This Slow Cooker Chicken with Bacon gravy is wonderful served over mashed potatoes!
You may have seen my other recipe for chicken and gravy. It’s always been a great basic recipe for adding extra ingredients to. I’ve had readers add potatoes, carrots and even mushrooms, but never bacon. The idea for this recipe came to me when I had a delicious crispy breaded chicken with bacon gravy the other night at our favorite restaurant, though I can’t do crispy chicken in the slow cooker I sure can do the chicken and bacon gravy!
I start with chicken breasts, pepper, thyme, garlic and of course bacon.
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Then I add 2 packets of chicken gravy and water. Note that I do not use all the water that the packets call for, I use 1 1/4 cups instead of the 2 cups. The reason being is the chicken will let off liquid and I will be adding cream after the chicken has finished cooking.
Below is what the chicken and gravy looks like after cooking for 3.5 hours on high.
Then I add heavy cream and shred the chicken with 2 forks.
I serve this with mashed potatoes and green beans. The gravy is very creamy and has a smoky flavor from the bacon.
Here is my YouTube video of the making of this meal, very easy to make! You can follow me on YouTube here.
This would be good over rice too! I hope you like this recipe and give it a try. I will be back on Monday with another great recipe.
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 6 slices bacon, sliced and cooked
- 2 (0.87-oz.) packets chicken gravy dry mix
- 1¼ cup water <<<<< that's all, not the amount of water the gravy packets say
- ⅔ cup heavy cream (ADD AT THE END)
- 3-quart or larger
- Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the pepper, thyme, garlic and bacon.
- In a small bowl mix together the gravy mix packet and the 1¼ cup water until smooth. Pour the gravy over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 3.5 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- When the cooking time is done, add the heavy cream. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and give everything a gentle stir until the gravy and the cream are mixed.
- Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.
- Enjoy!
I used my 6.5 quart Touch Screen Crock-Pot® for this recipe. Though a 3-quart or larger can be used just fine.
You may also like: Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken with Veggies
Sounds great. I think it would be good over noodles.
Also. you have the 6 slices of bacon listed twice in the recipe.
Thanks for all the great recipes.
Can we cook the bacon or leave it raw an put it in there and let it cook wit the chicken
It will make the sauce very greasy if left raw, browning it adds more flavor to the gravy.
What chicken gravy do you buy? I see it’s yellow but most are brown gravy ?????
It’s chicken gravy, not brown 🙂 And I believe that was Walmart brand.
I live in Cambodia, so have no access to Walmart. Is the gravy a stock cube or one of the self thickening oneso
The gravy packets we have here are flavored and they thicken up with water.
Looks amazing, I make dinner for my folks and this on the menu for this week! I wanted to know if there was a way to make it for more people, we usually have at least 6 people at dinner, so I’m crossing my fingers there is a way. Love your recipes, thanks for sharing.
Just double the recipe
This is a very good tasting recipe. The only thing I changed was I made sure that the gravy packet was from McCormick Shilling as there is no MSG in that product. I am highly allergic to MSG to where it can hospitalize me. Thanks for another great recipe.
This sounds delicious! I will be trying it over this weekend. Thanks for all the good recipes that you share on here.
This looks and sounds incredible!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
Awesome recipe! The fussiest member in the house (toddler) loved it and ate all of her dinner 🙂 I replaced heavy cream with coconut cream and added 2tbsp of cornflour (cause I added too much water). Still turned out great. Thank you!
Coconut Cream sounds delicious…
This looks so good…..bacon-gravy! Yum! Does the bacon keep its crispness? So many times it does get wimpy after cooking in a liquid. Thanks for any help.
It does get wimpy but has great flavor and not fatty feeling if you know what I mean. You could save half the bacon to put on as a topping at the end though.
Thank you so much for your reply! It helped immensely. Have a fun weekend!
Can I make this with a crockpot
Do you think you could cook on low for 7 hours? Or will it not come out the same
I’m thinking it would be fine! Let me know how it works for you.
Do you cook bacon then add to crockpot ? Or slice and allow to cook while in crockpot ? I do not like crunchy bacon this is why I’m asking !
I cook it in a skillet on the stove top, then add it to the slow cooker. It won’t be crunchy after the cooking time in the slow cooker. 🙂
Just made this for dinner, it was delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe!!
Thanks for coming back and letting me know how you liked it! It made my day!
What gravy mix does everyone use for this recipe?
I used Walmart brand, only because McCormick was out of stock. Still turned out great.
I prefer McCormick as it is without MSG… came out great…
This recipe looks amazing! Just a quick question – can I substitute the chicken gravy with chicken stock pots? Thank you x
I don’t think the results of this recipe would be the same with that modification, but it’s always fun to try your own thing with recipes, it may be great.
Thank you x I will try my instant chicken gravy and will let you know the outcome. UK products are quite different.
Could I use cream of chicken soup instead of the gravy mix?
You could, maybe 2 cans and little to no water.
Don’t like to use packets or cans of anything. Prefer all natural, made from scratch. So – once again, I’m out of here…
Great!
I agree wholeheartedly! We are surrounded by so much negativity and ugliness that we do not need anymore. Kristin could have commented on substitutions for the “… packets or cans or anything” or just said nothing at all. Your recipe looks delicious, and I will be trying it very soon! Many thanks.
Thank you Lawanda! 🙂
Sara, I agree whole heartedly I get really ticked off when people use these cooking/recipe sites as a platform to spew negativity just to make themselves seem healthier then most!, I’m constantly replying to there negativity and calling them out, there so self absorbed, Anyway Thankyou for the recipe I will be trying this tomorrow nite for dinner I’ll be having porkchops smothered in Mustard and breadcrumbs with baked red potatoes and asparagus tonight!!!
Kristin there are so many site’s that would satisfy your needs. Everything is not for everyone. Yet. The majority if us here are thankful. Regardless. So maybe once and for all. You’re out. Thank.
Kristin – it would have been very simple to just say something helpful to those of us who try and skip the packets…like “instead of using gravy mix I used chicken stock, seasonings and cornstarch”.
Being helpful…novel idea. LOL
Thanks for the recipe Sarah! I never would have thought of the chicken / bacon / cream combo for slow cooking. Yummo.
Hey, Kristin…
I’ll bet it’s hard to take a dump with your head in the way.
https://m.popkey.co/00bc96/EpK0l.gif
What kind of. heavy cream? I wanna make this but never used heavy cream before
Hi Tasha. It’s near the milk and half and half at the store. It should say heavy cream or heavy whipping cream.
Can anything else be substituted for heavy cream?? I’m dairy free and don’t know if there’s anything else for me. . Thanks
how about dairy free sour cream? I think that would make it creamy.
You can get lactose free heavy cream usually where other creams are in the supermarket
That’s what I’m trying tonight
Everything came out good. I modified step 2 to mix the gravy in a bowl rather than the suggested “box”. Lol
Excellent meal the entire family love it.
Good choice Gary! I changed my recipe to mixing in a bowl, instead of a box LOL. Thanks for letting me know. Too funny!
I used a measurement shaker cup with lid to mix the gravy packets and water. The powdered gravy mix was lumpy otherwise.
Hello from Australia….. I have just put this recipe on it looks delish so hopefully in a few hours it will be! I added a leek and have some mushrooms to add 1/2 hour before its cooked……..
Hi, i am wanting to do this recipe , just wondering what chicken gravy mix did you use and where did you buy it from? i presume this is an american receipe? ta
Only change I would make is loose the chicken gravy because of the MSG in it and substitute Healthy Request Cream of Chicken soup instead. Otherwise this is a great recipe. When you are MSG intolerant – you have no choice.
McCormick gravy mix has no MSG
Could you use creme fresh instead of heavy cream or natural fromage frais
Soooooooooooooo Yummy
To serve 8, double everything?
I think that would work good.
HI made this last night and it was yummy. Only change I will make next time was that the packet gravy mix I used (a UK brand) was way too salty!! Would change to chicken soup next time. Otherwise a lovely recipe.
Love this recipe! New favorite in our house! I did mess up and only get one gravy mix, but I used a can of Cream of Chicken Soup for the second, and it worked perfect!
that’s a great substitution! Thanks for sharing
Gonna add sun dried tomatoes to mine.
That really sounds good!
How much did you add? Sounds yummy
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breast?
yes! that would be a good substitution.
Thank you for the quick reply. Going to make it tonight. Wife is looking forward to it. Thanks for all your recipes! Love them.
I made this and husband loved it but I think I must have done something wrong it seems the gravy “broke” after I added the cream the sauce was really runny like too watery any ideas what went wrong, I added only the amount of water said in recipe?
The only thing I can think of is maybe your chicken let off a bit more liquid after the cream was stirred in? I’m sorry that happened.
Hi Sarah! I made your recipe a few days ago, and it was just as I expected, so yummy! My guys gobbled it up. I am making Swedish meatballs tomorrow. Do you think I could use the same ingredients you used to make the gravy, only substituting brown gravy mix and water, and sour cream instead of the cream? Many thanks!
Hi LaWanda! Yes I think that would work fine! I have a beef stroganoff recipe that I do that with.
I made this today and it’s good but the thyme is too overpowering. Still good but maybe I will try a different brand of dried thyme next time or maybe 1/2tsp. Mine was from a fruit and veggie market and seemed too powerful! Thx
was it ground thyme? That would make it too strong.
This was absolutely delicious! A tiny bit too salty so I will look for low sodium items for making it in the future or see what else I can do about the salt. Had over egg noodles since I did not have potatoes or boxed potatoes on hand. I definitely shared my experience and the link on facebook and I hope to try more recipes after finally pulling my crock pot out of storage to try this. Thanks!
That’s great! Thank you for your feedback.
My first try is cooking right now. But, I will be serving it over Bisquick biscuits hot from the oven.
hope you made the 7-up bisquick biscuits so much better then the regular recipe on box. if you aren’t familiar with this recipe just Google 7-up bisquick biscuits and you’ll find the recipe
I only have chicken legs, will they work. Maybe at the time you shred the breast I would take them off the bone? Would the cook time be the same? Thanks, Debbie
I think the same amount of cook time would be good. Yes shred them at the end of the cooking time. Sounds great!
Thank you for getting back so quickly! I don’t know how many times I’ve asked questions about a recipe that I wanted to make that day and never heard back.
Did anyone try slow cooking on low for 7/8 hours yet? I want to start this and go to work. I’m worried if it will come out the same. Help!
Hi there. Sounds great! Has anyone every added frozen veggies (broccoli or peas)? If you have or not, at what time should they be added?
Peas would only take a minute or too to thaw at the end in the gravy. Broccoli I would add the last hour and a half.
That sounds gooood!
cooled on low for 6 hours and turned out amazing! So good!
Thanks for letting us know how it did on low for you! That’s great to hear!
Do you have the nutritional value for the chicken and bacon gravy recipe? It would be helpful if you could list nutritional values when you post recipes. Your recipes are always good. Thank you.
Hi Ann,
I don’t post the nutritional values since every brand has different stats. This is high in calories and sodium for sure.
Trying this tonight. It sounds amazing (and smells amazing!). I tweak all recipes so to this one I sautéed some peas and carrots, in the pan that I drained the bacon grease from, then added to the crockpot about 30 minutes before we ate. Yum.
Such a great idea! I may have to try that.
Sorry I didn’t see anyone mention using frozen chicken? Would that be doable?
I would add a touch more time if it was me. Other than that I don’t see why not!
Could half and half be used?
Yes, but it won’t be as thick. Heavy cream is a lot thicker than half and half. 🙂
can this be cooked in a normal oven
I haven’t tried, I don’t see why not though!
I think it could, though I have not tried. Let us know how it turns out for you!
How much heavy cream do you use?
2/3 cup. It’s on the recipe 🙂
Making this tonight 🙂 saw your video on facebook and thought it looked yummy♡
Great! I think you’ll love it!
Any suggestions on what I can substitute for the whipping cream? I have one who is dairy free, everything else is perfect for her and I know she would love it!
Is there such thing as dairy free sour cream? Or maybe vegan sour cream. I think that would help make the gravy creamier.
Could I use frozen chicken breast? and if so what would the cooking time be?
I’d say about 30 minutes more.
Hi what would happen if I omit the cream, is it nessesary?
You would need to add a touch more water, It will be too salty and thick without the cream or more liquid of some kind.
Can you use light heavy cream?
Your gravy will be thinner if you use that, but yes it will work. 🙂
Does it have to be chicken gravy. Or can you use any gravy
Any gravy packet that is the same size will work! I’ve done turkey for this recipe, and have used brown when I do beef stroganoff.
Can I use chicken stock instead of the gravy?
it will be watery, and not gravy like at all. Yes you can but it would be something entirely different.
I just made this and it was amazing! Will definitely be making it again!
Hi Sarah. I’m in Australia too and I really want to try the recipe. Can you tell me which brand of chicken gravy you used? I’m not that familiar with that product. I know Gravox has some in cans but I wouldn’t know how much to use if I bought the gravy powder in a can. Does it come in packets? Any help would be welcome. Thanks!
I usually use McCormick gravy packets. I believe the size is .87 ounces.
Thanks Sarah. Making it today!
Could I cook this on low for about 8 hours while at work all day?
My original chicken and gravy recipe I used to cook for 8 hours on low. This one has a little less liquid, I would add a touch more water if I was to cook this recipe for 8 hours.
Made for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Served over mashed potatoes with a salad on the side. Quick and easy, definitely going into my rotation. I was in desperate need of a new dinner recipe!
What the best chicken gravy to use?
This looks delish. I’m planning to put it over biscuits like a dinner version of biscuits and gravy. Thanks.
I made this early last week and it was a hit. I did do a few minor changes to the recipe though. First, I used frozen chicken thighs instead of breasts and didn’t shred them at the end but left them whole. Lastly, I changed the cook time as my slow cooker does things a LOT faster than most.
I cooked the boneless skinless chicken thighs for 3.5 hours on low and then warm the rest of the day I was at work (6.5 hours roughly). Next, I added the cream and changed it back to low while I cooked the rice.
My slow cooker must be quite warm as almost every recipe I find on this site (which I enjoy) I cook on low for roughly the time it says instead of high. I find that frozen chicken thighs in my cooker are nice and juicy yet fully cooked in about 3.5-4 hours on low plus 6-6.5 hours on warm. Chicken breasts I have not found good time yet. They almost always turn out to be overcooked and very dry.
A different recipe I tried that I found online (different site) turned my chicken to sawdust even with a lot of sauce. It was unedible :(.
thanks for letting us know how it worked for you. I bet it was good with thighs!
Made this with the addition of half a diced onion and some sliced mushrooms. Served over mashed potatoes with green beans on the side and we loved it. Cooking time was right on. Thanks!
Great additions Toni! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I made this for dinner tonight. I added chicken broth instead of water, the full 2 cups in the directions from the gravy packet, and half of a white onion. I also went a little heavier with the seasonings. I thickened just before serving with a little flour/water mixture. Delicious! We will definitely have this one again soon. Served over mashed potatoes with parmesan zucchini sticks on the side.
I love your version Linda, thanks for sharing!
Could I prep this and put it in the freezer? if so, do I need to leave anything out?
I think this would be fine in the freezer, definitely leave out the cream until you cook it, that’s my only thought!
May seem like a silly question, but do you know a estimated count on calories for this meal?
Not a silly question at all! But I do not have that info.
So excited to try this tonight, i only havefrozen chicken breast what would your recommend cooking wise? Or should i jusy go buyy fresh?
I think it would be fine, just keep the lid on the entire time.
I’m going to make this tomorrow using frozen bone in chicken breast. I probably will set the timer for 9 hours. I like the peas and carrot sautéed in the bacon grease idea.
I followed this exact recipe and used my instapot on high pressure poultry setting and it was excellent! Thank you!
Hi. I made this tonight for dinner. My twin sister shared this recipe with me giving it excellent reviews. I’m really looking forward you it. My question is, I’m counting calories so please forgive me, how many calories would be in a serving? And how much is a serving?
Hi Cheryl, I do not have that info. So sorry!
Very yummy!! The only change I made was I added some sun dried tomatoes. Tired out great! Thanks for the recipe!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!! My husband is Gluten Free, so instead of using a gravy packet, I used gluten free bouillon cubes and mixed it with corn starch. Turned out great! Ate it over mashed potatoes w/green beans on the side….Yummy 🙂
We substituted riced cauliflower with fresh parm and sour cream for the mashed potatoes or rice. More carb friendly and just as delicious! Awesome recipe! Thanks!
Oh. My. Goodness.
So I made this a few weeks ago in the crock pot per instructions and it was SO good! I caught both of our cats licking our plates! My husband ate it up and requested it again.
I’m making it again tonight but I’m doing it in the pressure cooker as I’m short on time. I’ve consistently gotten good results when making slow cooker recipes in my pressure cooker.
I like to put the potatoes in with the chicken, let them cook in the delicious gravy, then take them out before adding the cream and whipping them with my hand mixer.
Next to pot roast, pulled pork and good ole fashioned steak, this has become one of our favorite meals.
I made this for dinner the other night. It turned out OK, not raving good, like a lot of the comments. It lacked something, not flavorful enough. It took a while to shred the chicken too. My husband did not like the bacon. We had it over biscuits. Not yummy enough to make again.
I don’t know if anyone else has done this (I can’t read all of the comments), but I woke up late yesterday, realized my chicken was still partially frozen, and realized I had no potatoes to make mashed potatoes with. So I came home from work, put the chicken in a 13×9 (thawed now), sprinkled the pepper and thyme over it, poured the gravy mix and bacon over it, and baked it at 375 for 45 minutes (I covered it with tin foil for the first 30 minutes). I made rice but burned it (oops), so I served it over gnocchi. Oh my word. SOOOO GOOD. I probably gained 5 pounds eating it but it was SOOO worth it. My picky eater ate THREE BOWLS. This is going in the rotation for special occasions! (I would eat the whole pot by myself, so I probably shouldn’t have it that often– trying to lose a few pounds.) It was awesome.
I made this with boneless thighs in the oven. 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Turned out fantastic. I also used precooked bacon pieces.
Thank you so much for letting us know!
Made this with Country gravy instead of chicken gravy, Came out good but I will add probably a 1/4 cup more water next time.
How much salt and pepper? Just enough to taste?
1/4 tsp. pepper, no salt needed in this recipe. Plenty in the gravy packets.
I didn’t have any cooked up bacon,,so I just added bacon grease to the crockpot…also, instead of the cream at the end, I used 8 Oz of cream cheese instead….I will make this again, thank you
Hi! I’ve had this recipe saved forever and just saw it again! I want to make it for dinner but I never have heavy cream. Any suggestions on a substitute like cubes of cream cheese or sour cream? Thanks in advance! 🙂
Either would work fine!
This was super tasty! Used sour cream in place of the cream and topped with a good squeeze of lemon juice. A perfect contrast that had my whole family going back for more. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
I love the idea of doing sour cream! I do that with a similar dish with beef. Thanks for the tips.
I made this on a day that I was sick with a horrible cold and didn’t want to spend much time preparing a meal. I used the bacon pieces in the salad dressing isle so I wouldn’t have to deal with frying bacon and cleaning up that mess. I also used the Bob Evans mashed potatoes that are ready in 5 min. It was quick, easy and we all enjoyed it. I put 4 chicken breasts in and there wasn’t much gravy to go over the mashed potatoes but it was still good. Next time I will use 3 chicken breasts.
Any idea on nutritional facts?
Can I use canned chicken gravy instead of dry powered packets ?! I hope it works lol it’s all in the crock pot already lol…used two can of chicken gravy so we’ll see how it works lol thanks for the recipe!!!! Can’t wait to try it!!!!
I made this for tonight’s dinner and served it over rice with some mixed veggies on the side. super yummy! my bf cleaned his plate, definitely making again 🙂
Maybe I missed it in comments, but how is this KETO, if poured over rice or mashed potatoes?
I never said it was keto. Another website deemed it was and is linking here. Gravy packets are loaded with carbs too.
Would it work the same if I used chicken broth instead of the same amount of water?
Yes! would be fine, but would be more salty
Way too much thyme. Half or less would probably work.
Did you use leaf or ground? Ground would be too strong for this.
Can you do this with frozen chicken and if so how would I adjust the recipe and the cooking time?
thank you.
I would do 4 hours on high
How would you time this too cook in an instant pot? 20-25 minutes.
I have not tried, sorry. But that seems right if I was going to test it out.
I want to make about 8 servings do I just double everything?
Yes! that should work fine
I just had this and it was excellent!! I wouldn’t change a thing. Has anyone tried mixing everything (except the cream) together in the raw state and freezing it for a quick weekly meal?
My husband is a picky eater. He questioned the the recipe but decided to try it. I did it tonight for our 8 year anniversary and he loved it. We both think this would be good over either rotini or penne pastas. Also he’s suggested taking out the gravy and pouring alfredo over it and pouring over fetuccini, I’ll let you know when we try it that way 😉 We paired it with some sparkling grape juice (white for me, red for him) and corn and poured it over mashed potatoes. 5 out of 5 stars from both of us!
So glad you two enjoyed it and I love your serving suggestions.
Thank you so much for this recipe! My picky 7 year old absolutely loves this and it’s been in our rotation for a few months now. We serve it with green beans and potatoes as well. I like to add mushrooms to it, super delicious! I have a few other recipes of yours that i want to try, I’ve bookmarked at least 6! 🙂
I’m so glad to hear this Jessica, glad to have you here!
I only had one packet of gravy so I substituted 2 cans of cream of chicken soup as suggested with half of a can of water and it came out wonderful! It is now one of my favorites
That’s great! Thanks for letting us know that tip!
Could yu double the recipe
I used black pepper bacon and also put a few tablespoons of some left over apricot preserves I had from topping a cheesecake…..sounds weird I know but I like to improvise……it’s starting to smell really good….thanks for the recipe
I’ve made this several times and I love it! I did make one small change; I carmelize a small handful of diced sweet yellow onion in the bacon fat and toss that in with the rest of the ingredients. Yum! I plan to try it in the Instant Pot next.