Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta
1,842 CommentsUpdated Jan 18, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Use Olive Garden Italian Dressing to make this Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta! It’s a creamy pasta dish that has so much flavor.
We love easy pasta dishes for the crockpot! Try my Baked Spaghetti, Feta and Tomato Pasta, or Beef Stroganoff recipes too!
I found this recipe in my Facebook group and had to try it out! You can make this Olive Garden Chicken with or without the pasta! Serve over rice or just with green steamed vegetables.
How to make Olive Garden Chicken Pasta in the Crockpot:
- Add chicken breasts to the slow cooker.
- Pour over one 16-ounce jar of Olive Garden Italian Dressing (or any Italian dressing you have on hand.
- Shake over grated parmesan cheese and ground pepper. Add one block of cream cheese.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or low for 5-6.
- Shred the chicken with two forks right in the slow cooker.
- Cook 16 ounces of pasta according to the package directions on the stove-top. I am using penne pasta for this recipe.
- Add the drained pasta to the slow cooker along with the sauce and shredded chicken, stir.
- Sprinkle over more parmesan cheese if desired. I also garnished with a touch of oregano and black pepper.
Can I serve this chicken with something other than pasta?
- Serve over rice.
- Or with steamed vegetables.
Must I use cream cheese?
You can leave it out or add a cup of heavy cream at the end of cooking time is desired. Though the sauce will be thinner.
Does this taste like chicken alfredo?
This Olive Garden Chicken Pasta is thick and creamy like alfredo but has a zesty Italian dressing flavor
What should I serve with olive garden chicken pasta?
Chose one or more of these great dishes to go along with this dish:
- Olive Garden Salad – Recipe by The Cookie Rookie
- Olive Garden Bread Sticks – Recipe by Lil Luna (or buy them premade, I get mine at Safeway)
- Slow Cooker Copycat Gnocchi Soup
- Slow Cooker Copycat Zuppa Toscana
- Slow Cooker Copycat Minestrone – Recipe by Tammilee Tips
Want to make more magic in your crockpot? Stay up to date and subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.
Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta
How to Video
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, (1.5-2 pounds works fine)
- 16 oz. Olive Garden Italian dressing, (or any Italian dressing you like) Note- olive garden dressing is high in sodium and can be salty. Choose a lower sodium dressing if desired.
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 8 oz. cream cheese
Add these items after cooking time is up:
- 16 oz. penne pasta, cooked according to package directions and drain well
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker.
- Pour over the Olive Garden Italian dressing and sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and pepper.
- Place the cream cheese on top.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 5-6 hours.
- When the cooking time is almost done, start cooking the pasta on the stove top as directed on the package.
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks. Drain the pasta and add to the chicken and sauce. Stir. Sprinkle over the remaining parmesan cheese.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
I love this recipe with no changes. Thank you!
I followed the instructions as written and my family absolutely loved this meal. It’s delicious. My kids are always asking me when I’m making this dinner again. Definitely will be on a regular rotation. I used Great Value Traditional Italian dressing. It tastes great.
I made this today, but instead of Italian dressing I used Olive Garden Parmesan Ranch. We will see if it works. I added fresh Parmesan and Romano cheese Will shred fresh mozzarella last 1/2 hour.
Would love to know how this came out. I thought about trying this but was hesitant. Many thanks!
Like others, I didn’t totally love it the first time, but my family did. For me, the tang was too much. Didn’t want to give up on it, so took another commenters idea to half the dressing and substitute the other 8 oz with cream of something. I had cream of mushroom in the pantry, so that’s what I used. That did the trick for me to tone down the tang. This is a great easy recipe, especially for those sports practice nights when everyone comes home hangry and you just want something ready to go.
I made this just as directed. I added mushrooms and I believe that helped to absorb the extra sodium people have complained about. Everyone agreed to add this to our rotation. I also chose to place it over rice instead of pasta.
Ahhhmaziing!!!!
The dressing was a little overpowering. Very salty. I’m thinking a combination of less dressing and something elseto knock down the salt would be better.
My family loved this meal! The only thing I changed was only adding 1/2 of Italian dressing to cut the sodium. This is going on list to do often in our house. Thank you
I followed the recipe exactly with one change: I sliced the 8 ounce block of cream cheese into thirds instead of leaving it in one big chunk. After 4 hours on High, the cream cheese never melted. It was soft but still in the chunks. I then stirred the cream cheese into the mixture, and it never broke down, just stayed in pieces. The cream cheese was not old; I purchased it the day before making this. It was full fat, not low fat. Why did this happen and what should I do? I haven’t tasted it yet.
I used Walmart brand Creamy Caesar dressing and a half cup of onion dip because I didn’t have cream cheese. It was delicious! Not too salty (I’m not a fan of salt) instead it had a great vinegary tang. My husband loved it and so did I I served over angel hair pasta, next time I’m going to use a denser pasta like linguine, fettuccine or bowtie pasta. Serve with a garden salad or a tomato basil salad for a delicious meal.