Crockpot Mississippi Chicken (Easy Slow Cooker Recipe)

Crockpot Mississippi Chicken is fork-tender, juicy chicken breasts that cooks with pepperoncini peppers, pepperoncini juice, ranch seasoning, au jus gravy, garlic, and butter in the slow cooker for the most incredible flavor. Your family will go crazy for this dinner when you serve the shredded Mississippi Chicken over some creamy and buttery Creamy Mashed Potatoes. 

Southern comfort meals (Mississippi-inspired recipes) are always a favorite – be sure and also try Slow Cooker Mississippi Steak Bites and Crockpot Mississippi Meatballs, and for dessert make this Easy Mississippi Mud Cake. 

Crockpot Mississippi Chicken Recipe

Crockpot Mississippi Chicken is incredible easy and quick to prepare – it’s a dump and go style slow cooker dinner recipe, with hardly any prep time needed and no cutting or slicing involved! Simple “dump” the ingredients into the crockpot, set it, and forget it. 

Mississippi Chicken is loaded with mouthwatering flavors thanks to tangy pepperoncini peppers and juice, butter, garlic, and the savory flavors from a packet of ranch seasoning and au jus gravy mix.

The best part is that the shredded chicken is so versatile. My family loves it over Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes, these cheesy Boursin Mashed Potatoes, or if you prefer fresh herbs try my Crockpot Mashed Potatoes. Other options are to serve it over a baked potato, on sandwich rolls or buns for a sloppy joe type meal, or over cooked rice of your choice.

Simple Ingredients Needed

1. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts 
2. Kosher Salt & Black Pepper
3. Ranch Seasoning Mix
4. Au Jus Gravy Mix
5. Unsalted Butter : Salted Butter can be used but you may want to reduce the kosher salt to 3/4 teaspoon or 1/2 teaspoon, depending on salt preference. 
6. Garlic Cloves : You need the equivalent of 2 garlic cloves; use fresh garlic that has been minced or pressed, garlic paste, or chopped garlic from a jar. 
7. Pepperoncini Peppers : Use whole peppers that come in a jar with the pepperoncini juice. YOu’ll find them near the pickles and black olives at the grocery store.
8. Pepperoncini Pepper Juice : Use the juice from the jar. 

How To Make This Slow Cooker Mississippi Chicken Recipe

Place the chicken breast into the slow cooker. Season the chicken breasts with the kosher salt and black pepper. Evenly sprinkle the au jus mix and ranch seasoning mix over top of the chicken. 

Place the slices of butter evenly over and around the chicken breast inside the crockpot. Then add the minced garlic on top.

Arrange the whole pepperoncini peppers around the chicken breasts and then pour the pepperoncini pepper juice over top the chicken and seasonings. 

Cover with the lid and cook on LOW heat for 6-8 hours or HIGH heat for 3-4 hours, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and is easily shreddable. 

Remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred it using two forks (you can also use a hand mixer and beat it on low speed, inside the crockpot, to easily shred the chicken). Stir the shredded chicken into the sauce until well combined. 

Serve the Mississippi chicken + extra gravy sauce over mashed potatoes, over rice, or on sandwich rolls with cheese if wanted. 

How To Store Leftover Crockpot Mississippi Chicken

Store leftovers in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. You can also freeze leftovers, inside a freezer safe container or bag, for up to 3 months. 

Reheat leftovers on the stove top or in the microwave, adding a splash of broth as needed, to maintain moisture. If frozen, allow the shredded Mississippi chicken to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. 

One more tip is to make sure and save the leftover gravy sauce as well. That way, leftovers can stay moist and flavorful. 

Serving Suggestions For Shredded Mississippi Chicken

• Serve the shredded chicken + extra gravy sauce over top some Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes or Boursin Mashed Potatoes. You can also use instant mashed potatoes or make your favorite mashed potato recipe, and you can even buy ready-to-use prepared mashed potatoes from the grocery store or Costco.
• The chicken is also really yummy served over cooked white rice, brown rice, or egg noodles to soak up all that yummy gravy sauce. 
• For a low-carb serving option, it’s excellent with cauliflower rice or on it’s own with a side of roasted vegetables or potatoes. Try my Parmesan Roasted Potatoes or Ranch Potatoes. 
• Make shredded Mississippi chicken sandwiches! Serve the chicken (drain the sauce from it before placing the chicken on the bread) into a sandwich roll, hoagie roll, slider roll, hamburger bun, etc. You can use toasted buns or rolls which is my preference, or eat it more like a sloppy Joe. Another idea is to add a slice of cheese such as provolone cheese, Monterey Jack cheese or sliced Muenster cheese. 

Tips For Success

• Pepperonicini peppers often get confused for banana peppers as they look very similar. They are not the same. Banana peppers have a milder, sweeter taste while pepperonicini peppers have a tangier and more savory taste to them. They cannot be interchanged for this recipe – use pepperonicini peppers. Make sure and grab the heat level that you prefer when buying pepperoncini peppers as they come in mild, medium, and spicy heat levels. 
• For a super easy shredding method, use a hand mixer (inside the slow cooker on low speed) for a quicker, and more uniform shred. I love doing this because then you don’t have to remove the chicken and using the hand mixer, makes the chicken into finer better shreds. 
• Using unsalted butter helps to control the saltiness of the overall dish. The packets have sodium as well as the additional kosher salt we’re adding. If you are using salted butter (which is fine) reduce the kosher salt to 1/2 teaspoon or none at all, and then you can add salt at the end according to your preference. 
• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs can be used instead of boneless, skinless chicken breast in the recipe. I prefer leaner chicken breast in slow cooker recipes because I don’t like all the excess grease of chicken thighs. Please note, that the slow cooking time and process (along with the liquid ingredients) prevents the chicken from drying out. In fact, the chicken is ultra tender and easily shreddable when cooked low & slow in the crockpot. 
• I always recommend cooking low & slow when using the slow cooker or crockpot. I recommend cooking on LOW heat. If you absolutely must, you can cook on HIGH heat, but for the best most tender results cook low & slow.