Healthy Crockpot Chicken Recipes {5 Ways}

These Healthy Crockpot Chicken Recipes are perfect for meal prep – dump in all the ingredients then set it and forget it!

Healthy Crockpot Chicken Recipes

Looking for an easy and hands-off dinner idea? These healthy crockpot chicken recipes are where it’s at! The slow cooker is one of my favourite meal prep tools when I want to just dump everything in a pot, set it and forget it. I rounded up some of my favourite crockpot recipes that will make meal prep and dinnertime a breeze.

The ingredients in all of these slow cooker recipes are very basic – you might even have some of them in your fridge or pantry already. Most of the sauces you’ll marinate the chicken in have less than 5 ingredients. From there, you can serve your crockpot chicken with a couple of veggies and any type of starch. Trust me, these meals are super easy to throw together and are so good.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Chicken breasts – you can also try making these recipes with boneless skinless chicken thighs.

Coconut curry chicken

• Curry powder – make your own using a blend of cumin, coriander, chili powder, turmeric and pepper.
• Turmeric ­– saffron would also be good here.
• Garlic – use either freshly minced or jarred minced garlic.
• Salt – to taste.
• Coconut milk – you can use low-fat or full-fat coconut milk for this recipe.
• Cauliflower – swap out for broccoli instead.
• Carrots – celery or bell peppers would also be yummy.

Honey sesame chicken

• Sesame oil – you can use a neutral cooking oil like olive oil, but it won’t have the same sesame flavour.
• Low-sodium soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
• Honey – agave, maple syrup or brown sugar will also add a bit of sweetness to your marinade.
• Garlic – use either freshly minced or jarred minced garlic.
• Broccoli – cauliflower would be good or you can use another vegetable of your choice.
• Carrots – celery or bell peppers would also be yummy in this recipe.

Cilantro lime chicken

• Olive oil – or any neutral cooking oil of your choice such as canola or avocado oil.
• Lime juice – freshly squeezed lime juice is best but bottled will work in a pinch.
• Honey – agave, maple syrup or brown sugar will also add a bit of sweetness to your marinade.
• Cilantro – parsley would be good too although it won’t have the same flavour.
• Garlic – use either freshly minced or jarred minced garlic.
• Salt & pepper – to taste.
• Yellow pepper – swap out for another colour bell pepper like red or orange pepper.

Greek chicken

• Olive oil – or any neutral cooking oil of your choice such as canola or avocado oil.
• Lemon juice – freshly squeezed lemon juice is best but bottled will work in a pinch.
• Garlic – use either freshly minced or jarred minced garlic.
• Oregano – basil or parsley would be the best substitutes here.
• Salt & pepper – to taste.
• Red pepper – use another colour bell pepper like yellow or orange pepper.
• Zucchini – serve with eggplant or cucumber instead.

Marinara chicken

• Marinara sauce – use your favourite store-bought marinara or tomato sauce.
• Garlic – use either freshly minced or jarred minced garlic.
• Italian seasoning – make your own using a combination of dried oregano, basil, thyme, sage and rosemary.
• Salt & pepper – to taste.
• Spaghetti – or another noodle of your choice.
• Zucchini – swap out for another vegetable like bell peppers.

How to make crockpot chicken

1. Marinade the chicken.
2. Dump everything in the crockpot.
3. Cook the chicken.
4. Add in the veggies.
5. Shred the chicken.
6. Serve fresh or store for later!

Can you cook frozen chicken in a crockpot?

The short answer is you can, but it's not recommended. Depending on who you ask, this topic can be controversial, so let's just deal with the facts.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), foods need to be kept at certain temperatures to maintain food safety standards. If food isn't stored properly, you run the risk of food contamination and contracting foodborne illnesses like Salmonella. Regarding meat and poultry, the FDA says this:

“Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 °F [4 °C] and 140 °F [60 °C], doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. This range of temperatures is often called the “Danger Zone.” Never leave food out of refrigeration over 2 hours, and if the temperature is over 90 °F. don't leave it out over 1 hour.”

The problem is, it can take a long time for frozen food to thaw in a slow cooker, especially when cooking on the low setting. After frozen chicken thaws, it has to reach an internal temperature of 165 °F (74 °C) to be safe to eat. Depending on the size of the frozen meat, that can take longer than 2 hours.

The safest thing to do is to thaw frozen chicken fully before cooking it in a slow cooker. Remember to use a cooking thermometer to make sure that the chicken is fully cooked before eating it, too.

The best crockpot chicken marinades

If you’ve wondered where to start on making crock pot chicken, these five recipes below will save your meal plan!

Chicken can dry out if it’s cooked for too long in the crockpot. These recipes have more liquid ingredients than a simple marinade for just that reason. Plus, all of the liquid goes into the crockpot with the chicken, even if they sat together in the refrigerator for a while first.

Honey sesame chicken

Coconut curry chicken

Marinara chicken

Greek chicken

Cilantro lime chicken

Meal prepping crockpot chicken

These recipes are great for meal prep! Store the chicken and marinade ingredients in a Ziploc bag for up to 2 days before you plan to cook them.

If the chicken is frozen, you don’t need to thaw it before sticking it in a bag with the rest of the ingredients. This is a great way to thaw chicken the day before you want to cook it and it’ll defrost with the marinade ingredients. Store the bag in the fridge and the next morning, just dump it into the slow cooker.

Freezing these recipes

You have two options for freezing these crockpot chicken dishes. One is to freeze the ingredients prior to cooking and the other is to freeze the meals after they’ve been fully cooked.

• Freezing recipe ingredients raw: If you want to freeze everything before cooking it, prepare the bags as stated above and freeze for up to 3 months. Be sure to completely thaw the bags in the fridge overnight before dumping everything in the crockpot.
• Freezing cooked ingredients: You can freeze the cooked meals for up to 3 months. Don’t leave them at room temperature before freezing though; chill them in the refrigerator. I also wouldn’t recommend freezing certain vegetables or pasta – try to just freeze the chicken if you’re not sure if the rest of the ingredients will defrost well.

More crockpot chicken recipes

There are so many amazing and talented bloggers creating new recipes that making healthy crockpot meals has never been easier! You can find healthy crockpot chicken recipes for every dietary need and in nearly every cuisine you want. Whole30, gluten-free, paleo… you name it!

Whether you want to cook with chicken thighs, breasts, or a whole chicken, you can find a recipe for it in the collection below!

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili via Diabetes Strong // Crockpot Greek Chicken Gyros via The Seasoned Mom

Healthy Crockpot Chicken Thighs with Green Chiles via Clean Eating Kitchen // Crockpot Butternut Squash Chicken Curry via The Girl on Bloor

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken (Rotisserie-Style) via Cooking Classy // Crockpot Chipotle Chicken Soup via Salt and Lavender

Slow Cooker Gluten-Free Teriyaki Chicken via Joy Food Sunshine // Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken via The Girl on Bloor

Crockpot Coconut Curry Chicken Soup via Amee's Savory Dish // Slow Cooker Chicken Mole Tacos via The Gingered Whisk

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo via The Lemon Bowl // Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala via The Girl on Bloor

Low Carb Crockpot Beef and Broccoli via Low Carb Yum // Healthy Crockpot Tumeric Chicken via Sweet Phi

Slow Cooker Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Stew via Center Cut Cook // Slow Cooker Pumpkin Quinoa Chicken Chili via Ambitious Kitchen

Healthy Chicken Fajita Quinoa Soup via Eat Yourself Skinny // Slow Cooker Chicken Shawarma via A Clean Bake

Meal prep tools

• Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on refrigerating the leftovers.
• I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
• Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through.
• Use these Ziploc bag holders if you're freezing the chicken in Ziploc bags.
• You can also freeze these recipes in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.