Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Penne
331 Comments Oct 10, 2022
Updated Jun 12, 2025
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This Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Penne has all the creamy, comforting goodness of mac and cheese, with tender chicken added for a heartier meal. It’s an easy, family-friendly dinner that’s perfect to come home to after a busy day.
I was on
You can start it, continue your day and finish up minutes before serving. This pasta is an excellent idea for any time of year and is sure to become a new family favorite. Heaven on a plate! Plenty of sauce to coat all the noodles. I highly recommend this meal for an easy weeknight meal.
Key Ingredients:
Here is what you need to make this crockpot pasta recipe. See the recipe card for full ingredient amounts.
- Chicken and Sauce Ingredients: Boneless skinless chicken breasts slow cooked with two cans of cream of chicken soup and broth.
- Seasonings: Pepper, and dried tarragon (or oregano or Italian seasoning) go well with the chicken and sauce.
- Mushrooms and Onion: Sliced mushrooms and diced sweet yellow onion add flavor and moisture (mushrooms can be skipped if preferred).
- Creamy Finish: Sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese (sharp or medium) stirred in at the end.
- Pasta: Penne pasta, cooked separately according to package directions.
Variations
This is a very basic kid friendly meal, you can make it to suit your families tastes.
- If you have extra picky eaters and want to omit the mushrooms and onions add an additional 1/2 cup of broth. This will replace the moisture from the mushrooms and onions.
- You could always add more vegetables such as peas, corn, broccoli, bell peppers, green chiles and the like.
- Rotini pasta is another go-to pasta that can be used to substitute the penne pasta. If anything, use whatever you have in your pantry. Egg noodles can be used, though you have to be EXTRA careful not to overcook.
- You can use Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, or even dried basil! Make the dish your own with your favorite spices.
How to make Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Penne
Step One: Add the cream of chicken soup to the slow cooker with the chicken broth. Mix until smooth. Add the mushrooms, diced onion, tarragon, and pepper and mix again.
Step Two: Place the chicken breast on top of that.
Step Three: Cook on LOW for 6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time. Just before the cooking time is up, boil your water, then cook the pasta to Al Dente. Shred the chicken with two forks right in the slow cooker.
Step Four: Add the sour cream and half the cheese. Stir.
Step Five: – Add the cooked and drained pasta to the slow cooker. Stir gently.
Step Six: Sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
My Serving Ideas
We make this pasta often. Here is how we serve it:
- This slow cooker meal can be served as-is because it provides plenty of heartiness with the pasta, chicken, and cheese.
- You can also serve it with garlic bread or another bread of your choice.
- This pasta also pairs well with a small side salad or another green vegetable, such as steamed broccoli.
- As for toppings, you can’t go wrong with adding extra shredded cheese or going for some shredded Parmesan cheese.
Featured Comment
“Just made it again for the umpteenth time. A crowd pleaser!“
– Kent
Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Penne
How to Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ 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, thyme or Italian seasoning here.
- 1 ½ 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!
Sarah’s Notes
- If you have extra picky eaters and want to omit the mushrooms and onions add an additional 1/2 cup of broth. This will replace the moisture from the mushrooms and onions.
- You could always add more vegetables such as peas, corn, broccoli, bell peppers, green chiles and the like.
- Rotini pasta is another go-to pasta that can be used to substitute the penne pasta. If anything, use whatever you have in your pantry. Egg noodles can be used, though you have to be EXTRA careful not to overcook.
- You can use Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, or even dried basil! Make the dish your own with your favorite spices.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Recipe adapted from the oven recipe at Food.com
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I bought everything but the mushrooms! Can I use canned mushrooms or should I just leave them out?
I make this often without because I always forget. It’s fine without!
Great recipe. I made it exactly except I didn’t have ziti, I had shells, which was fine. I’d definitely make this again with ziti.
can we do 4 hours in slower cooker on high?
Yes! Will work fine.
Absolutely delicious. Will definitely make it again
Can you freeze leftovers?
Yes! I think they would do fine.
Can this be made without sour cream and mushrooms?
Yes, should be fine!
thank you!
My family loves the recipe, even my super picky 8 year old and the even pickier 2 year old! It gets made every few weeks
Sarah, I have never been crazy about penne pasta! Are we driving you crazy yet??? There’s a couple of others I love to use such as farfalle, wheels, and radiatore. Of course, then we have rottini, broad egg noodles and the list goes on. Which do you think may sub for the penne nicely? Other than the penne, I am not going to change a thing. Sounds delicious as it is.
Thanks for the help!
Sharon
You can use any pasta! Just beware of cheap egg noodles, they can break apart very easy in crock pot recipes. I farfalle or rotini would work great!
YUM! Thanks for your reply.
Alright, I chose mini wheels for the pasta, and shame on me I didn’t have two cans of cream of chicken soup so used one can of chicken soup and one can of cream of celery! Smells wonderful! Did a little taste test and it was really good!
I am not a fan of most herbs, especially do not like Italian herbs or seasoning. What can I add instead or should I just totally leave that part out? Will it be way to bland? I’m really looking forward to trying this, I think even my picky son will eat it!
I think it will be fine!
I made this and it’s a keeper. I wonder if ot could be cooked in the instapot if a faster time is needed?
Thanks for all your great recipes!
I’m wondering the same thing with the IP. I would imagine you would want to cook the chicken first, put it in the pot with the noodles on top, and then cover with broth or water and the soup, cook on high pressure for about 4-5 minutes, quick release and then add the sour cream and cheese at the end. That’s just my thought, but I wouldn’t want to ruin a yummy looking dinner with my experiment!