This easy Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Chicken is a meal the entire family will enjoy!
This new recipe for Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Chicken is a spin-off from a freezer meal I made a few months ago called Lemon Pesto Chicken. Looking back at that recipe I wish I would have done this to it from the start. Adding the pasta and parmesan in the slow cooker at the end of the cooking time THEN topping with mozzarella cheese turned that basic recipe I made a few months ago into a meal I want to make weekly now.
For this recipe I tried the Mezzetta pesto, It did well in this recipe! Of course homemade pesto would be better but I don’t have time for that! Besides topping the chicken with the pesto I also add fresh lemon juice and butter. The way the butter tastes with the pasta can’t be beat.
I was afraid my daughter wouldn’t like this meal because of the green stuff on it. She didn’t even blink an eye and ate a whole plate! What I love about this meal is how there is not much prep to do to get this in going in the crock pot. Putting the chicken and sauce ingredients in the crock pot takes less than 10 minutes.
Below is my YouTube video of this meal. It’s a good one to watch if you haven’t seen how I add the pasta at the end and not at the beginning of this recipe. You can follow me on YouTube here for more recipes like this one.
I hope you enjoy this pasta recipe! Have a great week!
- 1.5 lbs. chicken breasts
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 1 cup jarred pesto (I used Mezzetta)
- ¼ cup salted butter
- ½ lemon
- 1 lb. rotini cooked and drained (add at the end)
- ½ cup parmesan (add at the end)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- ¼ tsp. dried basil to garnish
- Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Spread over the pesto, squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken. Cut the butter into slices and lay over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- Near the end of the cooking time, cook the pasta according to the package directions and drain well.
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks. Add the cooked pasta and the parmesan cheese, stir everything until the pasta is coated with the buttery pesto sauce and the chicken is evenly dispersed throughout the pasta. Add the mozzarella cheese over the pasta. Cover for about 15 more minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Serve and enjoy!
I used my 6-quart Crock-Pot® for this recipe.
You may also like: Slow Cooker Spicy Sausage Dip
This looks yummy & I will try it. Does it freeze & then thaw well?
I have not tried freezing this meal after it was cooked, let us know how it does for you if you do try it.
can you put the chicken on high for half the time?
I think it would do fine! for 3.5 hours.
I had high hopes for this recipe, but was sadly disappointed with how it turned out. I followed the recipe exactly and everything turned out dry tasting. This recipe needs some sort of creaminess added to it.. maybe making the pesto sauce with whipping cream?
I would try chicken broth or milk with the melting cheese!
I think much less pasta.
I made this today and the result was very clumpy. What should I do next time to avoid clumpiness and have a smoother consistency?
P. S. I didn’t realize I could make my own comment so I replied to another comment with the same question.
What was clumpy in it? I’m trying to figure out how to give advice 🙂
This looks so good and want to make but I’m a bit concerned as the previous comment mentioned it does look quite dry is there anything you can add to it to make it a little moister
It was pretty moist for me. If you are concerned maybe add more butter. 🙂
Could also use chicken thighs instead of breasts, they tend to be cheaper and stay more moist.
I love pesto, so was very excited to try this recipe, but after reading a lot of the comments I thought I would add a jar of Alfredo sauce. My husband and I loved it and it wasn’t dry at all. I only used 1 cup of mozzarella. Thanks
Did you use the pesto and the alfredo sauce?
Hi Sarah! Can I put the chicken in frozen or does it need to be already thawed? THX!!!:)
I usually do thawed, but I think frozen would be fine for this recipe.
Thanks for this recipe! I made this today and everyone loved it- I used my vintage crockpot- and sliced my 3 chicken breasts in to almost ‘tenders’ sized and made like 2 layers (since the crockpot is tall and thin) with my homemade frozen pesto cubes, butter, lemon juice on each of the 2 layers with the addition of some peeled sliced fresh ginger and scallions from my garden- sprinkled with salt/pepper too- and… since I had a neighbor give me Asparagus- I threw that on top of the chicken just for the heck of it. I was able to shred and stir it up and the asparagus wasn’t really even noticeable except for the flavor. Also used the pasta I had on hand- a half a box of small shells and half a box of ditalini… worked wonderfully! An excellent change of pace from red sauce!
Good Job!!! Thanks Again!
That’s so great! I love the additions you did and love that it worked in your vintage crock pot!
I made this with Classico pesto as it’s one of few with no nuts due to allergies in our house. It was a huge hit. I also did fresh parm cheese. It does make a lot of food and for our family of 7, that’s exactly what we need.
I added a can of diced tomatoes and some fresh sliced mushrooms. It’s cooking now! Might add some cream cheese at the end based on the comments I’ve read! I’m sure it will be delish!
Great additions Beth, please let me know how it turned out!
I feel like this would be too much for my family. Could I freeze it and reheat it in the oven? Has anyone done this?
I made it tonight, with only 3 large chicken breasts, 2/3 box of pasta, and a bit less cheese. Served me and my husband (with some seconds) with about half left over for lunch tommorrow.
I accidently stirred by cheese in instead of melting it on top and it did clump up my shredded chicken, but the flavors were still good! I also added a bit of pasta water as I shredded the chicken, would have used chicken broth if I had it on hand.
How many ounces was your jar or pesto? Thought about making my own pesto but not sure how much to add.
It was 6.25 ounces. Which is slightly less than a cup, but works fine for this recipe.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was really easy and super tasty! I wouldn’t change a thing. My husband loved it too and he’s not the biggest pasta fan. Thank you for sharing this!
Such a hit!! I used a creamy pesto sauce because it was cheaper than any regular pesto and it wasn’t amazing!! Next time I may add some red pepper flakes or something to add some heat- we like things spicy but this recipe was a huge hit and great as is!!
Could you use egg noodles? Can the recipe be cut in half for smaller crockpots or smaller families (ie. 1)
Yes they would work fine. Be careful not to overcook the egg noodles, I did by a few minutes the other day and they disintegrated when I added them to the slow cooker.
Could I make this dish for the oven? How long would you suggest to cook and what temp ?
I’m sorry, I have no idea! I’ve been only cooking in the crock pot for too long. 🙂
Made this with 2.5 hours on high and last 15 mins on low. It was sooo delicious!!! Next time i may use less cheese (I have a 3.5 quart slow cooker) Such a great recipe, Son and Boyfriend enjoyed it very much
I’m sorry this happened? I don’t know what could have gone wrong.
My family loves this meal! I probably make it at least once a week. So yummy
I halved the amount of noodles and added about 3/4 of a jar of alfredo sauce. I thought it was pretty good. Couldn’t get the kids to eat it because it was green, the husband and I enjoyed it tho.
Looking forward to trying this! What would you recommend for frozen chicken breasts?
We added a jar of Alfredo sauce and it was amazing!
I cooked this for our family tonight. I used my pressure cooker instead of my crock pot. I would not recommend that to anyone. Chicken creates a lot of it’s own juices at it is, but even moreso in a pressure cooker, and it did not have the creaminess I hoped for. It was more of a buttery, pesto soup instead of sauce. I also need a lot more cheese.
I’ll try this again in my crock pot next time.
We thought this was good but too dry. I added a jar of Alfredo sauce
to it and that made it creamier.
I made this last night. I added a can of chicken broth and used real parm cheese. Then took it out of the crockpot, and into a 9×13 pan, sprinkled with the mozzarella cheese and placed it in the oven to get the cheese brown and melted. Husband still thought it was dry. IF I make it again, I will use 2 cans of broth and maybe some red pepper flakes. It had a good flavor. Just seemed like it was missing something.
Why add lemon juice? Just wondering
Lemon is great with chicken and adds flavor to the whole dish.
If I want to add fresh mushrooms (to be cooked) when would you add?
You can add them in the beginning! Or even half way through if you want them more firm.
I actually made it in a pan and it still tasted delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
I saw in the comments that it was pretty dry so i added 1/2 cup of milk. It was pretty Creamy.