Slow Cooker Pesto Chicken is an easy crockpot dinner that delivers juicy, tender protein with bold flavors. Perfect for busy weeknights!
Crispy Slow Cooker Chicken and Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Sriracha Chicken are mind-blowing Chicken Crockpot Recipes. This pesto version is even more flavorful and just as juicy!
Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker Chicken?
- This is a zero stress dinner. Just a few minutes of prep in the morning gets you a full meal later or meal prep for the week.
- You can make the Pesto Sauce ahead of time and freeze it for future uses.
Sabrina’s Slow Cooker Pesto Chicken Recipe
This easy Pesto Chicken recipe is perfect for days you know you’ll be busy during dinner time! Just a little prep work in the morning, then set it and forget it for a delicious Italian main dish ready to eat when you are. You can also make this Slow Cooker Pesto Chicken as an easy meal prep on Sunday and have a go-to lunch for the rest of the week.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 6 chicken thighs , bone in and skin on
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup pesto , recipe
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
- 1/4 cup parsley , chopped
- Parmesan cheese , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
- Add vegetable oil to a large skillet on medium high heat and sear for 4-5 minutes on each side.
- Add chicken to slow cooker, skin side up and pour chicken broth around it.
- Mix pesto with garlic and parmesan cheese and spread mixture over the chicken thighs.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
- Garnish with parsley and additional parmesan cheese if desired.
Nutrition
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Sabrina’s Tips
This recipe requires breaking out your skillet to sear the chicken before slow cooking, but this extra step is definitely worth it! Crisping the skin on your chicken thighs before placing in the slow cooker seals in the juices and gives your chicken dish even more flavor. Make sure you have plenty of room in your skillet when you sear the chicken, otherwise a good sear will be difficult to achieve. You want to maintain high, direct heat on the chicken.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Crockpot Pesto Chicken is one of the easiest, most stress-free chicken recipes you can make. Use a jar of pesto from the store or if you have about 5 minutes more, make my easy homemade Pesto Sauce recipe! The best part of making your own pesto is that you can make a big batch for less than a small jar and freeze portions for later recipes for up to a year! This delicious Chicken recipe is so quick to prep for the crockpot and then finishes hands off for tender, juicy chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons of Vegetable Oil: You’ll use vegetable oil for searing the chicken and crisping up the skin.
- 6 Chicken Thighs: Use juicy thighs to make this Pesto Chicken. Dark meat is super flavorful all on its own and turns out really well in the slow cooker.
- Salt and Pepper: Before you sear your chicken you will season with salt and pepper. These simple ingredients are just the start, as rest of the flavor will come into the delicious sauce.
- 1 cup of Chicken Broth: Chicken broth is the cooking liquid for the flavorful sauce, which is a classic choice for cooking chicken and will bring more flavor than water alone.
- ½ cup of Pesto: Pesto has so much flavor by itself. It contains basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and all comes together with rich olive oil. Use jarred pesto or make it yourself ahead of time.
- Extra Seasoning: Add some extra seasoning to your pesto sauce. 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan, ¼ cup chopped parsley, and 5 cloves of minced garlic will really do the trick.
Can this be made ahead of time?
This recipe is better served fresh, and considering how you can just let it cook in the crock pot all day long, it isn’t super difficult to serve it same-day. However, if you really need this to be ready ahead of time, you can prepare the recipe, then let it cool completely and store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Reheat it in the oven at 350 degrees, placing the chicken in a baking dish, and covering it to retain moist and tender chicken. Make sure you heat the chicken thoroughly until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Pairing Suggestions
Pesto Chicken is great to serve with almost everything! This recipe is perfect for low carb diets served with Sauteed Green Beans. You can make a complete meal with rustic chicken and Roasted Red Potatoes. Make a full Italian feast and serve with pasta favorites like Baked Ziti, Italian Roasted Vegetables, and Garlic Bread. Keep it simple with pasta dressed in the extra basil pesto and garnished cherry tomatoes with fresh mozzarella!
How to Store
- Serve: This chicken is best served right away but can be kept on the warm setting up to 4 hours.
- Store: Once cooled, store in an airtight container and refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: Place Slow Cooker Pesto Chicken in a sealed container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw chicken overnight in the refrigerator before reheating in the oven on low, adding broth to the pan and covering to keep from drying out.
Alternative Cooking Techniques
Instant Pot Method
- Turn your Instant Pot on Saute and add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
- Sear your chicken thighs on each side for 3-4 minutes.
- Remove chicken and deglaze pot with chicken broth, scrapping off all the browned bits.
- Turn off Instant Pot and return chicken to pot.
- Mix pesto mixture and spread over chicken thighs.
- Close lid and turn pressure valve on sealing. Set to manual high pressure for 12 minutes.
- Naturally release pressure for 5 minutes, then quick release pressure to remove lid.
- Serve with Parmesan cheese and parsley.
Baked Method
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add oil to a large dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Sear seasoned chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Remove from heat and add chicken broth to pan.
- Mix pesto, Parmesan, and garlic and spread mixture over chicken.
- Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
Variations
- Lighter Version: Make a lighter version of this recipe using skinless, boneless chicken thighs instead. You can still sear them to ensure nice browning, and to seal the moisture in the chicken.
- Chicken Breasts: Instead of chicken thighs, you can use bone-in chicken breast with skin. If you want to use boneless, skinless chicken breast or boneless, skinless chicken thighs, wrap the chicken in bacon to keep it moist.
- Pesto Chicken Pasta: Another meal idea is to make a pasta dish out of this recipe by removing the flavorful chicken, shredding it into bite-sized pieces, and tossing the chicken and leftover sauce with the pasta of your choice. You can even use zucchini noodles if you’d like to make a more healthy meal.
- Cheesy Pesto Chicken: Add an extra final touch to the chicken by placing it on a baking sheet, and topping with mozzarella cheese. Place the cheesy chicken under a broiler to melt and brown the chicken a tiny bit before serving.
- Sun Dried Tomato: Use a sun-dried tomato pesto, or add chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the top of the chicken.
- Roasted Peppers: You could also use roasted red peppers, adding them in the last hour of cooking so they don’t get too mushy.
- Potatoes: Add 2 cups potatoes like Yukon potatoes, red potatoes, or russet potatoes to make a one pot meal. Either halve baby potatoes or cut into 2 inch chunks.
- Vegetables: Add fresh broccoli, baby carrots, whole green beans, zucchini, summer squash, mini corn cobs, or cauliflower to the slow cooker around the chicken.
Related Recipes
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