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.
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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
- Slow Cooker
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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.
I made this yesterday, not without a couple snafus. I realized that I didn’t have a big enough crock pot, so I made 1/2 a recipe. No problem there, I sauteed the onion and peppers before putting them into the crock pot, as I like the texture better for the crock pot, and used less herbs. The power went off some time during the cooking process so I had no idea when it would be done, I used a chicken breast and think next time I will use thighs, because I think thighs shred better. I ate it with ciabatta roles to dip into the sauce. (oh yeah, and I went out and bought a larger slow cooker today LOL.)This came out really good! I will definitely make this again! I love your recipes! Thank you!
Looks delicious! Did you defrost your chicken before cooking?
Yes. I don’t suggest ever putting frozen meat into a slow cooker because it can cause food safety issues. :)
I made the Slow cooker Italian Chicken and Peppers. my daughter loves it so it will be one I will make again. I didn’t have basil so I subbed tarragon and added dried leeks. the marinara,instead I used red sauce that I had canned myself from our garden. I had 2 peppers in the refrigerator so all I had to buy was the chicken and 1 pepper. the onion also came from the garden .
This reminds me of a dish my mom made when I was growing up called Chicken Cacciatore.
Oh boy, I threw this together this morning. Going to boil up the pasta when I get home (I wish I loved polenta, but I just don’t). I can’t wait!!!
Oh yes. Just finished dinner. This was a winner! This morning, I forgot to mention that I had some roasted garlic on hand, but I did, and I tossed in a few cloves. I also threw in some double-cut red pepper flakes (it’s a Utica thing, and I LOVE it). When I got home, I wanted it a little saucier and I wanted to add some more texture, so I added some more marinara and some more frozen peppers & onions. Stirred in up, and it was amazing. Served over rigatoni and with parmesan cheese.
We had this over spaghetti squash this week-yummy, yummy, yummy.
I love the idea of serving this over polenta.
I just made this with all fresh ingredients, except for the herbs which were dried. I bought 100 pounds of chicken leg quarters on sale last week for $0.37 per pound. Most had been repackaged and frozen to use as dog food but I had two in the fridge that had to be cooked. I also had the last fresh tomatoes from the garden that were at the use them or lose them stage. Instead of jarred sauce I used 15 tomatoes, some wild oyster mushtooms and plenty of basil, oregano, garlic and black pepper. It was delicious but next time I’ll use tomato paste as a thickener. Because of the water content of the tomatoes, mushrooms and chicken it needed three additional hours without the lid to reduce the liquid.
I made this tonight on the stove top and it was AMAZING! I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be so good. I added spinach and some leftover matchstick carrots that I had. I served it over the warm polenta before it set up and it was just wonderful. I will be making this again and again. Next time I’m going to try your method of cutting and pan frying the polenta.
I never ever comment, but this chicken is so great that it drove me to. It’s so stupid easy that I wasn’t expecting to be too impressed by it, but it’s absolutely delicious. Totally a new staple, especially for weeknights, and my new favorite crockpot recipe.
I thought this would be good, (and I was super sold on how easy it looked) but I did not expect it to be as delicious as it was. I highly recommend the red bell pepper if budget allows, the amount of flavor it adds is downright surprising.
This is so lovely! I left it on low overnight and I woke up to not only a great smell, but a lovely meal that I am excited to share with my friends. Thank you so much for everything !!! Your recipes are the best.
“It’s every bit as easy, delicious, and versatile as those Slow Cooker Taco Chicken Bowls”
Which is why I made the Italian chicken for this week’s dinners and the taco chicken bowls for lunches. Both of them are great, thanks!
Looks sooo good! Quick question: Could you freeze this sauce? So that you can eat it for a couple of days and only have to cook the pasta for example.
Yes, this one should freeze pretty well. :)
I bet this would be extra delicious using your slow cooker marinara recipe too! Probably about three cups worth?
Yes, I think three cups would be just about right. :)