Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Recipe
Slow cooker recipes are majestic. After all, you throw the ingredients in the pot, mix the food to combine, and then let the cooker do its magic. When the allocated time has passed, a home-cooked meal is at your disposal.
Recipe developer Kristen Carli crafted and perfected a slow cooker cream cheese chicken recipe that checks off all the slower cooker boxes and screams "appetizing."
"The key is letting this cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours," Carli says. "Any less time and you run the risk of the chicken not being cooked thoroughly."
Although a good majority of this recipe involves a slow cooker, there's one additional step, yet it's not time-consuming and makes this delicious dish pop. "The cooking of the pasta and throwing ingredients in the slow cooker takes 10 minutes," Carli tells us.
All in all, this recipe takes around 4 hours to cook and serves 3 soon-to-be-satisfied appetites.
Gather the ingredients
First, you'll need to gather the ingredients for the slow cooker cream cheese chicken recipe. You'll need boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, cream cheese, and penne pasta. This is a perfect dish if you have leftover cooked penne from another meal that you want to use up, but you can also make the pasta fresh as well.
You'll also need the slow cooker, a pot for cooking the pasta, and a strainer for draining the water from the pasta. Feel free to use a liner in your slow cooker for easier clean-up.
Add the ingredients to the slow cooker
As this is a slow cooker recipe, now is the time to prepare your best cooking buddy by getting it set up on your countertop. Once it's ready, you'll add the chicken, cream of chicken soup, and chicken broth to it. You'll then stir the ingredients to combine them. Next, cover the slow cooker with a lid and then cook on high for 4 hours. If you desire, you can also cook this recipe on low for 8 hours.
Make the pasta
Around the time the slow cooker ingredients are ready to serve, you'll need to cook the pasta. You can, of course, time this so the pasta and the slow cooker finish around the same time.
You'll need to bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water has reached that stage, add the penne — and then follow the cooking instructions on the pasta package. When finished, set the pasta aside.
Add the cream cheese to the slow cooker
While the pasta is cooking and when the slow cooker is done working its magic, you'll need to add the cream cheese to the chicken mixture. Stir the mixture so the cream cheese melts and everything in the slow cooker combine into a cheesy blend.
Once the cream cheese has melted and the ingredients are mixed, the slow cooker step is finished. Make sure your penne is cooked and drain it. Now it's time to serve the cheese chicken over the pasta on your plate or bowl of choice — and enjoy!
If you're looking to pair this with a side dish, Carli recommends serving this meal "with a big side salad or roasted vegetables."
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 (10 ½-ounce) cans of cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 pound penne pasta
- In a slow cooker, add the chicken, cream of chicken soup, and chicken broth.
- Stir to combine. Cover with the lid and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
- When the slow cooker is nearly finished, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the penne. Cook according to the package directions and drain when it is cooked.
- Next, add the cream cheese to the slow cooker. Stir to melt and combine.
- Serve the cheesy chicken over the pasta and enjoy!
| Calories per Serving | 1,141 |
| Total Fat | 29.3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11.2 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 250.5 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 124.8 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5.0 g |
| Total Sugars | 6.5 g |
| Sodium | 1,072.4 mg |
| Protein | 88.0 g |
