Serve a gourmet meal without spending hours in the kitchen with this simple slow-cooker chicken recipe with easy-to-prepare side dishes.
I am a lazy cook. In fact, I may be the world’s laziest cook. And that is the main reason why I own four slow-cookers of differing sizes. I just adore my slow-cookers. I love their ease and convenience. I love being able to toss various ingredients into a single cooking apparatus; add a little liquid; select a temperature; take care of other matters (maybe even take a nap); and “voila,” like magic, have a meal basically cook itself. Not that the entire meal cooks itself, but since the entrée does, all I have to do is prepare a few simple sides in order to serve a full-course meal.
As a result of my love affair with the slow-cooker, I have tried numerous concoctions through the years, some of which have worked, others of which haven’t. In fact, to be totally honest, some of my attempts have been dismal failures. (If you don’t believe me, just ask my husband.) The following recipe, however, is one of my successes, at least according to family members, dinner guests, or anyone else brave enough to eat my cooking.
Slow-Cooker Recipe for Chicken Breasts in Cream Sauce
The not-so-secret ingredient in this recipe is plain old cream of chicken soup, which makes the chicken breasts so moist and tender they almost melt in your mouth.
Ingredients:
- 1 package frozen or fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 pounds)
- 1 large can cream of chicken soup (26 ounces)
- 1 soup can water
- 2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- Seasoning blend (There are many varieties, so choose your favorite.)
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
Preparation:
- Set slow-cooker on high for faster cooking or on low for slower cooking
- Add chicken.
- Add entire can cream of chicken soup.
- Fill soup can with water; pour over chicken.
- Splash with soy sauce.
- Sprinkle on seasoning blend.
- Top with parsley flakes.
- Allow chicken to cook until done throughout and tender when forked.
- Place chicken in serving dish, spooning some of the soup mixture over it.
Note: If you’re going to be out all day, you might want to add a half-can more of water. Moreover, the chicken normally requires at least six hours on high, so you might want to set the temperature on low then, if necessary, turn it up when you return home.
Quick and Easy Side Dish Menu Ideas
Although you can serve whatever sides you prefer, based upon your own and your family’s likes and dislikes, I usually prepare the following dishes to go with the chicken. I also prepare them in quantity since I am a firm believer in serving leftovers for as many days as possible to reduce the time I have to spend in the kitchen.
- 2 boxes wild rice
- 1 large bag baby carrots
- 3 packages frozen sugar snap peas (12 ounces each)
- 2 cans pickled beets (14.5 ounces each)
Preparation of Wild Rice:
Follow the directions on the box. (I discard the packet of seasoning since it’s high in sodium. I also do not add margarine. I serve the rice plain, and it’s really quite tasty, as well as much healthier and lower in calories.)
Preparation of Baby Carrots:
- Rinse carrots.
- Place in saucepan.
- Cover with water.
- Bring to rolling boil.
- Reduce heat to slow boil.
- Cook til tender (approximately 15 to 20 minutes depending on number of carrots and thickness)
- Drain in colander.
- Put in serving dish (You can dot them with butter or margarine if you wish, but I serve them plain. They are, after all, naturally sweet.)
Preparation of Sugar Snap Peas:
- Dump peas into microwavable dish.
- Cover with microwavable top.
- Nuke for 4 and 1/2 minutes.
- Remove from microwave.
- Sprinkle with seasoning blend, stirring with fork.
- Return to microwave.
- Nuke 4 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Preparation of Pickled Beets:
- Open cans.
- Drain off liquid.
- Empty into serving dish.