Slow Cooker Chicken with Bacon Gravy
266 Comments Jan 14, 2024
Updated Aug 08, 2024
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Made with chicken breasts, crispy bacon, and chicken gravy mix, this Slow Cooker Chicken with Bacon Gravy is a delicious, one-pot substitute for a restaurant-style dinner. It’s packed with so much flavor, that your family is sure to request this comfort food more often.
Serve this delicious meal alongside a generous helping of Slow Cooker Sour Cream and Onion Mashed Potatoes and Slow Cooker Green Beans.
Table of Contents
Why you should try this chicken with creamy bacon gravy recipe
You may have seen my other recipe for slow cooker chicken and gravy. It has always been a great basic recipe for adding extra ingredients to, 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.
Although I can’t do crispy chicken in the slow cooker, I sure can do the chicken and bacon gravy! I’ve found this chicken and gravy recipe to be super easy to make, especially with minimal ingredients. The prep time is quick and the cooking time is perfect for yielding fork tender chicken. My family loved this restaurant-style rendition of smothered chicken with creamy gravy – yours will too!
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts: Boneless skinless chicken breasts are the best option to use for this recipe both for cooking evenly and shredding easily.
- Chicken Gravy: You’ll need two packets of chicken gravy dry mix.
- Bacon: Sliced and cooked.
- Seasonings: Pepper, dried thyme, and minced garlic (or garlic powder) are the only seasonings you need for an amazing taste.
- Water: Mixed with the chicken gravy.
- Heavy Cream: This is added at the end as a thickening agent. You can use light cream or even half and half.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the pepper, thyme, garlic, and cooked crispy bacon.
Step Two – In a small bowl mix together the gravy mix packet and the 1¼ cup water until smooth.
Step Three – Pour the gravy over the chicken.
Step Four – 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, shred the chicken with 2 forks.
Step Five – Add the heavy cream.
Step Six – Give everything a good stir and serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or a side of your choice. Enjoy!
How to serve
- This delicious chicken and gravy can be served over a bed of rice, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles.
- If you want to pair it with sides, I recommend green beans, roasted carrots, or a baked potato.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Just make sure they are boneless and skinless for the best results.
Yes. The gravy thickens during the cooking process. If you want it thicker, you can make a thickening slurry with flour and water or milk. Add the flour mixture after or with the heavy cream.
Place any remaining chicken and gravy in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. When ready to re-enjoy the leftovers, they can be warmed up over medium heat. This meal can also be frozen.
I don’t advise on frozen chicken for some studies suggest that it isn’t safe.
I have not personally tried it, but a reader did, and this is what she said: “I did the recipe as normal, on high pressure for 7 mins, and it came out fine! Not quite as flavourful as when done in the slow cooker but definitely a great option for when you need it in a hurry!”
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken
- Slow Cooker Seasoning Chicken, Potatoes and Green Beans
- Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Gravy
- 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
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!
How to Video
Sarah’s Notes
- Place any remaining chicken and gravy in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. When you’re ready to re-enjoy the leftovers, they can be warmed up over medium heat. This meal can also be frozen.
- Chicken thighs can be used instead of chicken breasts, just make sure they are boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
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!!!