and then choose from a buffet of ingredients like pineapple chunks, celery, broccoli, bell peppers, grated carrots, thawed small frozen peas, olives, green onions, tomatoes, raisins, coconut, sliced almonds, crispy chow mein noodles, etc.
- : If you and your family are mushroom lovers, feel free to transform the sauce into mushroom sauce by adding mushrooms directly to the Crockpot if you wish. If you like mushrooms that melt and become one with the sauce, add them at the beginning of cooking. If you like firmer mushrooms, add them about halfway through cooking.
- Add vegetables: In addition to mushrooms, you can also add your favorite vegetables like carrots, potatoes, parsnips, peas, etc. If you add vegetables, you’ll want to reduce the amount of chicken so there’s enough sauce to wrap both the chicken and vegetables.
- Exchange herbs: You can completely mix the flavor profile by changing the amounts of herbs or herbs in the sauce. You can add rosemary, tarragon, or basil just to name a few.
- : For an extra luxurious sauce reminiscent of chicken stroganoff, add 1/2 cup of sour cream at the end of cooking. To amplify the stroganoff style, add 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of ground mustard.
- Serve with noodles, rice or mashed potatoes: An easy way to change this recipe is to alternate the base on which you serve it!
Make a mushroom sauce
Add sour cream
Can I prepare this recipe in advance?
yes! You can season the chicken and place it in the slow cooker and make the sauce and pour it over the chicken. Store the short-cooker ceramic insert in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours before cooking. You will need to add an additional 1-2 hours to the cooking time to account for cold chicken.
Can I make this recipe in advance?
absolutely! You can make the recipe in its entirety as written, let it cool to room temperature, and then store the ceramic insert in the fridge until you are ready to reheat it. I recommend serving the chicken and sauce within 48 hours of preparation for best results.
How to store
and reheat chicken and sauce How to
- store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days
- How to reheat on the stove: Heat chicken and sauce in a Dutch oven or in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until heated. You may need to add a splash of milk for the saltier chicken.
- : Transfer chicken and sauce to a microwave-safe bowl or dish. Heat over high heat for 90 seconds, stir, and then continue cooking at 30-second intervals as needed until heated.
- How to reheat in the cooking pot: Heat over low heat for 1-2 hours until warmed up. The time will depend on how many leftovers you have.
.
How to microwave
Can I freeze chicken and sauce?
Yes, this rolling cooker chicken and pot sauce recipe
should be frozen well as it is a flour-based sauce rather than a cream-based sauce. To freeze:
- Let the chicken and sauce cool completely
- Transfer leftovers to a large freezer-sized bag or divide them into smaller bags. Alternatively, transfer it to airtight containers.
- Press air out of the freezer bag, seal, label, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- When you are ready to eat, thaw completely overnight in the refrigerator.
- Heat according to the instructions above.
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/>What to serve with chicken and sauce I love
serving this chicken and sauce
with
mashed potatoes, but you can also serve it with another neutral pairing. Here are some ideas to get you started
:
- Potatoes: mashed potatoes with garlic is the best pairing with chicken and sauce, simply divine! You can also serve mashed potatoes with chicken and sauce (make ahead of time and reheat), or over baked potatoes. The mashed sweet potatoes would also be a delicious twist.
- Pasta: Wide egg noodles would be tasty, reminiscent of chicken stroganoff, but linguine, spaghetti, penne, etc. would also work. You can also use low-carb noodles like zoodles or spaghetti squash
- Rice: You can stack your chicken and slow cooker sauce on white rice (I recommend jasmine) or brown rice. You can also use microwave bags of rice if you are preparing a serving for one or meal preparation. Risotto would also be a dreamy and decadent option.
- Low carb. Cauliflower rice, broccoli rice, quinoa or a mixture of brown rice and any of the aforementioned options.
What side dishes to serve with
chicken and sauce
Now that you have the carbohydrate covered to stack your chicken and sauce, let’s talk about extra vegetables, salads, fruits, and bread. You can go as simple as a green salad, grapes and crusty bread or choose any of the following options to make dinner a little more fun and flirtatious
:
- Vegetables: I am obsessed with honey roasted carrots with this recipe and they are easy to prepare and simply put in the oven. Other tasty options include roasted root vegetables, roasted parmesan broccoli, roasted green beans, baked Parmesan asparagus, and green maple beans from Dijon.
- Salads: We love to add a fresh salad like wedge salad, strawberry spinach salad, green bean salad or spinach and berry salad in the spring/summer and apple nut salad, fall salad, beet salad, roasted pumpkin salad in the winter.
- Fruit: Keep it simple with one side of fruit or expand your fruit game with Perfect Fruit Salad, Berry Salad or Pina Colada Fruit Salad in the spring/summer or Winter Fruit Salad or Tropical Winer Fruit Salad in the fall/winter.
- Bread: Finally, bread is essential to ensure that there is no sauce left. We love garlic bread, dinner rolls or parmesan butter bread sticks with garlic.
Looking for more crockpot chicken recipes
? Crockpot Chicken Omelette Soup Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken Crockpot Chicken Buffalo Crockpot Sesame Chicken Crockpot BBQ Chicken Crockpot
- Ranch Cheese Cream Chicken Crockpot Chicken Mongolian
- Crockpot Honey Soy
- Chicken
