Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan Pasta
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Save time/effort and make everyone’s FAVORITE Italian dish in your crockpot. You can also freeze half for another meal!
Is it me or is it way too hot to put the stove on? Because right now, it’s 96 degrees F and I’m not about to make my house any hotter than it already is.
Butters will begin to sweat in that sweater of his so instead, let’s make this crockpot chicken parmesan.
The chicken gets cooked low and slow for 4 hours, yielding the juiciest chicken of all. Plus, Butters gets to keep his cardigan sweater on so we all win.
Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan Pasta
Save time/effort and make everyone's FAVORITE Italian dish in your crockpot. You can also freeze half for another meal!
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 pound penne
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker.
- In a large bowl, combine crushed tomatoes, onion, basil, oregano, parsley and red pepper flakes, if using. Stir into the slow cooker and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours.
- Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred, using two forks.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Stir pasta and chicken into the slow cooker; top with cheeses. Cover and cook on low heat for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until the cheeses have melted.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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It was okay. I followed the recipe and the onions were still firm and it was bland. I used three chicken breasts because four was too many. I now have to figure out how to reinvent this meal or it will be too much to waste. I usually like these recipes. Maybe this one was just not for my family.
Can you make this a day ahead of time? I need to be able to reheat in crockpot also.
Any advise?
Thank you for another delicious dinner! Everyone in my family loves your healthy and very tasty recipes!
This was so yummy! I added green peppers and mushrooms to the sauce and used gluten free pasta. Planning on taking leftovers for lunch this week! Will definitely be making again!
This was really good. I made a few tweaks, such as adding garlic to the sauce, as well as a pinch of sugar, some garlic salt and pepper and TJs mushroom umami seasoning. Will be making again!
Love this recipe!! Came out GREAT!
These recipes are great
Now this is the the sort of meal you look forward to coming home to. If there is any sort of category that it belongs under, I would nominate it as “wholesome”. All the ingredients are top notch, though my only real complaint is it might be one the bland side for some. In particular for me, being a massive spice fiend. That is from simply following the recipe, and with most meals that are more or less one pot you can tweak it a little here, add something extra there, and it still holds up.
This is one of the best dishes to make when you have a big lot of pasta – particularly penne or fussili – left in the fridge. Heck, cooking the pasta ahead of time is one of the best time-saving options. I did this a fair while ago for lunch after church, and it was a real winner. Fast forward to a late night working in the kitchen, half an hour of low-level stress later with shredding chicken, mixing the pasta, and adding the cheese, it is far better than awaiting UberEats.
If I ever have to cook for my many nieces and nephews, this meal may well be at the top of the list.
Super easy to make and delicious! Instead of using slow cooker I used instant pot pressure cooker
We loved this. I actually split the ingredients in half and put everything up to the pasta, cheese, and fresh parsley into the bags and froze it for a dump meal. I placed the frozen mass into the slower cooker on low for 3 1/2 hours and the chicken was so tender and easy to shred.
Thanks for the recipe!
Brilliant idea…thanks for sharing! ♥️
Very good and tasty. Just do the recipe and enjoy.
All negative reviews either can’t read or can’t cook.
This is a keeper recipe!
Can I use the plastic bags that you can put into a slow cooker so the clean up is easier? Thank you.
Can I add uncooked noodles, and maybe extra broth
Tasty and Delicious! And easy! I too added sugar to the sauce and it works! Used the bagged frozen chicken defrosted and the bagged shredded mozzarella. Will be making this again!
My17 year old son is so excited to help me make this just have a quick question with the crock pot cooking for 4 hours and 30 min would it be OK to put the pasta n te crock pot I normally put my pasta n the crock pot without cooking it first and it turns out so good
Love the simplicity of this recipe and its ingredients! It also allows for plenty of improve, which I appreciate. I actually used one 28oz can of crushed tomatoes and one 15oz can of diced tomatoes and the amount of sauce was perfect (this might address some of the concerns regarding blandness since less volume is used). I find canned tomatoes to be very acidic so I added 1/2-1tsp of baking soda after removing the chicken to help tame that (I also added 1tbsp of sugar because I like my sauce with a hint of sweetness). Some reviewers mentioned adding dry pasta for the last hour to make this a true “one pot” meal – to me this ruins the texture of the pasta and deprives you the opportunity to cook the pasta in salty water, so I would say the extra step is worth it (cook to al dente or just shy of to prevent over cooking when back in the crockpot). For the cheese, I actually mixed in the Parmesan and 1c of mozzarella to help thicken and add more saltiness to the sauce, and then used the remaining 1/2c for the top before adding some fresh parsley :). Such great comfort food!
Great camping meal.
I picked this recipe because it was done in a slow cooker. I prepared the first steps at home by cooking the chicken and the pasta. I mixed everything together and put it in a plastic bag. When we were going to eat the meal, I put it in the slow cooker again, added the cheeses on top and heated it on high for approximately 45 minutes. I did stir after 20 minutes to evenly distribute the heat. Two 13 year old grandchildren and my husband loved this meal.
The flavour was lovely but unfortunately the chicken was so dry and chewy. Would love any tips.
Try chicken thighs instead of breasts which have a tendency to dry out and get stringy. Thighs are more “forgiving” with longer cook times while breasts have more narrow temp range between when they are done or overcooked. I prefer breasts when I can check the temp frequently to avoid overcooking so I always use thighs for slow cooker recipes like these.
very easy to throw together and a quick slow cooker meal. I usually love onion in my meals but i wasn’t fond of it in this recipe. Otherwise very tasty. Thanks for sharing!
This looks amazing! What would you think about using sausage instead of chicken?
I think that would be a great alternative for this recipe!