Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken

Creamy Italian Chicken is an easy dump & go slow cooker dinner that takes just minutes to prepare. The chicken cooks all day in a creamy Italian salad dressing mixture with seasonings, and it is fall apart tender and makes the most amazing creamy Italian sauce. Serve over pasta or rice for a delicious dinner.

Creamy Italian Chicken Recipe

This is one of my tried & true dinner recipes that I make all the time for my family. I just love easy, dump & go, slow cooker recipes that require only a few minutes of prep time in the morning!

This slow cooker creamy Italian chicken is one of our favorite recipes! Chicken breasts cook in a simple mixture of Italian salad dressing, cream of chicken soup, Italian seasoning, and chicken broth. The chicken gets so tender that it literally falls apart with a touch of a fork. 

While it cooks, it makes it’s own creamy (almost gravy like) sauce and it’s absolutely perfect poured over the chicken and rice or noodles. Whatever you choose to serve it with. 

Ingredients Needed

Here are all the ingredients you need to make this recipe. I also share some of my own tips for each ingredient so that you can have great results with this recipe. 

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – I have only ever used chicken breasts in this recipe. I am sure chicken thighs would work fine, but I don’t suggest using them because they can put off a lot of grease/oil, during the longer cook time. 
• Cream of Chicken Soup – I use regular cream of chicken soup in this recipe. There are other varieties like cream of chicken & herbs soup or the roasted garlic one. You can try it if you want, but I think all the flavors would just clash with the Italian seasonings. 
• Low-Sodium Chicken Broth – The recipe calls for 1 cup, which I think is the perfect amount, but if you want a much thinner sauce then just use an entire can instead. 
• Italian Salad Dressing – Use one you love! I swear by the Olive Garden Italian Dressing that you can buy at the grocery store. It has the best flavor and it’s not oily like some of the more regular Italian salad dressings. It has more of a creamier texture to it. 
• Italian Seasoning Dressing Mix Packet – Do not prepare this! Just dump in the dry seasonings from the packet. 
• Cream Cheese – Regular cream cheese or the reduced-fat cream cheese will both work in this recipe. I prefer the flavor and thickness of regular fat cream cheese, so that’s what I use when I make this. 
• Noodles or Rice – This creamy Italian chicken is best served over some white rice, cooked pasta noodles, or even some wild grain rice. My family loves white rice, egg noodles, or some cooked rotini pasta noodles. 

How To Make Easy Creamy Italian Chicken In The Slow Cooker

Learn how to make this easy, dump & go slow cooker recipe, along with all my tips. Be sure and read below for the full recipe card with detailed instructions.

Step One : Spray the insert of the slow cooker with cooking spray. Lay the chicken breasts in the bottom.

Step Two : Combine the chicken broth, Italian salad dressing, Italian seasoning, and cream of chicken soup into a mixing bowl. Stir with a wire whisk until it’s combined well. Pour this over the chicken. 

Step Three : Cover with the lid and cook on LOW heat for 7-8 hours. One hour before the cook time, take the chicken out and use two forks to shred it. Add the chicken back into the crockpot, along with the softened cream cheese. Cover with the lid and cook it cook for the remaining time. 

Step Four : Serve the creamy Italian chicken over some cooked egg noodles or other pasta shape of choice. My family likes the egg noodles or rotini spiral pasta. You can also serve it over rice, thin spaghetti, or anything else you love. 

Tips For Success

Here are all my helpful tips that will hopefully help this recipe be a hit with your own family!

• Softened Cream Cheese : To avoid the lumps of cream cheese in the mixture, make sure the cream cheese is well softened before adding it into the slow cooker. I put the cream cheese (unwrapped) on a microwave-safe plate and warm it up for about 40 seconds. Then I add it straight into the slow cooker, and because it’s already warm and sightly melted, it will melt smoothly into the sauce without leaving any clumps. 
• Garnish : This Italian chicken is even better when you top it off with some parmesan cheese. Of course you don’t have to, but it adds a nice flavor to the dish when serving. 
• Serving : This is best served over some sort of starch. We have had it over white rice, rotini pasta noodles, and egg noodles. 
• Italian Dressing : Use one you love! I happen to be a big fan of the Olive Garden Italian Dressing that you can buy at the grocery store. I think it tastes the best and it’s what I always use when I make this recipe. They also make a ‘zesty’ version so you can use that if you want some zest and more of a kick to the flavor. 
• Cook Time : I know lots of people question such a long cook time for this chicken. But I promise, the dressing ingredients like the oils from the dressing and the broth, make this chicken basically fool-proof because it helps keep the chicken so moist. I happen to love the longer cook times of crockpot recipes because the chicken has time to go super tender that it falls apart with a touch of a fork. 

Creamy Italian Chicken FAQs

• How To Store Leftovers
  • Leftovers will keep well, in an air-tight container, for up to 3-4 days. 
  • When ready to reheat, you can use the microwave or warm the mixture up on the stove top, over medium-low heat. You may need to add some additional chicken broth when reheating. 
  • I normally just store the creamy chicken over some of the leftover noodles or rice, in an air-tight container like Tupperware, in the fridge so it’s easy to have a full portion ready for a meal. 
• Can I Freeze Creamy Italian Chicken?
  • Yes, this creamy Italian chicken can be frozen if wanted. I personally don’t like to freeze anything with cream cheese in it. But, you can do it. 
  • You can either freeze this after it’s cooked or freeze it raw. 
  • When ready to eat and thaw from already cooked, leave it in the fridge overnight to thaw, and then warm it up for serving either on the stove top or slow cooker. 
  • If freezing it raw and uncooked, place all the ingredients inside a freezer-safe Xiploc bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before adding it into the slow cooker to cook for 7-8 hours according to the instructions below. 
• Serving Suggestions
  • Serve this over white rice, brown rice, or even wild grain rice. 
  • You can also serve it over pasta. My family loves the spiral rotini pasta noodles. Egg noodles are another great choice. Or try some thing spaghetti and eat it like spaghetti. 
  • Serve it alongside a green salad or try my Cheesy Garlic Bread or these Easy Parmesan Garlic Knots.
• Variation & Substitution Ideas
  • Try using a ‘zesty’ Italian salad dressing for more of a flavor kick. This is too spicy for my kids but adults may love this!
  • Use regular fat cream or cheese or reduced-fat cream cheese in this recipe, depending on your preference. 
  • You can use regular salted chicken broth if wanted, but when I tested this recipe out with that, I thought it was too salty. 
  • You can even try making your own homemade Italians seasoning mix and/or cream of chicken soup. 

More Italian Recipes You’ll Love

• Easy Italian Pasta Salad
• Slow Cooker Italian Sausage & Beef Spaghetti Sauce
• Creamy Sausage Rigatoni
• Slow Cooker Shredded Italian Beef
• Creamy Tomato Beef Pasta
• Easy Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
• Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 hours hours

Total Time 8 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

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Creamy Italian chicken is an easy dump & go slow cooker dinner that takes just minutes to prepare. The chicken cooks all day in a creamy Italian salad dressing mixture with seasonings, and it is fall apart tender and makes the most amazing creamy Italian sauce. Serve over pasta or rice for a delicious dinner. 

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ▢ 1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup
• ▢ 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• ▢ 1 cup Italian salad dressing
• ▢ 1 packet Italian seasoning dressing mix
• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese softened & cubed

Instructions

• Spray the insert of the slow cooker with cooking spray. Place chicken breasts in the bottom.
• In a mixing bowl, combine cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, Italian salad dressing, and Italian seasoning mix. Whisk together until combined. Pour over the chicken.
• Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.
• Take the chicken out and shred with two forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and add the cream cheese.

  * Cut the cream cheese into small cubes, about 12 squares. This will help it melt easier in the slow cooker OR warm up the cream cheese bar in the microwave for 40 seconds to ensure that it's warm and softened well.
• Cover and let cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is melted and mixes in smoothly.
• Serve over pasta, rice, or egg noodles. My family loves white rice, egg noodles, or rotini pasta noodles.

  Garnish with chopped parsely and shredded parmesan cheese, if wanted. 

Notes

Nutrition Information : The information listed is for one serving of the creamy Italian chicken and does not include the rice or noodles, or whatever else you serve it over. 

Italian Seasoning Packet : Do not prepare this according to the packet instructions. You will just add the dry seasonings straight from the packet, into the mixture in the mixing bowl. 

Tip : This keeps well on the 'warm' setting once you add the cream cheese in. 

If you will be gone all day, go ahead and add the cubed cream cheese into the slow cooker, along with the sauce and chicken. I have done it this way several times and it works fine, if needed. When you get home, shred the chicken, and mix it all together and serve. 

Chicken : I have found that it's best to use fresh or at least thawed chicken breasts in this recipe. If you stick them in frozen, they tend to give off a lot of liquid and water as they thaw while cooking, which can dilute the sauce and the flavors in it. 

Nutrition

Calories: 205kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 833mg | Potassium: 364mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 123IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 1mg

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