Decidedly Delicious Crock Pot Chicken

I can't say enough good things about this recipe. It is so easy. It is so versatile. It is so incredible, scrumptious, and well...decidedly delicious!!

This started out as a recipe I found on Pinterest. There are a few different variations out there. One called "Easy Chicken with Rice", one called "Crock Pot Angel Chicken", and my recipe is another adaptation. I've made this dish a few times. Each time I've changed it up a little bit and it has been a major hit each and every time. 

My family is very accommodating. I rarely have anyone ask for something specific. But when my mother came for a visit she specifically asked me to make this dish for her. She told me she'd thought about this dish often since her last visit. It was no problem whatsoever to grant her wish.

Let me show you how it is done:

The basic recipe calls for 2 pounds of frozen boneless chicken ~ about 3 breasts cut into pieces or 10 chicken tender pieces,  1 package of cream cheese, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, and 1 envelope of Italian dressing mix.
I add 1 cup of milk and a variety of vegetables. Sometimes I add mushrooms and onions, sometimes I add peas and carrots, sometimes I add broccoli. 
The flavor magic is the dry Italian dressing mix, so make sure you don't skip or adjust that!

 I mix the cream cheese, soup, dry dressing mix, and milk and then add the chicken pieces and put it all in a crock pot. The chicken should be frozen when you start the crock pot so that it doesn't cook too soon and become mushy. The day I made this I doubled the recipe. If I use frozen vegetables I usually put them in the last hour. If I use fresh vegetables I usually put them in at the beginning. I set the crock pot on high and cook for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours. This is not a good crock pot recipe for all-day cooking. It's better for a day when you'll be shopping or busy for just half the day. I don't recommend an 8 hour cook time.

I added peas the last half hour and served it over white rice. This picture doesn't do justice to the dish. The flavor is incredible! It is good over noodles, rice, and I would imagine it would be good over mashed potatoes, though I've never tried that myself. If you add mixed vegetables and leave out the extra milk it tastes great between two crusts for chicken pot pie. 

I like to double the recipe so I have leftovers to use for a "Round Two" meal. I like to mix the leftovers with noodles and cheese and put it in a casserole with buttered crumbs on top. And I intend to use the leftovers from this meal for a casserole with rice, vegetables, shredded cheese, and put I'll put a layer of crescent roll over the top. 


I can't remember another recipe with so much available variation. I don't think I've ever had a recipe so well received by so many taste testers...I don't think I've ever had something so decidedly delicious!


What was the taste tester's bottom line?

 Did you notice? All these testers are in the picky-eater age group. It is really difficult to get thumbs up from all three of these kids all on the same dish. Usually one likes one kind of food and the others like something different. This is one dish their mom can make that everyone likes! Yea!!


The bottom line: Watch for sales on chicken, soup, cream cheese, and Italian dressing mix.