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
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!
How to Video:
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Liz says
I love this. My few changes I found low sodium Olive garden Italian dressing. I didn’t add the extra parmesan at the end. My husband likes mozzarella soni added it to his plate. Served on top of broccoli. Yummy. It was pretty easy also. At the end before the noodles I turned the crockpot on high to melt the cream cheese better. When noodles were done cheese was softer and melted better with noodles. Thank you.
Jen says
I’d love to add broccoli to this dish while it cooked but when would be the best time to add it so it cooks well and soaks up the flavors of the dressing and cheese?
Sarah Olson says
I would do the last hour.
Becca says
What is a serving size? I love that you have the nutritional facts but I am not see what serving size equals your specific facts
Thanks!
Sarah Olson says
I do not have that info I apologize.
Jen says
It says at the top that it serves 8. So once it is broken down to eight servings then that will give you your calorie count of 568.
Kerry Bush says
Hi! I was wondering: do you need to cook the pasta first? I’ve read you can put raw pasta in the slow cooker 15-20 minutes before you take it out and it’ll cook fine. I’ve never tried it, though.
For what its worth I haven’t made this exact recipe but I have made a similar one so I’m rating it 4. It requires I rate it and I loved the other recipe, which is basically identical except for the cream cheese and the pasta. When we made it the chicken turned out really tender and filled with the flavor of the olive garden dressing. It’s a family favorite now. I found this while looking up how to add pasta to it.
Sarah Olson says
Hi, when you add dried pasta to the slow cooker it doesn’t taste right. The slow cooker doesn’t get hot enough to boil it, instead it turns it into a gluey, chalky mess.
Karen says
I agree do not put pasta in the slow cooker. I’ve even tried macaroni and cheese. Don’t do it it doesn’t taste the same the noodles don’t come out right. My opinion.
Janette says
One of the worst pasta recipe. Simply gross.
Jo Ann says
Can you use frozen chicken breasts?
Sarah Olson says
I don’t give advice on frozen meats in the slow cooker. Some studies suggest it isn’t safe.
Hannah Mullins says
If anyone says this is disgusting, then they didn’t make it right lol I make this ALL the time. Definitely one of my all time favorites ❤️
Patti says
I made this recipe today and served with garlic bread it was excellent. I have a question my granddaughter is a vegetarian is there away to make this dish without chicken. Th Sara for sharing.
Niya says
I haven’t tried this but gardein makes great faux chicken
Scarlet Faust says
This is an awesome dish. Super easy to make and tastes so good it is hard to stop eating.
Gina says
We love all sorts of pasta dishes and will try anything new. I had my doubts as soon as I noted it called for a bottle of salad dressing. We still plugged on though. As I suspected, it was too sour, salty and just gross. Tossed it and decided to trust my instincts.
AntKathy says
I used a homemade Italian dressing because I didn’t have Olive Garden’s dressing and only cooked the chicken for 2.5 hours because my slow cooker tends to cook quickly. Other than that, I followed the recipe as written. I was very surprised at how delicious this dish was! It would be just as good with Olive Garden’s Italian dressing which I also like, but didn’t have on hand. The whole family enjoyed it which is rare. My daughters asked me to add the recipe to their personal recipe books (with credit due, of course). Thank you for a very simple and tasty recipe!
Shaun says
This recipe is amazing! It smelled great while it was cooking and I couldn’t wait to try it once it was done. It was even better than I thought! One thing I started doing was adding an 8oz. package of sliced mushrooms. For the extra ingredient that would be absorbed by the liquid, I instead used a 24oz. bottle of Olive Garden dressing to compensate. I also tried it with the Olive Garden lite dressing and it still turned out just fine. It’s SOOOOO good and I make it all the time!
Anonymous says
I was a little skeptical making this based off the negative reviews, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. My daughter is actually requesting that I make this dish today! I say that’s a win! Thank you for sharing this delicious and no hassle recipe!