Here are 3 delicious and super easy chicken crockpot recipes your family will love! Less than 5 minutes prep, toss it in the crockpot and have a tasty family dinner!
3 Super Easy Chicken Crockpot Recipes
Here are 3 easy chicken crockpot recipes your family will love! These chicken recipes are perfect to make for dinner on busy days. You can take 2 minutes to throw everything in the crockpot in the morning and by dinner time, you will have a tasty family chicken dinner ready to eat.
These chicken crockpot recipes are perfect for families with kids because they don’t have any crazy ingredients that picky eaters will eye suspiciously! Even though they are tasty, they are simple and versatile enough to serve with a wide variety of sides and vegetables.
We most often serve these recipes with rice and an easy vegetable, but you can also serve with other things like potatoes, pasta or bread.
Since I’m often in a hurry and don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I will usually microwave a fresh frozen vegetable like broccoli, green beans or mixed vegetables, along with the rice. You might also want to serve with a side salad or a sliced veggie tray. For veggie trays, I will usually serve bably carrots, sliced cucumbers, peppers and whatever else I have on hand. And don’t forget – If you have fresh garden vegetables, use them as a side!
You can also mix and match things that seem to go with the theme of the chicken recipe. For example, if you’re serving the salsa chicken, you could serve with Spanish rice, beans, sopapillas or any other Mexican-themed sides.
If you’re serving the barbecue chicken, you might want to serve it with corn on the cob, broccoli and cornbread. The barbecue chicken is also great shredded and served on buns as barbecue chicken sandwiches. After cooking it on the crockpot, the chicken shreds easily by pulling it apart with 2 forks. Then throw some french fries or tater tots in the oven and serve with salad or a veggie tray.
These easy chicken crockpot recipes also make great leftovers! You can shred the leftover salsa chicken to serve the next day in chicken tacos or you can use leftover barbecue chicken for chicken sandwiches. The leftovers from these crockpot chicken recipes are super easy to use to make many other recipes, so don’t tell the family they are eating leftovers. You’re just planning ahead for additional meals to save time!
Easy Salsa Chicken Recipe
This easy Crockpot Salsa Chicken recipe is a dump-and-go dinner that’s full of flavor with almost no effort. Just add chicken and salsa to your slow cooker, and a few hours later you’ll have tender, juicy chicken that’s perfect for serving over rice, in tacos, burritos, or even on salads. A budget-friendly, family favorite that’s as versatile as it is delicious!
Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 6 thighs, or about 8 to 10 chicken tenders)
1 (16–20 oz.) jar of your favorite salsa
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Pour the salsa over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on high 3–4 hours or low 6–7 hours, until the chicken is tender and easily shredded.
- Shred the chicken with two forks and stir it back into the salsa mixture.
- Serve over rice. Leftovers can be used in burritos the next day.
Notes
Optional add-ins: 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 cup corn (frozen or canned), 1 tsp chili powder or taco seasoning for extra flavor
Serving Ideas
- Spoon over rice or cauliflower rice.
- Tuck into tortillas for burritos, tacos, or enchiladas.
- Top with cheese, sour cream, or avocado for extra flavor.
- Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3–4 days and are freezer-friendly.
Easy Barbecue Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 6 thighs, or about 8 to 10 chicken tenders)
1 (15–18 oz.) bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce
Optional: 1 small onion, thinly sliced; 1 tsp smoked paprika or garlic powder for extra flavor
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the bottom of your crockpot.
- Pour the barbecue sauce over the chicken. (Add onion or seasonings if using.)
- Cover and cook on high 3–4 hours or low 6–7 hours, until the chicken is tender and starting to fall apart.
- Shred the chicken with two forks and stir it back into the sauce.
Notes
Serving Ideas
- Serve on hamburger buns for BBQ sandwiches.
- Serve over rice, baked potatoes, or cornbread. (if you server over rice, you don’t need to shred it.)
- Use leftovers for wraps, quesadillas, or pizza topping.
- Freezes well for easy make-ahead meals.
Easy Roasted Chicken Recipe
Skip the oven and make a juicy, tender roasted chicken right in your slow cooker! Perfect for hot days or busy schedules, this easy roasted chicken recipe gives you a delicious chicken with almost no effort.
Ingredients
1 whole roasting chicken
Lawry’s Seasoning Blend (or your favorite seasonings)
aluminum foil
Instructions
- Rub the chicken all over with the seasoning blend.
- Crumple aluminum foil into 4 large balls and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Set the chicken on top of the foil balls (this keeps it out of the juices so it “roasts” instead of stews).
- Cover and cook on high 4–5 hours or low 7–8 hours, until the chicken is completely done.
Notes
- Serve with mashed potatoes and a crisp side salad for a classic dinner.
- Leftovers are perfect for chicken salad, casseroles, or sandwiches.
- For extra flavor, stuff the cavity with garlic, onion, or lemon before cooking.
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The crock pot gets a lot of use year-round in my house. The barbecue chicken is a favorite in my family but we’ve never served it over rice. We cook till done enough to shred with a fork and serve in buns. Usually with a side of potato salad or coleslaw and a fruit dessert. I like to use boneless thighs because we find them more juicy and more flavorful than breasts.
That is true. Even thought everyone seems to favor breasts they are one of the driest parts of the chicken.
Hi Jill: I like the thighs as well especially in chicken cacciatore, my daughter will only eat the boneless, skinless breast. she has a way of slicing them cross wise, though, and seasons them w/a little olive oil and seasoning, and they stay pretty moist. we’ve been doing a lot of grilled chicken Caesar salad this summer. she does use chicken thighs and bone in chicken for soups, though.
I’m so glad to see Tawra’s life may be beginning to calm down a bit, from what I read in the newsletter yesterday, she’s and Mike have been under some pressure. hopefully, things will be more peaceful. hope your summer is going well. just had a heat wave here in the Boston area, so rain today, along with a sea breeze is quite welcome! I do believe it may be a cool enough day to make some jam!
best,
Donna
I think another week or so and things will get much better for Tawra. She is still having to deal with the schools and a bunch of things but as soon as that gets done it will be much easier. This week has been especially hard for her. My summer has been doing fine. It has been exceptionally slow for some reason. I went to Tawra’s in June and became really sick and could not shake the stuff for some reason Am doing better but really threw my summer off. Have had no energy to do yard work so I now have a lovely jungle. It doesn’t look too bad so might just keep it. :)My pride and joy is my 7 ft. tomato plant. I only have one and you know how awful my gardening skills are compared to Tawra’s so I can’t believe I got it to grow.I also have an out of control cantaloupe plant that pop up from some seeds I threw into the compost pile last year. It is like one of those things you would see in a scary movie that starts growing and won’t quit but starts choking out every thing. My yard is a crack up this year.
Mostly I have been trying to keep cool. It has been unusually muggy even for Kansas but this week it actually cooled down. Yeahhhh!!! Well best go. Don’t work too hard on that jam. Sounds so good though. Jill
Hello, I have made the whole chicken in crock pot. Instead of just rolling up the aluminum foil into balls. I wrap potatoes into the foil, put them down and add chicken on top. Potatoes cook beautifully too.
The potatoes don’t get oiling from the chicken?
Things creep in when wrapped in foil.
Sheri not that much oil probably gets in and even if it does I have cooked potatoes in with the chicken without even wrapping them and they are the best flavored potatoes you have ever tasted. It is like for years they have just thrown a roast or chicken in a pan, surround it with potatoes and veggies and slow cooked them in the oven. Everyone always loves mom’s or grandma’s Sunday roast dinner. It is the same idea.
Thank you.
I like to watch my bad cholesterol levels.
Excellent idea! Can’t wait to try that technique and make chicken soup with leftovers.
I have 3 crockpots of various sizes and just bought a small instapot. They get used every week because they are so versatile and it’s hard mess up using a slow cooker. I have noticed the instapot takes some adjustments though.
How about cooking for two my hubby is 70 and im 75 there must be lots of people that fit us
We can maybe do another video on it. I do talk about in different videos. I cook for one and I have not changed to much the way I cook. I just take all my recipes and just cut them in 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 depending on the recipe. I think one of the big things is we think (without realizing it) that if we aren’t making large batches of things it is harder to cook or not worth the effort etc. For ex. I still make my spaghetti sauce like I did for my family but instead of using the 3 cans of tomato soup to make it like I did I just use 1. Instead of freezing enough cooked hamburger for 4 people I just put it in packets for 2 people.
One of the big things that help me change my way of thinking and cooking is I bought me a small saucepan and small frying pan. It really helped me control the way I cook. I can still make mashed potatoes I just put 2 potatoes in my small sauce pan. 2 hamburger patties fit fine in my small frying pan, add a baked potato and sliced tomato or cucumber and you have a full meal.
Here are a couple of tips to get you started Kathy Tips for Cooking for One or Two
With the exception of larger recipes (like 8+ servings), It only takes 2.5-3.5 hours on LOW for boneless, skinless chicken breast to be fully cooked in the slow cooker.
You do have to adjust your cooking time to the amount and many crock pots cook at different temps so you need to adjust for your own crockpot also the time doesn’t matter too much if you are cooking it on low because at that low of temp you can cook it long than you need too say for example you are late getting home from church or something like that.