Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta
1,841 CommentsUpdated Jan 18, 2026
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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
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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.
Can you use low fat alternatives for cream cheese and salad dressing ? Do you think it would affect the flavor/consistency of the dish?
I always say if you usually cook with low fat stuff and you enjoy it then it shouldn’t be a problem taste-wise for you.
What is a serving size? I cup?
1/8 of the recipe. We do not measure for you. I apologize.
I’ve made this a few times, and it’s a hit with my family. I usually add about 1/4-1/2 cup more of grated parmesan than what is written in the recipe, and I also add about 1/2 block of cream cheese when I mix in the pasta at the end. The dish comes out so flavorful. The recipe is awesome as is, but a little liberty with the ingredients goes a long way and also keeps it interesting.
If you’re not a fan of Italian dressing, this recipe might not work for you. My family loves pretty much any type of dressing, and the way the chicken cooks with the dressing and cream cheese makes the dressing not as tangy as Italian dressing normally is. This recipe has a great mix of flavors. I’ve printed out copies of it for some of my friends!
I won’t touch Italian dressing, but this pasta dish is GOOD. I also won’t touch Ranch dressing, but I love chicken chili made with a packet of Ranch dressing. Go figure. LOL
I made a few modifications, as others have recommended. I used 1/2 bottle of OG Italian Dressing, I can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, 12oz Philadelphia cream cheese, I cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and about 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes for a little zing. I used 16oz of cooked ziti. After folding in the pasta, I let it sit for about 10 – 15 min to let the pasta soak up some of the moisture. It turned out FANTASTIC! It did NOT have the “tangy” taste others have complained about. The chicken breasts that I had were huge and seemed to be too much chicken. I think 1 1/4 lb to 1 1/2 chicken would be the perfect amount.
Thank you!
I followed your way just added a half squeezed lemon , half tsp of lemon pepper and used Penne pasta along with your exact directions to die for good!! As I love flavor my husband is weird with it so I knew cream of mushroom and half the dressing would be perfect and it was thank you
I also used a mix of shredded parm, and Asiago cheese
thank you! It was waaaaaay too Italian dressing-ish for me (although my husband loved it) and I thought about using chicken stock or cream of mushroom to tone it down. I think I should use more chicken as well.
i liked it
Made this, and it was delicious.
Nasty, could not eat
I made it today and liked but probably won’t make it “zesty” next time.
Can you use Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese?
We did not care for this. It just tasted awful. I
followed the recipe exactly, except I used rotini as the pasta. I feel guilty for having wasted the chicken breast.
Way too salty for my taste., I should have read the comments before I made it.
Why was it salty, I wonder? Maybe provolone/Romano cheeses instead of all parm?
the Olive Garden Dressing, the entire bottle has over 7500mg of salt. I used Paul newmans and it was AMAZING