Creamy Tuscan Slow Cooker Chicken

Creamy Tuscan Slow Cooker Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, baby spinach and parmesan cheese is the ultimate winter comfort food. Serve with pasta for a simple meal the whole family will love.

5 from 73 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 6 15

Total Time: 6 30

Servings: serves

Calories: 606kcal

Author: Lucy - Bake Play Smile

Equipment

slow cooker (crock pot)

Ingredients

For the chicken

700 g chicken thighs skin removed
pinch salt and pepper to season
2 tsp ground paprika see notes
2 tsp onion powder
3 tbs olive oil

For the sauce

1 tbs minced garlic
125 g sun-dried tomatoes sliced
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 cup chicken stock liquid see notes
300 ml cooking cream or thickened cream see notes
3 cups baby spinach leaves
½ cup grated parmesan cheese see notes

Instructions

Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, paprika and onion powder.
For slow cookers that are able to sear on the stovetop: Remove the bowl from the slow cooker, add the oil and heat over medium-high heat on the stove-top. Sear the seasoned chicken for 3-4 minutes on either side until golden.
For slow cookers that are unable to sear: Add the oil to a frying pan and heat over medium-high heat on the stove-top. Sear the chicken for 3-4 minutes on either side until golden.
For slow cookers that are able to sear on the stovetop: Add the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and stir for 30 seconds or until just fragrant. Place the slow cooker bowl back into the slow cooker.
For slow cookers that are unable to sear: Add the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic to the frying pan and stir for 30 seconds. Gently place the mixture into the slow cooker.
Add the dijon mustard and the liquid chicken stock to the slow cooker and stir (see recipe notes).
Cook for 6 hours on LOW or 3-4 hours on HIGH.
After the cooking time has finished, add the cream, stir and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Stir through the baby spinach and the parmesan cheese and allow to cook for 1 minute or until the baby spinach has wilted and the cheese has melted.
Serve with pasta and extra parmesan cheese.

Notes

RECIPE NOTES & TIPS

Ingredients Info

chicken thighs – I recommend using approximately 700g of skinless chicken thighs to serve 4-6 people (4 large serves or 6 small serves). You can increase the amount of chicken up to 1kg if you like. You can also substitute the chicken thighs for skinless chicken breasts if you prefer.
salt and pepper – to season the chicken.
paprika – I recommend using ground paprika (also known as sweet ground paprika). Avoid using smoked paprika as it has quite a strong flavour (and isn’t very popular with kids!).
onion powder – this gives the chicken a delicious flavour. You can use ground onion powder or onion flakes.
olive oil – to sear the chicken. Alternatively, if you don’t have olive oil, you can substitute with vegetable oil.
garlic – I generally use store-bought minced garlic (that you buy in a jar). Alternatively, you can use fresh garlic cloves that have been minced.
sun-dried tomatoes – sun-dried tomatoes can be bought pre-packaged in plastic containers or jars from the supermarket. Alternatively, you can buy a container of sun-dried tomatoes from the deli section of any supermarket. Sun-dried or semi-dried tomatoes are both fine to use in this recipe.
dijon mustard – this gives the creamy sauce the most delicious flavour!
chicken stock liquid – you can buy chicken stock liquid from the supermarket or make your own using powdered chicken stock mixed with water.
cream – I recommend using cooking cream or thickened cream for this recipe.
baby spinach leaves – this recipe uses 3 cups of baby spinach leaves which might seem like a lot when you add them to the slow cooker, but they’ll magically wilt down to almost nothing!
parmesan cheese – I recommend using grated parmesan cheese (the little thin ‘sticks’ of parmesan cheese) that can be purchased in packets from the supermarket.

More Recipe Tips

Why sear the chicken? - Searing the chicken adds an incredible amount of flavour to the dish. It caramelises the surface of the meat, giving it a beautiful texture and flavour while locking in the moisture and keeping it super tender.

How to sear the chicken - you can either sear the chicken by placing the inner removable pot from a searing slow cooker directly onto the stove-top. Alternatively, if your slow cooker doesn't have searing capability, you can sear the chicken in a frying pan on the stove-top before placing the chicken into your slow cooker and proceeding as per the recipe.

Adding the chicken stock - when the chicken stock liquid is added to the slow cooker it might look like there's not enough liquid to cook the chicken... but there is! Slow cookers retain the majority of the liquid as they cook and therefore, 1 cup of chicken stock is enough.

Thickening the sauce - In many of my other slow cooker recipes, I thicken the sauce at the very end of cooking using a mixture of cornflour that’s been dissolved in water. However, the sauce in this dish does not need to be thickened as we only use 1 cup of chicken stock liquid to begin with. The cream is then added to create a smooth sauce that can be poured over your chicken and pasta, rice or mashed potato.

Storing the chicken - Once the cooking time has finished, it’s important to place any leftovers into an airtight container and into the fridge immediately. Do not place the slow cooker pot into the fridge as it retains the heat and won’t cool the chicken quickly enough. Consume any leftovers within 1 day or freeze for up to 1 month.

Nutrition