Chicken breasts made in the slow cooker with pesto and butter then made into a cheesy pasta casserole with mozzarella cheese and parmesan.
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.
Start with chicken breasts, salt, pepper, lemon juice, pesto and butter. Yes, that is all you put in at first. It’s that easy.
After the chicken is cooked I add a pound of cooked pasta and top with mozzarella cheese.
This meal is beautiful enough to have dinner guests over! Just add a salad and French bread for sides,
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.
You may also like these easy slow cooker recipes:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta
- Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken and Pasta
- Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Spaghetti
- Slow Cooker Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti
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Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Pasta
Equipment Needed:
- Slow Cooker- 6 quart or larger
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 cup jarred pesto I used Mezzetta
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1/2 lemon
These items don’t get added until the end
- 1 lb. rotini cooked and drained
- 1/2 cup parmesan
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 tsp. dried basil to garnish
Instructions:
- 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!
Can’t wait to try. I’m always looking for crockpot recipes, especially in the spring. My husband and I have a greenhouse on our acreage, and raise bedding flowers for a neighboring city. My kids eat anything and don’t mind being guinea pigs.
This is one of our favourites!
Sadly I can’t change the ingredients in metric anymore??
I absolutely love this recipe and we make it often. How can I make this in my Instant pot?
Slowcooker newbie here. Got kinda tired of all the BBQ recipes and thankfully youtube recommended me your video. Just made it with Saclas reduced fat pesto, used a bit more chicken and cheese and it came out absolutely delicious 🙂
Yeah mozz clumps with pasta, but I actually like it that way.
Thank you for the recipe, ill definitely try more of yours!
Hello! Can I do this with frozen chicken breast?
I don’t give advice on frozen meats. Many studies suggest it isn’t safe to do so.
Oh. Is this not for frozen chicken breast? Seems like cooked chicken breast in the crockpot for that long would become tough… I just did it with frozen…. guess we’ll see how it turns out!!
Oh I just watched the video. Ha! I’m using the crockpot setting on an instant pot so maybe towards the end I can pressure cook if needed 🙂
i have a 3 to a 4 qt slow cooker, what should i do to adjust the ingredients.
You will probably have to cut the recipe in half.
Love this Pesto Chicken recipe! Its awesome, easy, delicious and pretty cheap!
Can this be done on high of I’m short on time?
Yes, should do fine.
I love this recipe. I added mushrooms to it and have made it several times !
When did you add the mushrooms? At the end?
Can leftovers be frozen?
Yes, they will do fine.
We love this recipe. I add a generous spoon of Itilian seasoning.
This is a new family favorite
Quick, delicious and easy meal. My only complaint is that the chicken and cheese clumps together and does not mix into noodles well. I would suggest maybe making a cheese sauce to add so it has more of a liquid consistency to add with pesto and chicken.
I agree with the cheese comment. I used Belgioiodo mozzarella and it seemed to blend better. It looks like a ball of cheese. Also put a small amount of Alfredo sauce so that it would look so dry.
It’s delicious.