Our first snow day of the winter season today. It’s ten after eight and we’re all still in pajamas, but nobody seems to be in a hurry to get dressed. My husband will have to eventually so he can get the snow out of the driveway and get his brother to a doctor appointment, but the rest of us are in lazy bum mode.
Sprung a new recipe on my family last night. I made a “roast” chicken in the crockpot, using Angie’s recipe. Putting it in breast down seems unnatural to me, but it worked. I was concerned about knowing when it was done since I couldn’t use the pop-up timer, but when I tried to nudge the chicken out of the way a little to get to the drippings and it totally fell apart in a pile of meat and bones, I assumed it was done. It was good!
I’m not sure how I managed to screw up the gravy, but it was the consistency of water, so I dumped it and rummaged for a jar of gravy in the cupboard. All I had was turkey-flavored, but it was better than flavored water.
Will I make it again? Probably. My husband says the crockpot’s cheaper to run than the oven, so I should stick to that. My issue is that my family only eats the white meat, so I’ll be throwing away half the chicken. I need to find a good, flavorful crockpot recipe for boneless chicken breasts.
But any night that a new recipe doesn’t end with ordering a pizza is a good night!
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Do you want chicken flavored chicken? Poaching chicken breasts is super simple. Just throw in the boneless, skinless breasts and some chicken broth. When they’re done you’ve got that “X cups cooked chicken” that so many recipes call for. Or dump salsa on them instead of the broth for Salsa Chicken, or your favorite spaghetti sauce for Chicken Spaghetti.
I’ve found this website to be a great resource for crockpot recipes:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/. And she’s really honest about what works and what comes out like crap. She’s gluten free, but not in a weird way. She’ll specify brands, say a particular kind of soy sauce, for the gf crowd, and then say “or what ever you have on hand” for those of us who don’t have to worry about it.
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Pretty much chicken-flavored chicken is what I’m looking for. But with some seasoning. Like baked chicken breasts, but made in the crockpot, Maybe I’ll try throwing some in with the Lipton soup mix I used last night. (Herb and something, not French onion.)
I love that website! Some of the recipes look really good and I’ll be trying them out. It’s hard to find really simple recipes (as in, not having a bunch of fancy stuff in them). We’re really finicky, so basic is good.
Thanks!
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I throw chicken breasts in w/bbq sauce. I’ve also thrown in chicken breasts w/the different bottled marinades & they’ve turned out good.
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Oh Heavens! No dark meat eaters in your home? Those are my absolute favorite bits (which is lucky because my husband leans more to white meat so more for me).
Is there any possibility you could use diced up dark bits to make chicken noodle soup? You could freeze those in some stock, then cook and dice a breast to add when you are ready to make soup.
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Crockpot chicken cacciatore works w/ breasts. And the sauce and veggies keep it from getting dry.
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I throw a jar of prepared salsa/picante sauce (Ro-tel will do in a pinch) and a little cumin and chili powder in the crockpot with chicken breasts, shred them, and serve them with tortillas or taco shells, cheese, and lettuce–voila, chicken tacos.
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My family’s favorite crock pot chicken recipe is this:
5 lbs of frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts, 1 T cumin, 1 T chili powder, 1 T minced garlic (I use the stuff from the jar), and 1 small bottle of Kraft’s zesty italian dressing.
Put it in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hrs or high for 4. Shred the chicken with tongs and cook for another hour. Thats it.
I use it for enchiladas, quesadillas, I put the chicken in soup, when I diet I put it on a salad for me, etc. It makes a ton so I take half out immediately and freeze it for later. Enjoy!
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Cacciatore and salsa both are things on my outrageously finicky family’s no list. (And when you’re hunting for chicken recipes, the husband’s aversion to mushrooms is a serious problem.)
Amanda, I might try that one. We like the shredded beef from the crockpot on bulky rolls, but I try to limit the husband’s red meat. Shredded chicken on a bulky might be yummy.