Olive Garden Crockpot Chicken
Olive Garden crockpot chicken is a creamy and delicious dish served over pasta for a busy night dinner. Serve alongside a garden salad or simple veggie side dish for a cozy comfort food meal your family will love.
If you love dump and go slowcooker dinners, you are going to absolutely love this Olive Garden crockpot chicken served over pasta!
I threw just 3 ingredients into my crock pot minutes before I had to run an errand and came home to a cozy dinner for my family a few hours later. This will absolutely be top of my make-again list for the busy school nights we have ahead of us this year.
Why This is the Best Recipe
Slowcooker dinners are so perfect for busy families but I think this is the best Olive Garden crockpot chicken recipe because:
- Creamy and Delicious: My family devoured this dinner on the busy evening I made it. It tastes amazing just on its own.
- Easy to Tweak: Want to add veggies? Put it over rice? There are many ways you could switch things up, be sure to check out my notes!
- Make Ahead Friendly: Don't miss all my tips on how to make this on a Sunday afternoon for easy weeknight dinners.
Ingredients
This easy slowcooker recipe only needs a few simple ingredients:
- Chicken Breasts: You could use chicken tenderloins or thighs if you prefer but they will cook much more quickly so be sure to adjust the time.
- Olive Garden Signature Italian Dressing: The distinctive flavor of this dish comes from this particular brand of dressing. If you can't find it, you can absolutely substitute another brand of Italian dressing but you may want to add a little more parmesan.
- Cream Cheese
- Grated Parmesan
- Pasta: If you want to make this a gluten-free dish, be sure to see my Variations suggestions below.
NOTE: I normally sneak in veggies in my pasta dishes but this is comfort food at its best. If you want to add veggies right to the sauce, a bag of frozen peas could be added right at the end before you add the pasta.
Cooking Instructions
Spray your slowcooker pot with cooking spray and add the pieces of chicken.
Pour the Italian dressing over the top and use a fork to gently nudge the chicken so the dressing coats all the sides and seeps down to the bottom of the pot.
Cut the cream cheese into cubes and scatter them over the chicken.
Cover the Crock Pot and cook the chicken on HIGH for 3.5 hours.
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How to Cook Perfect Slowcooker Chicken
To keep this dish nice and easy to prepare, I just tossed the whole chicken breasts into the slowcooker.
Unfortunately, very thick chicken breasts tend to cook unevenly.
If you wait for the whole piece of chicken to be cooked tender enough to shred, your chicken will have a grainy texture.
To avoid this, I use two tricks:
- Check It Early: After about 2.5 hours, check on the chicken. Use two forks to break apart the large breasts into smaller pieces. You won't be able to fully shred it, but by breaking the chicken down a bit, it will cook faster and more evenly at the end.
- Cook It on HIGH: To get the perfect texture for chicken in a Crockpot, avoid using the true slowcooking function and always select the HIGH temperature. It tastes better when cooked for a shorter period of time on HIGH vs. a longer time on LOW.
How to Cook Pasta with Perfect Texture
One of the biggest mistakes people make when prepping a slowcooker pasta dish is letting the noodles get overcooked in the sauce.
I highly recommend cooking the pasta for 1 minute shorter than the lowest time listed on the package.
This keeps the noodles very firm so that they have room to absorb the pasta sauce and soften a bit as the dish keeps warm before you serve it.
Cook and drain the pasta and then add it to the slowcooker. Toss to coat in the sauce.
PRO TIP: Save a cup of the pasta cooking liquid before you drain the pasta. If the noodles absorb too much of the sauce, you can add a drizzle of this starchy water and it will rehydrate the dish beautifully.
Make Ahead Tips
I'm really particular about the texture of my chicken and my pasta. To ensure they taste just right, I suggest these make ahead tips:
Perfect Chicken:
If you don't have the 3 hours needed to cook the dish, do not try to slow the slowcooker down over a longer period of time. It will make the chicken grainy.
It is better to make the chicken for the right amount of time the day before rather than let it cook all day while you're out of the house.
You can gently reheat it on the stovetop before serving.
Perfect Pasta:
If you want to make the chicken in advance, save the pasta for before you plan to serve it OR cook it but store it separately from the pasta.
The noodles will absorb the liquid and become mushy the longer they sit together in the fridge.
It is better to warm up the pre-made chicken and sauce and boil the pasta fresh.
If you really need to make the pasta ahead, toss it in a tablespoon of olive oil so the noodles don't stick together in the fridge and keep them in a separate container from the sauce.
Serving Suggestions
This creamy chicken and pasta dish is classic comfort food at its best. While I normally add veggies right to my pasta dishes, sometimes you just want a bowl of cozy noodles.
In this instance, serve your veggies on the side. This dish would pair really well with a copycat Olive Garden salad or a pan of roasted broccoli and carrots.
You can make my air fryer green beans in minutes or stir together these marinated tomatoes earlier in the day.
Variations
If you don't want to add the pasta to the dish, you can easily make this a gluten-free dinner if you serve it over a bowl of rice instead.
My plain jasmine rice would let all the creamy flavors of the sauce shine through but my wild rice pilaf with tender chunks of carrots and celery would be an amazing addition as well.
If gluten isn't a problem but you just don't want to use the pasta, try serving bowls of the creamy chicken mixture alongside some warm bread for dipping. A batch of crescent rolls or even a loaf of Italian bread would be a perfect pick.
More Crockpot Recipes
I just love how easy slowcooker dinners are for busy nights. Here are a few more of my favorites for your family:
📖 Recipe
Olive Garden Crockpot Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 cup Italian salad dressing like Olive Garden Signature Italian dressing
- 1 (8 oz) brick of cream cheese
- 1 pound pasta short noodles like penne or farfalle will work best
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Spray your Crock Pot bowl with cooking spray and add the chicken breasts to the pot. Pour the Italian salad dressing over the chicken and gently stir the chicken so the sauce coats all sides.
- Cut the cream cheese into cubes and scatter them over the chicken.
- Cover the slowcooker and cook on HIGH for 3 hours and 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender enough to shred with two forks. Shred the chicken and leave it in the slowcooker.
- NOTE: Especially thick chicken breasts may need more time to cook. It can speed things up if you check the chicken after 2.5 hours and break the larger breasts in half or smaller chunks so the centers can cook more quickly.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions MINUS one minute of cooking time from the lowest time listed on the package. This keeps your pasta nice and firm so it doesn't overcook when you combine it with the sauce.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the slowcooker. Stir to coat with the sauce.
- Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the top and serve.
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