This Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Penne has features of mac and cheese but with chicken added too! A great meal to come home to that the entire family will enjoy.
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How to make Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Penne:
I start by cooking 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, chicken breasts, chicken broth, dried tarragon and pepper for 6 hours on low.
Then I shred the chicken and add sour cream and cheese.
Then add the cooked penne pasta. I originally planned to make this with egg noodles, I bought an
I went back to the store and bought penne pasta and I am so glad that I did. The penne pasta has a great texture, perfect for this recipe.
Mix it up.
Top with more cheese.
Heaven on a plate! Plenty of sauce to coat all the noodles. I highly recommend this meal for an easy weeknight meal.
Would your family enjoy this pasta dinner? Mine really did! I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll be back next week with another recipe.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker – 5 quart or larger
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 21 oz cream of chicken soup (two-10.5 oz cans) Don't add water
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- ½ tsp. dried leaf tarragon can substitute oregano or thyme here
- 1½ cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 small sweet yellow onion diced
Add at the end
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 1 lb. penne pasta cooked according to package directions on the stove-top
Instructions
- Add the cream of chicken soup and chicken broth to the slow cooker, stir until smooth.
- Add the tarragon, pepper, mushrooms and onions, stir.
- Add the chicken breasts.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- After the cooking time is up, start cooking the pasta according to the package directions to Al dente on the stove-top, do not over cook!
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks.
- Add sour cream and half of the cheese, stir.
- Add the cooked and drained pasta and stir again.
- Sprinkle over remaining cheese. Cover the slow cooker and cook for an additional 20 minutes on low.
- Serve and enjoy!
If I want to make this with chicken thighs, how many thighs should I make and is the cook time the same?
probably 6 if they are boneless. It will be good with thighs!
I have a 2 qt slow cooker. How would you suggest I adjust this recipe? It looks amazing!!
Hi Tamika, you could try cutting it in half. That’s a small slow cooker!
Just made this. I changed up a few things. I used 1 can cream of mushroom in place of the 2nd can of cream of chicken to take the place of the actual mushrooms. (I can hide them better that way) I used onion powder instead of onion. (Same reason) taste fantastic! The only thing I would change is, i would cube the chicken instead of shredding it. Once you start stirring in all the ingredients, the chicken really disintegrates and I prefer a bit more chuncky.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
The same as any leftovers. I personally would try to finish it before 3 days.
I don’t know if you will get this in time, but I am making this now, I followed ur recipe. The sauce the chicken is cooking in (it’s been 4.5 hrs) has become very runny(watery). It doesn’t look to be this way in your video. Do you have any suggestions? Or is it ok? Thanks!!
Btw, it smells amazing!!!
I think it will all be fine, how did it turn out?
Want to try this with beef or browned hamburg. & cream of mushroom soup & more cheese maybe swiss & cream cheese
Chicken sounds good . Would make & do beef version to have 2 different meals
Thank you
Sara,
I tried this a couple of months and double the recipe it turned out wonderful let’s just say this the 8 qrt crockpot I have was empty . Thank you so much for the recipe.
Could you cook with frozen chicken?
I don’t see why not! The cook time is long enough.
Excellent! Easy and so tasty. Will make again. I made no changes to your recipe.
How many calories would you say this is?
I have made this numerous times and it’s very tasty
Could sauce and chicken be cooked and then frozen without pasta?
I’m unsure how the dairy would turn out being frozen. I’ve never tried it on this recipe.
Is there a way I can cut down the cook time?
Yes! You can do 3.5 hours on high, no problems.
Yes! Thank you! I made this last night and my husband LOVED IT! I subbed the onions for spinach. It was amazing!
Did you use fresh or canned mushrooms?
Fresh
Wouldn’t chicken stock be better than chicken broth?? Can’t wait to try it! Thanks!
If you have it, use stock. That will be great.
Can you use canned cheese soup
Hi can I add spinach to pot and cook altogether. I’m just worried if it will become watery or will it be fine thank you .
Hi Nelly! I would add a few cups of fresh spinach the same time as the hot pasta. It will wilt down in minutes.
I’ve been cooking this for about 2 and half hours on low and I was wondering if it was too late to cut the time a little bit by turning the crockpot on high for about another 2 hours?
That’s totally fine!
Can it be frozen afterwards?
It should do fine!
Do the noodles have to be pre cooked or can I throw them in the crockpot uncooked?
They need to be precooked. The crock pot isn’t hot enough to properly cook pasta.
Has anyone used cream cheese instead of sour cream? I will be making this sometime this week, but sometimes sour cream is stronger than cream cheese. Thoughts?