Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches, also sometimes referred to as “crack chicken” are made with bacon, cream cheese, chicken, cheddar cheese and ranch seasonings and they’re a family favorite!
We love using our slow cooker during the fall and winter months because the food that it makes is always so comforting, like our favorite Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast and Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken which are family favorites.
Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches
Crack Chicken may not be a term of endearment I’d use for this chicken but it is widely known by the name so we should at least mention it. Let’s refer to it here on out though at Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches, which I don’t know about you but that makes my mouth water.
The process of making this recipe is pretty hands off and fairly similar to the one used in making Buffalo Chicken Dip. The chicken and cream cheese and cheese and seasonings are all added to the slow cooker ahead of time. The only thing you have to add to your sandwich separately is the extra cheddar if you’d like it and the crumbled bacon.
Side Note: I know we’d love a dump and go crockpot crack chicken recipe but there’s no version of this that tastes good where you add the bacon to the crockpot. Just either buy crumbles or know you’re going to cook it off before making the sandwiches for the best flavors.
We love slow cooker sandwiches on the site, I’m sure you’ve probably seen them. Here’s some of our favorites!
- Ultimate Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches
HOW DO YOU MAKE PULLED chicken SANDWICHES IN THE SLOW COOKER? HERE ARE SOME GREAT TIPS!
- Use skinless meat: Use skinless and boneless meat so you don’t have a lot of extra fat in the recipe.
- Season well: Since you’re adding all the seasonings in here and liquid will be a part of the results you want to season really well. in this case your packet of seasoning does the job for you but in other recipes make sure to season aggressively.
- Thicken your sauce in the slow cooker: If you’re adding sauce to your sandwiches, warmed sauce is infinitely more delicious that cold bottled sauce and the meat will stay moist in the slow cooker with the added sauce. In this case the sauce the sauce comes with the recipe, but in general be sure to manage your liquids in the slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts boneless skinless
- 16 ounces cream cheese 2 boxes
- 1 packet ranch seasoning
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 slices bacon crumbled
- 8 slices cheddar cheese
- 8 hoagie rolls
Instructions
- Add the chicken, cream cheese, ranch seasoning, cheddar cheese and garlic powder to a slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Toast the hoagie rolls, scoop on the chicken and top with cheddar slice and crumbled bacon.
Nutrition
Sounds great & I want 2 try but what size crock pot do you use?
I used a 6 qt slow cooker for this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
Made the Crack Chicken! OMG! It was so good! Perfect crockpot dinner. Just followed easy recipe, and even positioned everything in the pot like in the picture! Ha! Not necessary, I know! The chicken just falls apart while shredding! Perfect! Thank you, my family really enjoyed it. We served the hoagies with pickled jalapeños on the side, yum!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Bren and bonus points for making it look like the photo, haha!
I’ve made this several times, and my favorite modification so far is using a Frank’s red hot ranch dip packet instead of the standard ranch. I also lightly pre-cook the bacon and pop it into the slow cooker along with everything else. Although if you’re wanting to cut down on the extra salt and grease, perhaps this step is not for you.
Sounds amazing! Thanks for the 5 star rating Marty.
Made this for dinner tonight and let me tell you. It looks like slop and tastes like straight SIN! One hoagie and you’re full so the recipe is great for leftovers.
Haha, love it!
Sabrina, what type of cheddar cheese do you use in the crockpot? I used reduced fat shredded sharp cheddar and it all stuck together in one big clump. I couldn’t mix it in with the rest. Should I have used a different cheddar? Thank you for your help!
You can use whatever cheese you prefer but just make sure to shred it yourself from a block. The pre-packaged shredded cheese tends to clump because of the added cellulose in it. Hope this helps for next time.
Is there any way to make this without a slow cooker ?
Yes, you could make it in a dutch oven as well. Enjoy!
How long do I cook it if my chicken is frozen?
You’ll want to use completely thawed chicken for this recipe otherwise it’ll release too much liquid while cooking.
I just made this and used partially frozen chicken and it turned out super great! Awesome recipe and so easy! Thanks for posting! I topped with banana pepper rings and sliced tomatoes. So yummy!
Do you add any liquid to it?
The only problem I always find with America recipes is the amount of weirdly named food items only found in the US, I mean we have no idea what a hoagie roll is. When we do recipes with things we know are uniquely kiwi we put what equivalence u can use next to it. Americans seem to think the rest of the world should know and we don’t.
Google is your friend.
Hoagie buns are a “chewier” version of hamburger buns. You can use any bread you like. My favorite is Italian bread browned in a little butter on both sides, YUM!!!
Kind of sounds the same with other cultures and parts of the world. We (Americans) clearly don’t know every single item of food out there either. Google is a great resource and so are friends ?
This was easy to make. For some reason mine came out really salty. I didn’t add extra salt. Not sure of the issue. I will try it again with less cheddar.
Make sure to use “salad dressing” mix, not Ranch powder to make Ranch “dip” as it is much saltier. I’d suggest using Colby or Colby/Jack cheese as it’s not nearly as strong as cheddar.
I believe it’s the Ranch Dressing that makes it salty. If you are using the powdered packet, you may just try bottled dressing instead.
Hi, Thank you for posting this recipe. I’m looking forward to making it. I am hoping you can clarify the amount of cream cheese though. I’ve read through the comments and it still seems like conflicting answers. Am I supposed to use 2 8oz boxes (for a total of 16oz) or is it 2 16oz packages (for a total of 32oz)? Thank you!
You’ll want to use a total of 16 ounces of cream cheese (2 8 oz boxes). Hope this clears up the confusion.
Two eight oz pkg’s for a total of sixteen Oz’s.
I added all the ingredients just like in the picture but it was too dry and the cheese was starting to stick, so I had to add water to save it. I keep checking on it and stirring it… hopefully it will still be good!
I just made this and is wonderful, I can’t believe some of the ‘stupid’ remarks simply because they screw up they blame you yet you graciously answer without being the least bit snarky, Bless you,
Although we figured it out, it would be nice to tell folks that one has to shred the chicken afterwards before serving to be able to serve 8 people. Just saying.
Wow. Common sense has become extinct! How would you serve it if ya didn’t stir it up, hence shredding the chicken at the same time because it is SUPER tender. Not to me to mention the fact that the pictures clearly show the chicken as shredded. And my 14 yo made this for us and had No trouble and no problem following this recipe and hers turned out perfect.
Can I use shredded cheese instead of cheese slices? And how many oz would that be?
You can use about 2 cups of shredded cheese if you’d like. Enjoy!
Don’t you have to shred the chicken?
Once it’s done cooking, you can shred it before serving. I hope you enjoy it!
I’m making this right now.. you should be more clear when writing a recipe. I only used 16 oz of cream cheese because that’s what you put down to use. I just read through all the comments after coming home to find a watery mess. Also I didn’t have my husband mix the ingredients because you did not add that step in. There is a lot of water in the pot right now and we still have an hour left to go. I used thawed chicken that hadn’t been frozen. I turned it up to high for the last hour to see if that helps. But now that its cooking I am not excited to eat this dish. It looks awful in the pot. I will comment back with taste once its it’s done.. Pray for my taste buds!!
It says 2 boxes of the 16oz cream cheese, you are 1 box short.
Actually it says 16 oz total? 2 8 oz boxes!!
Some of you people are definitely novice cooks and need your hands held to complete what is an easy recipe. The one picture clearly shows there are two regular sized bricks of cream cheese and obviously the final product is shredded. Stop whining and apply common sense! This is delicious! We have made it many times now. Today, my ten year old made it…that’s right! A KID made it. 😉
Awesome response. And spot on! I too love this recipe and am making for dinner tonight. I have no idea what some of these people are complaint or talking about.
I couldn’t agree more. People are so rude and unable to think for themselves before spouting off. But hey! Don’t worry about offending anyone.
I think some of these folks are being asses on purpose ….I hope no one who cooks, is as ‘dumb’ as they appear to be. 😉
Gave it a low calorie twist by using fat free cream cheese. Couldn’t find ranch seasoning so went for buffalo ranch seasoning, and will be adding some caramelized onion into it. Hope it’ll turn out delicious!
Great.
Omg this is so easy and tastes amazing
This was Awesome, I just added 2 tablespoons of “Red Hot” at the end, before shredding the chicken.
This was a big hit! Served it on Hawaiian hoagie rolls. The kiddos loved it!
Can this be served cold in pinwheel sandwiches?
I’ve never tried it this way but it does sound delicious! Let me know how it turns out.
How much grams is 1packet of seasoning pls?
28.3 grams looks to be the equivalent to one packet of seasoning. Hope this helps!
I prepared this exactly as the recipe was written. It was dry, and vouldn’t Understand that because of all the cheese. It was not really good at all. Would not make it again.
I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy it. I’m not sure why it would be dry either. Maybe your slow cooker runs hotter than mine so that might have been what caused it.
This was so easy and absolutely delicious! It was a great Friday treat for my husband and I. I followed the recipe exactly and I would say it was a tad too salty. Must be the ranch seasoning packages. Still yummy!
I believe you should use low salt bacon since the bacon is the only salty ingredient
Be sure to use frozen chicken. I used thowed and it burnt it so had to throw it out.
I used thawed chicken for this recipe. It sounds like maybe your slow cooker runs hot and that’s what allowed it to burn. I’m so sorry that happened.
So easy and delicious! When my husband asked what we were having for dinner I answered- “crack chicken”. He asked why that name. I said “you’ll see”. When he finally came up for air he said-“yup- I get it. I totally get it”. We skipped the bacon- rich and creamy sandwiches and the family is already claiming leftovers for tomorrow. I bet it will taste even better after a full night of resting. What am I saying? It’s not possible!
Haha, love it! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
How to I deal with all the condensation that it leaves behind? I wanna make this again. But the first time I did I have to much condensation…..
The last half hour you could always place a tea towel over it and then put the lid back on or even crack the lid a bit to help remove it. Also, make sure your chicken is completely thawed before placing them into the slow cooker. Hope this helps!
We couldn’t find any ranch seasoning so we used creamy garlic seasoning. It tasted amazing, however seems like more of a dip than something you’d put on a sandwich(which is what we plan to do with the leftovers). We only used 16oz of cream cheese because the way the recipe is listed makes it seem that that’s all is needed, however you need 32oz. This didn’t affect it at all. I feel 32oz would be way too much. All in all, it tasted amazing! We will make it again, just not to put on bread/ in a sandwich!
So glad you enjoyed it, even as a dip! The creamy garlic sounds delicious!
This looks really interesting and the calorie count is not bad, served with raw veggies on the side.
I have not made this recipe yet. Shopping tomorrow for ingredients and will get back about taste and cooking experience.
I’m going to be making this tonight. What else can it be served with other then just as a sandwich? Or is the sandwich the best way to go?
Someone commented that they loved it more as a dip. We prefer it as a sandwich.
Would cook times remain the same if recipe was cut in half?
If you want to cut the recipe in half, the cook time would still be the same but you would need to use a smaller slow cooker to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
This looks so good. Do you have any recipes for the slow cooker that don`t use salt, sugar or garlic?
You can try Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken recipe. It does have a 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt but feel free to omit it. Hope this helps!
Delicious! I did a little modification to the recipe. I added 2 cans of green chiles and maybe 1/4 c. Texas Pete hot sauce. I took my wire whip, and was able to shred the chicken while in the crock pot. I didn’t add the bacon, simply because I didn’t want to take the time to cook it. I’m sure the bacon makes it even better!! And, since eating Keto, I ate it without the bread.
I love your additions! Thanks for coming back to let us know.
Hi! We tried this tonight and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. At first I thought my cream cheese had curdled as someone else had mentioned in the comments. I just continued to mix everything really well and it was fine! I don’t actually remember ever cooking with cream cheese so maybe it is inexperience that caused me to think it curdled? Oh well.
We followed the directions except we didn’t add the bacon on top. (They couldn’t wait for it to finish cooking! Ha!)
It was really great! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m going to be sure to check out your other recipes as well!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it. Look forward to seeing you around the site, Colleen!
I have a question. I can’t seem to find ranch packets anywhere. Can I substitute with hidden valley ranch dressing? If so how much? Recipe looks delish
I know it sucks to buy 8 of them, but here is a link to the packets on Amazon. Using the dressing would not be the same and it would add too much liquids.
It says 16 ounces of cream cheese 2 boxes. Is that total 16 ounces or two 16ounce boxes? I bought two 16 ounce boxes I wasn’t sure if I use both or just one because one is 16. Thanks!
You’ll want to use 2 16 oz boxes of cream cheese for this recipe. Enjoy!
On May 9th, 2019, you replied that you’d want to use 2 8oz boxes for 16oz total. Which is it? Thanks! 🙂
Oh no! I must not have had enough coffee before posting that. I’m so sorry. You want to use 2 16 oz boxes of cream cheese. Thanks for letting me know.
What size crock pot do you use for this recipe, also if cutting half what size would you use?
I used a 6 qt for this recipe. If you cut the recipe in half, you’ll want to use a smaller slow cooker (maybe a 3-4 qt) so it doesn’t dry out. I hope you enjoy it!
Looks delicious! Do the ingredients have to be mixed or does the chicken have to be flipped while cooking?
You’ll want to mix it up prior to cooking. I just have separated out in the slow cooker to show you the ingredients. Enjoy!
I just threw this into my crock pot for my picky eaters I really hope this is a hit…guess I will find out in 7to 8 hours…I will reply when it’s done.
I can’t wait to try the chicken. It sounds fantastic
I have a TON of juice/Water in the bottom.. do you mix all of it with the rest of it?
I’m not sure why there would be that much water in the bottom. Was your chicken completely thawed before putting them in the slow cooker?
Hi there!
I’m excited to try for dinner. I have a few questions…
1) Can I use frozen chicken? Or does it need to be thawed?
2) I have the Costco size container of ranch seasoning, about how much should I use to be equivalent to a package?
Thank you!
I’m so glad you’re going to try this recipe. You’ll want to make sure your chicken is completely thawed before placing in the slow cooker. If it’s not, it’ll add water which will make everything soupy. I would recommend using 2 tablespoons from the container to equal to 1 packet. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
If I am making this for a larger group can I just double everything?
Yes 🙂
I sent this recipe to my nephew and his fiancée, who just moved into their first apartment. She is new to cooking and didn’t realize that you had to shred the cooked chicken and blend well with the other ingredients. ?.
You’re a chef (and I’ve been cooking for years) so this was a no brainer for you and I, but please remember that some readers just arent kitchen savvy and will need the (sometimes very obvious) steps broken down for them.
Also, the comments about using the term “crack” are ridiculous. It’s now part of the American vernacular meaning addictive. Lighten up. It’s not all about you. A chicken recipe has NOTHING to do with your addiction.
That said, I can’t wait to try this recipe myself! ?
Has anyone tried adding kernel sweet corn to this? I’m keto, but I’m making this for a pot luck and thought that might add a bit or extra zip to it.
I haven’t but it sounds like a great idea!
I was so pumped to make this as it fit into my keto diet – I was even more pumped that I actually managed to get it going before leaving for work … unfortunately it was an epic fail and luckily the burnt disaster did not cause a house fire.
Suggestion to add to recipe – use a liquid of some sort … I personally would use cream (keto) or even just low fat milk if I tried this again.
This was so salty it was almost inedible- and I love salt! It reminded me s lot of buffalo chicken dip but unfortunately not as good. Great idea but will definitely tweak a lot if I make it again.
This had a lot of good reviews so I was excited to try it, but I’m sorry to say I was disappointed. This comes out as mostly cream cheese sauce with a little shredded chicken in it…. it would be more appropriate as a dip than on a sandwich. On a sandwich it was pretty gross. On reading the comments I realized that a lot of people had posted 5 star reviews and then said they were “planning to make it.” Please don’t post reviews unless you have actually tried the recipe! This might have been okay with much less of the sauce, but I will probably not be making this again.
Hi there! Whipped this up today and cooked over eight hours. I added some red onions at the end and used maple bacon which added a touch of sweet. Phenomenal recipe. I’ll look forward to trying more!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Look forward to seeing you around the site.
All looks yummy!
Can you leave out the ranch. It sounds really good but I do not like ranch
Yes, you could use a different seasoning packet or add your own seasoning but you’ll want to use something in it’s place. Enjoy!