Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta
1,838 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.
Made this for my husband on a super cold night with some breadsticks. He loved it! I agree that it was tangy but it wasn’t so much so that I disliked it. So dang easy and if the hubby likes it that’s all that matters! Thank you! 🙂
Not sure why this has such negative reviews. Of course it is going to be tangy,it’s Italian dressing!!
We love it in our house,absolutely delicious and I don’t change a thing from the original recipe.
Its good but too dry and does not take like Olive Garden.
It was fairly good but disappointed that the vinegar in the Italian dressing didn’t cook out much. I had to tame it down some with a bottled alfredo sauce which my husband doesn’t like very well but neither one of us like a lot of vinegar. Having said that, we still ate quite a bit of it. Wish there was a lower calorie version perhaps without the cream cheese? I served it over capunti pasta.
Maybe try low fat Cream cheese? Serve with lentil noodles for extra protien!
This is loved.
I’ve been curious about adding the noodles about an hour before serving instead of boiling. Do you think that would work?
It’s in the crockpot right now to serve at lunch. I’ve made this often.
I make things according to directions the first time always. I’ve never veered from this – it’s perfect as is.
Note: If it’s rated after all the changes people make, it is no longer your recipe being rated.
Hi! The slow cooker doesn’t get hot enough to cook the pasta right, it turns to chalk.
You cook the pasta on the stove..It’s awesome..
My family loved it
I tried this for the first time today. Fantastic added some 5 cheese italian shredded cheese.
One of the worst things I’ve tried. Tasted nothing but Italian dressing. Just terrible. Threw the entire batch out
I doubled everything except the dressing & used mozzarella instead of Parmesan. My family is requesting it weekly!
So I wanted something different in a crock pot recipe so decided to try . I read some reviews and tweeked the recipe as suggested adding cream cheese, sour cream, chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. I don’t like a lot of tang so I only added half the bottle of Olive Garden dressing. Even with the changes my family were not fans. It was edible and we did eat for dinner and a small bit for lunch the next day but that was it even tho we still had more left. The recipe was way too salty, no many cheese flavors with the cream cheese and Parmesan and cream chicken soup …. did taste like a chain restaurant dish but not home cooking. Will not make again . I gave it two stars because we did eat it but the rest is going to our dogs ….
Im not surprised you didn’t like it since you added ever suggestion you read to your crock pot. You should’ve just reduced the amount of dressing if tanginess isn’t your thing.
It was not edible