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 love your page! You have amazing recipes!!
Would this freeze well? I’m thinking of making it for meal prep options.
This would freeze pretty good. It may seep a little water upon thawing, but you can just stir it up and you’ll be good to go!
Great recipe! I added five chicken breasts, a few slices of jarred jalapeños and a little chili powder to give it a little kick. It goes well with rice. Will definitely make again.
Made this for dinner tonight.. Very easy and delicious!!! I added some roasted red pepper flakes for a little extra spice.
I made this dish a little late into the night so I won’t be able to enjoy until the next day but the bit I tasted was delish. And on top of that, it was my first time using a crockpot! Thank you for this recipe.
Hi. What if I put bone-in chicken thighs in? Is that a no-no? Would the cook time stay the same?
Yes, you could use bone-in chicken thighs, just be sure to remove all those bones after cooking. ;) I’d keep the same cook time.
Hey, what do you think about leaving it on low for 10 hours? Thats how long it takes me to get home from work.
I don’t think I’ve ever left anything in my slow cooker quite that long before. :) I can only imagine that the peppers might disintegrate, but I don’t know how long that would take.
You might want to look into an outlet timer so that you could set it to turn off after 8 hours. Many people are wary of leaving things out on the counter for food safety reasons so you’d have to take that into account. I like to live on the edge haha.
Instead of 2 chicken breast I put 4. How long should I cook them for?
It probably won’t require any extra cooking time. :) Just check it at the end and if they’re not shreddable yet, add another hour.
This recipe is very bland. No where near the taste you would get by just grilling it in a pan and I would add salt, pepper, fresh garlic, red pepper flakes and olive oil.
Mine was bland too. It smelled awesome cooking in the crockpot, but was very bland. My husband who is not a picky eater, was disappointed too as it smelled so good when he got home from work.
This meal is excellent I. A pressure cooker as well! Took 28 minutes on high pressure and we devoured it
I absolutely love this recipe. I wouldn’t change a thing. Its so easy, I bet even my husband(who thought he needed a serrated knife to cut a lemon) could do it. I love your blog. Thank you.
My family wasn’t very impressed with this dish, BUT it’s most likely because I usually make our pasta sauce from scratch. So I think the jar sauce just didn’t have the flavor they’re used to.
I don’t eat meat, so I’m no help on a personal taste review…but I will say this was soooo easy to throw together and smelled amazing while it simmered.
I’ll most likely give it another go with a different brand of sauce next time
I followed the directions for this exactly. It turned out ok but my family thought it was bland. I used my favorite marinara sauce but it still just isn’t a keeper for us. We had it in hoagie rolls but I am interested in trying the Garlic Parmesan Polenta everyone keeps talking about!
Made this for my and my boyfriend! He said it reminded him of a dish his dad used to make. We served it with linguini and spaghetti squash. Had some leftovers for lunch and I am stuffed! Shared it with family too. I’m trying to help my mom meal plan and I share all my recipes I make from this website with grocery lists so she can do it on her own. This one is perfectly balanced with sweet and peppery.
This was great – I had it in sandwiches with some nice crusty buns, and also over pasta. The real winner, though, was when I pulled it out of the freezer and added in half of a spicy Italian sausage from the butcher, then put it over bowties. Yum!
I’d like to serve the chicken breasts whole – not shredded. Would it work to brown the chicken breasts first and then use your recipe?
You probably wouldn’t even need to use the slow cooker in that case. The slow cooker just serves to make the chicken tender and shreddable. I suppose it does caramelize the sugars in the sauce a bit, but you can make a quick version of this on the stove top by sautéing the peppers and onions in a skillet until tender, then adding the sauce and simmering until the peppers are soft. Then you can spoon the peppers and sauce over the whole chicken breast, or even bake them with the sauce in the oven.