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!
How to make Slow Cooker Chicken with Bacon Gravy:
I start with chicken breasts, pepper, thyme, garlic and of course bacon.
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 the liquid and I will be adding the 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.
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy (without bacon)
- Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken
- Slow Cooker Seasoning Chicken, Potatoes and Green Beans
- Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken and Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken with Rice
- Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Fajitas
- Slow Cooker Alpine Chicken
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Slow Cooker Chicken with Bacon Gravy
Equipment Needed:
- Slow Cooker Size: 3-quart or larger
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 6 slices bacon sliced and cooked
- 1.74 oz. chicken gravy dry mix packets (2 PACKETS that are .87 oz. each)
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 2/3 cup heavy cream ADD AT THE END
Instructions:
- 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 or on LOW for 6 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!
can you use chicken thighs with this rather than the breast meat?
Yes, those work great.
Do I have to use heavy cream? Can I use either single cream or a Greek yoghurt?
I’d use single cream. Greek yogurt turns to water in recipes I’ve noticed.
Made this tidy it was delicious and super easy to make. Sharing with my family I know they will enjoy. Thank you for providing the receipe
Could I use 3 thin frozen chicken breast? Do I still cook on high for 4 hours?
Hi! I don’t give advice on frozen chicken. There are studies that it isn’t safe to cook frozen meat in the slow cooker.
Can I add mushrooms to this and when should I add them?
I would add them at the beginning.
We are a family of 7 now ( my husband recently passed away & he was the cook in the family) so I am new to cooking. How much more of each ingredient will I need to make this for my family?!?
Hi Li! I’m so sorry! I would double this recipe (cooking time remains the same). Then you should have plenty for your family.
If I double the chicken, should I double the rest of the ingredients?
I would if you want enough gravy for the chicken or use 1/2 more of the gravy ingredients.
This was an awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing. Will make again and again, so easy!
Making this now does the cooked bacon not get soggy being in there for 31/2 hours
Yes it gets soggy.
I just reread the receipe to not open the lid and I have a few times to stir it will that be ok and not mess with how it tastes
Yes it will be fine. You may need to add a splash of water later if it’s too thick.
We love this recipe
But I can’t get to the shop before dinner
Can I use chicken stock instead of the gravy packets?
Thanks lovely
You will have to thicken at the end with a cornstarch slurry if you do.
Thank you
What stock powder/water ratio would you use please?
Also what cornstarch/water ratio would you use to?
Hi Belinda, it’s hard to say without testing it. You can start slow with the water and cornstarch a tablespoon of each, then add more if needed.
Want to double this recipe… How much longer should I cook it?
I would do 4 hours on high or 7 on low. 🙂
What if all I have are chicken tenders? Would it still work? If so, what would I have to do to adjust it?
They are interchangeable in this recipe. The same cooking time will work great.
I only picked up 1 pack of chicken gravy instead of 2. Do I need to adjust anything else to be able to use the 1 packet?
A little less water
Looks DELICIOUS! Wondering if I could substitute the chicken gravy with cream of chicken soup and a little bit of water…and then adding a cornstarch slurry near the end of cooking. Would that work? If not, what would you recommend. (I don’t generally keep gravy mix on hand and right now stores are a hit and miss with any gravy mixes.)
Yes! That should work fine! Add your cornstarch to a small amount of cold water before adding. Then turn the slow cooker back on until it thickens.
Hey Sarah, each packet calls for 2 cups of water. Do you use 1 1/4 cups for each packet then?
No, only add what the recipe says. The slow cooking adds the extra liquid.
Do you think doing it with frozen chicken would be ok? i know for most crock pot recipes it usually is!
I had 4 frozen chicken breasts and put them in the fridge to thaw. They were still mostly frozen when I used them. I put my pot and put all the ingredients in just like the recipe describes. Then I cooked on high for the first 1-1/2 hours, then switched down to low to finish cooking for the rest of the 6 hours (6 hours in total). Mine turned out perfectly.
Hi, this looks amazing! Question, with all the stores being so lowly stocked right now, I can only find the brown gravy mix. Do you think that could work since there are so many other flavors? Thanks! look forward to trying this….
Yes! Any would work fine, I am having to do that lately too.
On my goodness. This recipe is absolutely amazing. Luckily I decided to double the recipe when I made it. Otherwise there would not have been any leftovers. It was a big hit. I served it over mashed potatoes the first time and rice the second. It is delicious either way. So easy to make and the prep time is so quick. Will definitely be making this on a regular basis. Thanks for a wonderful recipe. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Amazing!! My kids are very picky eaters and they loved it!!!