I’m in love with this Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Peppers. I’m just going to lay it out there. It’s every bit as easy, delicious, and versatile as those Slow Cooker Taco Chicken Bowls that everyone loves so much, but with a marinara base and Italian herbs and spices.
How to Serve Italian Chicken and Peppers
I ate this saucy shredded Italian chicken and peppers spooned over my Garlic Parmesan Polenta, but you could totally spoon this over a bowl of pasta or rice. BUT my favorite way to eat this saucy mix is to spoon it into rolls or a loaf of Italian bread, top it with some mozzarella, and make yourself the most amazing slow cooked sandwich ever. EVER.
What Size Slow Cooker Do I Need?
I used a 5 quart slow cooker, but it was only about half full, so you could probably get this to fit into a 3 quart slow cooker.
Keep it On Budget
- Bell Peppers: I added a red bell pepper to the mix for color and visual appeal. You can totally just use three green bell peppers if that’s what your budget allows, or go all out and get a trio of colors (green, yellow, and red or orange). It will taste great either way you go.
- Sauce: I used the most basic, generic jarred pasta sauce for this recipe, so don’t think you have to get very fancy with it.
- Chicken: I always buy my chicken when it’s on sale so that it’s at least close to affordable (I bought this chicken a few weeks ago and stored it in the freezer). You could even cut it down to one chicken breast and add in extra peppers and onions to bring the cost down further.
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Peppers
Servings 6 (1 to 1.3 cups each)Ingredients
- 3 bell peppers (any color) ($2.77)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 1.5 lbs. boneless-skinless chicken breasts or thighs ($2.66*)
- 1 tsp dried basil ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 1 24oz. jar marinara sauce ($1.65)
Instructions
- Slice the bell peppers and onions into 1/4-inch strips. Lay half of the onion and peppers in the bottom of a 4-quart or larger slow cooker.
- Place the chicken breasts on top of the onions and peppers and season lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the basil and oregano over the chicken.
- Cover the chicken with the remaining peppers and onions, then pour the marinara sauce over top.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours. After cooking, remove the lid and use tongs to stir the mixture and shred the chicken. The chicken should be so tender that it falls apart when pinched with the tongs.
- Serve the saucy mixture over pasta, rice, polenta, or stuffed into a roll as a sandwich.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Nutrition
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
(shown served over Garlic Parmesan Polenta)
How to Make Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Peppers – Step by Step Photos
Start by slicing three bell peppers and one medium onion into 1/4-inch slices. I used two green bells peppers and one red, for extra color.
Lay about half of the onions and peppers in the bottom of a 4-quart or larger slow cooker.
Lay two boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (or 1.5 pounds total) over the peppers and onions. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then sprinkle 1 tsp of basil and 1 tsp of oregano over top.
Add the second half of the peppers and onions, then pour an entire 24oz. jar of marinara sauce over top.
Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours. Then it will look a little something like the photo above… not too appetizing, I know. Just wait.
Take a pair of tongs and begin to stir the mixture and shred the chicken. The chicken should be so tender that it falls apart when pinched with the tongs, so I just stirred and pinched…
And stirred and pinched…
Until it looked like this, which only took a few minutes. YUM. Now it’s done! That’s it! Seriously.
Beautifully shredded chicken mixed with sweet strips of peppers and onions, all in a delicious red sauce. What will you do with it?
I ate mine over fried cakes of Garlic Parmesan Polenta, but I would also love to stuff it into a roll with some mozzarella.
Yasssss.
Done and DONE.
This looks so good! If you had some corn tortillas you could make a little taco, yum. I love our crockpot- we mostly use it to make stock out of leftover bones, but it saves us 10 dollars in broth every time we do it!
http://www.thecastejons.com
I’d like to make this with your slow cooker marinara, how many cups should I use?
Three cups should be about equivalent to the 24oz. jar. :)
Trader Joe’s carries bags of red, yellow, green trio of peppers in the frozen aisle that cost a dollar and change and often times much cheaper than buying fresh whole peppers. Also peppers are already chopped which is a handy time saver. I’ve just rinsed under warm water for a bit to bring back to life and off they go into many recipes. I love it!
As someone who shops at Trader Joe’s, thanks a lot for the tip!
I just bought at bag of them frozen at Kroger on sale! I was just wondering how they would do in this recipe…if they wouldnt get too mushy….it would totally save $$$!
This looks great! I’m so convinced that I read this while sitting at my desk this morning, and then on my lunch hour from work I ran to the store and bought all the ingredients :) As soon as you said it was similar to the shredded chicken taco bowls, I was in. I’ll be trying it this evening!
This looks delicious! Any idea whether it might also work without a slowcooker? Shocking, I know, but I don’t have one. Maybe I should take the plunge and get one, as there are tons of tasty looking recipes around…
Yep, if you put it all in a pot and let it simmer on low, it will produce a similar effect and probably take less time (even on low it’s hotter than a slow cooker). :)
You can also bake in a tightly covered dish in the oven. An oven temp of 300 equals high and 200 equals low. Any oven safe pan or casserole dish can be used.
I have a Lodge braiser that can be used on the stove or in the oven. When I use it on the stove I often use a heat diffuser (or flame tamer) to prevent a hot spot.
Anything that is cooked in a slow cooker can be done on the stove top or in the oven.
Great, thanks you two! I’ll definitely give it a try then.
And maybe put a slowcooker on the Christmas wishlist nonetheless. ;)
Recipes like this make me really wish I liked tomatoes and peppers. It looks really good, but I know I won’t be able to eat it.
Sounds good. I think I will also throw in some turkey sausage and make a second meal for later in the week!
OMG this is the perfect recipe at the perfect time. I purchased a bunch of peppers on sale last week and was kinda getting bored with my usual recipes for them (but still only halfway through the amount i bought lol) so this recipe is PERFECT to switch things up a bit! I can’t wait to try this!
I would plop some of this in a hotdog roll and shave some parmesan on the top and serve it to the royalty at my table because one bite of this and that’s how they’d feed. It looks wonderful.
Bless you; you always seem to know when I am wondering what new to do with the protein I bought! Doing this in the middle of the week. :D
me too!!! I’m always buying protein because I have low blood sugar. Or I’m sugar the value packs of meat and I’m like, Ok, now what?!? This looks so good Beth and my family will love. And I honestly can’t stomach another apple, squash or sweet potato recipe. This recipe is the bomb.
Hahaha, I hear ya on the apple, squash, and sweet potato (even though sweet potatoes are a year-round favorite of mine!).
I want to make this recipe but I don’t have a slow cooker. Can you make it on the stove?
You could simmer everything together in a pot over low heat, but it will cook much faster (even on low heat, it’s hotter than a slow cooker). When the chicken is tender and shreds easily, it’s done. :)
Mmmmmmmm!! The Italian chicken would taste absolutely delicious over some pasta and a sandwich!! I can’t wait to make this recipe!! :-)
This could be what’s for dinner after a day of skiing. I do love crock pot recipes that will serve a crowd. Thanks, Beth!
My mom used to make this all of the time with chicken thighs. She would only put one pepper in it for flavor then toss it out since it would get all mushy.
The sauce looks so rich and lovely. This would be great with some pasta.