Crock Pot Marry Me Chicken features a wonderfully rich garlic cream sauce, poured over chicken thighs flavored with italian seasoning and sun dried tomatoes, and then slowly cooked until they are falling apart tender and then baby spinach is added in. This Creamy Garlic Tuscan Chicken slow cooker recipe is about to become a new favorite!
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If you haven't noticed, I am a fan of anything tuscan flavored. Both Tuscan Shrimp and Steak Gorgonzola are some of my favorite recipes to make (and eat). I just can't get enough of heavy cream, freshly grated parmesan, tender wilted spinach and of course, sun dried tomatoes. Another favorite dish with sun-dried tomatoes is Homemade Mushroom Ravioli with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce.
This slow cooker creamy tuscan chicken thigh recipe takes those same classic tuscan ingredients and makes them into a super easy slow cooker meal.
Why This Recipe Works
- Made with chicken thighs: Chicken thighs are cheap and flavorful, and after cooking in the rich sauce for several hours, they become fall apart tender.
- Low Carb Friendly: This meal on its own is very low carb/keto, and you can choose what you serve it with to adjust to your dietary needs.
- Simple and Easy: A lot of the meals I make in the slow cooker are soups or large cuts of beef. I like that this tuscan garlic chicken slow cooker recipe is something a little different, but with the same amount of ease! By cooking everything all together first and then adding the baby spinach at the end, it ensures that everything is thoroughly cooked, but the spinach still retains its rich green color. It is so delicate that it truly doesn't need cooking time, the residual heat will do the job!
Ingredient Notes
- Cream sauce: Make a cream sauce out of butter, minced garlic, chicken stock, parmesan, and heavy cream. Making it ahead in a separate pot helps ensure the sauce doesn't break, but the ingredients can also just be poured right into the slow cooker at the beginning of the cooking process and it will still be delicious.
- Italian seasoning: Adds a bit of flavor, most contain things like basil, oregano, and marjoram.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: Boneless skinless chicken thighs are perfect in the crockpot, they don't dry out and cook down so tender. Boneless skinless chicken breasts can be used as well.
- Sun dried tomatoes: Buy these sliced or whole and rough chop them yourself.
- Fresh baby spinach: Add fresh baby spinach at the end of the cooking process for some color and vegetable. Some versions of marry me chicken use fresh basil leaves instead.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients.
How to Make Tuscan Chicken in the Crock Pot
Step 1. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add minced garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Step 2. Add chicken stock and heavy cream. Simmer on low for 5-7 minutes.
Step 3. Add in parmesan cheese and stir to combine. Turn off heat.
Step 4. Place chicken thighs at the bottom of a slow cooker. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and salt over top of chicken thighs.
Step 5. Add in sun dried tomatoes.
Step 6. Pour cream sauce over top of the chicken.
Step 7. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours. After the cooking time is complete, take chicken breasts out and set to the side.
Step 8. Add in spinach, and stir until it wilts. Add chicken back to slow cooker, and you are ready to serve.
Recipe Tips
- I find it helpful to make the cream sauce ahead of time, because it helps ensure everything is smooth and well incorporated. It only takes 10 minutes, which is worth the effort to me. If you're pressed for time, you can definitely skip this step. All you have to do is pour everything on top of the chicken breasts and let the crock pot do its thing!
- Adding the spinach at the end ensures that it stays bright green and keeps its texture.
How to serve crock pot tuscan garlic chicken thighs
My favorite way to serve this tuscan chicken recipe is with pasta (angel hair is my favorite!). You can also serve these creamy chicken thighs with mashed potatoes, rice, garlic bread, or steamed broccoli.
I also like to serve these creamy garlic chicken thighs with an extra grate of fresh parmesan over the top!
Recipe FAQs
Store chicken thighs in sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
"Marry Me Chicken" typically features chicken, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, Italian herbs, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese as its main ingredients, creating a savory and indulgent dish.
More crockpot chicken recipes
If you tried this Crock Pot Marry Me Chicken Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love to hear from you.
Crock Pot Marry Me Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 6-8 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
- 2 cups baby spinach packed and roughly chopped
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add minced garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add chicken stock and heavy cream. Simmer on low for 5-7 minutes. Add in parmesan cheese and stir to combine. Turn off heat.
- Place chicken thighs at the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Sprinkle Italian seasoning and salt over top of chicken thighs. Add in sun dried tomatoes and pour cream sauce over top to cover.
- Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours.
- After the cooking time is complete, take chicken breasts out and set to the side. Add in spinach, and stir until it wilts.
- Add chicken back to slow cooker, and you are ready to serve. This would be great on pasta, or with a side of broccoli or cauliflower. I also like to serve with an extra grate of fresh parm over the top!
Notes
- I find it helpful to make the cream sauce ahead of time, because it helps ensure everything is smooth and well incorporated. It only takes 10 minutes, which is worth the effort to me. If you're pressed for time, you can definitely skip this step. All you have to do is pour everything on top of the chicken breasts and let the crock pot do its thing!
- Adding the spinach at the end ensures that it stays bright green and keeps its texture.
Melissa Szymczak
Oh boy this looks delicious! Crock pot seems like a great idea for a planned ahead meal and I agree Baby spinach adds just the right touch- but it has to be tender!
Sarah
I've been using my Crock pot and Instant pot a lot more now that the temperature has dropped!
TRINITY
yummy, maybe somewhere down the dna line you have a little bit of Italian in you! Me too!(Pasta is my weakness only topped by pizza)
Su
I added white wine and capers . Tastes good 👍
dp
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Wow! My husband loved this and he’s very picky. He even commented on it again later in the evening so I know he thought it was something special. I’m dairy free so couldn’t try it but I may attempt a dairy free version it smelled so good. I used half and half because it was all I had and I only had a half cup of fresh grated Parmesan so I used the jar kind for the other half cup. I tossed the spinach in when it was close to being done and just made sure it was all tucked under the chicken.
Thank you and looking forward to trying more of your recipes!