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!
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
Slow Cooker Size
- 6 Quart or larger
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!
Nutrition
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 love this recipe- it’s so simple and so tasty, I’ve made a lot! of variations with different pesto and others pasta sauces. Lemon with green pesto is definitely must- lifts up the whole dish. Thank you
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.
You can also reserve some of the pasta water and add it to the pot with the pasta.
Kizzie, I’ve added 1 cup of chicken broth after adding the pasta, but I’ve been more generous on other occassions as well!
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 🙂
I made this tonight and mine was clumpy as well. It seems the cheese needs to have a little more moisture when it is melting down. Next time I am going to try and make a rue or alfredo sauce to go on the chicken as well and only use 1 cup of the mozzarella. I didn’t have any problem with dryness. It was moist! The chicken pulled apart so beautifully and my daughter absolutely loved this dinner.
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. 🙂
I made this tonight on the stove top and then finished it in the oven to melt the cheese – it was great. I chopped the chicken and cooked it in a large pan with 2 Tbsp olive oil, the salt and pepper and half the pesto. When cooked through I folded in the cooked pasta, remaining pesto, and parmesan cheese. I topped it with the mozzarella and put the pan in a 425 oven for about 10 minutes to melt the cheese. It was awesome. I am also confused by the comments about clumping; it was plenty moist and tasty but does not have a creamy sauce, so not sure what there is to clump. Thanks for the great recipe!
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!
did you add in the alfreado sauce in addition to the pesto? if so when did you add the sauce?
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.
Per other comments, if I’m going to add whole milk to it to add some creaminess (since I don’t have cream), at what point should I do that?
Made this tonight and wanted to convert recipe to WW points because it tasted so delicious!! It says serves 8….how much is one serving size?
The servings are approximate. I make a guess how many people it will serve after I serve my family dinner. I can’t say how much exactly each serving is. So sorry!
I loved this dish. I chose to use sundried tomato pesto instead and everything else the same. I will be making this meal again.
This is delicious, easy, and hearty! Thank you so much for sharing.
Can it be done without lemon my daughter is allergic?
I am going to make this tomorrow! Looks delicious! Do you think 4 hours on high untouched/unopened is an adequate cook time for the chicken? I’ve never cooked chicken in my crockpot on low- only 4 hours high always.
Then thinking I will do last 15 minutes with pasta and cheese on low?
should be fine!
Just made this for dinner. Only cooked the chicken on high for 2 hours. Added 8oz of cream cheese…. it was amazing! Thank you
Cream cheese sounds really good. Thanks for sharing!
So good I added some pasta water and sour cream also topped it off with Italian bread crumbs and used less cheese.
Great tips Denise!
I’m confused on the shredded cheese. There are discrepancies. Is it mozzarella or Parmesan cheese at the end and are the amount correct? The directions say add two cups of mozzarella at the end but the ingredients say to add the Parmesan cheese at the end.
I updated the recipe. There are items that get added after the chicken cooks. The parmesan gets stirred in with the pasta. The mozzarella gets sprinkled on top.
Also, the video directions do not match up with the written directions.
It was very tasty. Will def make it again. Should I drain the pesto before cooking cuz it was pretty oily? Or will that affect the flavor?
The oil from the pesto adds a lot of flavor so I would leave it. You can give it a good stir to mix everything back together if it’s separated.
For purposes of calorie and macro tracking, do you know what the breakdown for that is?
Hi Jennifer, I just updated the recipe card to have the nutrition. I’m slowing updating my recipes starting this week. I hope that helps.
Awesome, thank you! Also, just as a reference point for you: somewhere between the 4.5 and 5.5 hour mark, my pesto started started to burn… I’m not exactly sure when because I was at the gym, but do you have any recommendations to stop that from happening? Or should I just assume that, for my crockpot, just to cook it for five hours?
We did not like this dish . It was very blan and will not make again.
Just made this absolutely delicious. I was concerned after reading the comments so I made one tweak. When cooking the chicken I coated the bottom of the crockpot with low sodium chicken broth. Will definitely make again!
Great tip, thank you Cynthia!
This recipe was delicious. I like the suggestion for cream cheese- also may add some red pepper next time.
Can you make this in the Instant Pot?
Trying this now! I’m so excited. I’m using orzo pasta because that is what I have on hand. I will respond as to how it turns out.
It was a bit on the dry side, wished I would have read the reviews, would have added some Alfredo sauce or something, overall it had great flavor.
This is my FAVORITE recipe for chicken. I have made this 12 times in a month 1/2
Do you cook it based on the recipe? Some of the reviews say about it being dry
This came out amazingly well. My whole family loved it!
I made this tonight and my family and I all loved it! Based on some of the earlier comments, I used chicken thighs instead of breasts and in addition to pesto, I added a jar of Alfredo sauce. Also, I only used half of the butter since the Alfredo sauce made it creamier. and only used 1 cup of mozzarella. Also, I made this in in the pressure cooker instead of the crockpot since I was short on time. I followed the recipe, but cooked the chicken in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes. It turned out delicious! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi. My husband can’t eat a lot of pasta,he is allergic too egg. Can i make the Pasta and keep it seperate and just add it to mine as i make my plate? Or is there anything I can sub in its place or use wheat pasta? Thank you
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I didn’t have jarred pesto, but had a packet of Knorr’s pesto sauce that uses water and olive oil. I made up the sauce and poured that over the chicken so it was very moist after cooking in the Crock Pot all day. Also did not have pasta so put the chicken over rice. Even my picky 10 year old liked it!
All great ideas Kelly!
Hi. I have tried several times to sign up for your newsletter but it keeps refusing my email address. I have never had trouble with other sites.
Pauline
What if you did pesto and cream cheese?
that would be really good I think.
Made this another awesome recipe thank you for sharing Sarah..
If you have a food processor, homemade pesto takes maybe 5 minutes to make. My recipe is about 20 basil leaves, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 ounces of either asiago or parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, a couple teaspoons of minced garlic, and if you want some extra creaminess and nutrition, half an avocado.
One of the first pesto dishes of my 66 years. Loved it. Followed reciepe fairly close but was a little heavy handed with pesto and pram but with some things, the more the merrier. Dish overall turned out great. Am checking out some of your other dishes for the future. Thanks from Buddy Shaw
Considering pesto is not intended to be cooked, wouldn’t it make more sense to add it in at the end?
https://www.iamchiconthecheap.com
I made this today for dinner guest, and it was so delicious! After reading the reviews I did add a brick of Cream cheese toward the end.. The basil makes the chicken so moist and yummy.. so easy and a great meal for guest.. Will do it again.. Thank you
Just made this for my family. It was a hit thank you so much for sharing this recipe love it
Just found this, making it tonight! a little scared due to the comments, I definitely don’t want a big clump. But I can’t wait to see how it goes!
I so wanted this to be delicious but it just didn’t work out that way. Like many others said, it was way too dry and globby. I followed your recipe exactly except for adding some red pepper flakes for some zip. I think it’s the mozzarella cheese which clumps up with the shredded chicken. And mozzarella just doesn’t have much taste IMO. Doesn’t have much of an Italian taste either.
I added artichoke hearts and tomatoes at the end and it was amazing!
My family loved this recipe including my 3 year old. I went less on the cheese, only used between 1/3 and 1/2 of a box of pasta and I added broccoli and it was a hit. I’ll definitely be making this again. I’m dying to know if there has been success with freezing it? I’m going on maternity leave in 8 weeks and I’d love to add this one to my freezer meal/make ahead list if it freezes well.
I tried this recipe last night and it was amazing! I did have to make a few changes. I cooked it on high for 2.5 hours and added spinach on top instead of the cheeses at the end for the last 15 mins (cooked on low). I used 2 frozen chicken breasts and used Kirkland brand pesto from Costco. The chicken was very tender and of course you can use really any kind of pasta that you have on hand. I wouldn’t use egg noodles though, they might break and become mushy.
I agree with the egg noodles, they tend to fall apart quickly.
I have made this for my family several times now and we all absolutely love it!!! They ask for it again and again. We follow the directions to a T and it comes out perfect every time. Thank you!!
Thank you so much for letting us know how you liked it! 🙂 Great to hear.
absolutely delicious!!!! will definitely be making this again-the chicken was so flavorful!!
This was delicious! The only changes I made were: I added about a cup of chicken broth to the slow cooker at the beginning; and I adjusted the cooking time. I was nervous about cooking the chicken only on Low, so I cooked it for 1 hour on High, and then 3 hours on Low. It worked perfectly! Also, I misjudged the timing of our dinner last night, so I ended up making the chicken, then adding the pasta and the parmesan… but then I had to turn off the slow cooker for about an hour. When I turned it back on, I reheated the mixture on Low for about 15 minutes, then added the mozzarella on top and cooked for another 15 minutes. I will definitely be making this again! My 14-year-old-dauhgter loved it!
I love your changes, sounds great!
This recipe sounds super dry to me especially with the mozzarella cheese at the end. Mozzarella doesn’t have a very big flavor profile and it tends to harden up as it cools. I cooked mine for 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high in the crockpot, I used a creamy pesto, butter, lemon, and my homemade Alfredo sauce. It’s much better if you tweak this recipe and make it into something a little bit creamier. It is a lot more savory and has much more moisture to it if you actually add some Alfredo sauce or cream to it. I didn’t even add any mozzarella to it because honestly it’s not really needed at all I don’t think. This recipe is so much better As a creamier dish I feel personally.
Thank you for your tips!
So good! My boyfriend doesn’t eat much pasta or chicken but he LOVES this!
I am going to make this tonight. If you were to add cream cheese would you wait until the end?
I would myself 🙂
I have no lemon juice anywhere and stuck at home. Is this a key ingredient or would it be okay to go without this time.?
It should be fine without it, maybe use more butter or chicken broth to add more moisture.
I just made it. Turned out perfect. Was worried after reading all the comments. But I think the chicken gets dried out if it over cooks. I’ve learned from my crockpot (newer model) that chicken cooked on low for 4 hrs will come out moist and delicious. Any longer it gets dried out.
Anyone try in an instant pot?
9.5/10!!! I read the comments saying that this was dish was a bit dry, so to stay on the cautious side, I added a little extra butter (about 1/8 cup) and a bit of Alfredo (roughly 1/4 cup). It was soo delicious but just a tiny bit too cheesy for my personal liking. If I made it again, I would probably add a little more Alfredo and less mozzarella.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it several times for my family and it’s a hit every time. I have followed the recipe exactly and it’s turned out great but I have made some changes to cater to my family’s tastes as well as to experiment.
If you experience clumping, I would recommend making sure the chicken is completely shredded before adding the pasta. You may also consider taking it easy on the Parmesan as sometimes that can clump it up too. For dryness, I recommend using frozen chicken and extending the cook time by an hour or cooking on high. As it cooks, the water released from the thawing chicken adds moisture. You also can increase the amount of lemon juice (I use a whole lemon instead of half) or increase the amount of pesto. One of my favorite alterations was adding fresh mushrooms!!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! We love it!!!
So freaking good!! I’ve been trying new recipes and this was a total hit my boyfriend ate so much I had to put it up before he finished off the whole thing. I made a few a changes like I added cherry tomatoes and a few sundried as well. I also cooked it on high for 2 hours then low for 3
Thanks for letting me know!
OMG! Soooo good. I used creamy pesto sauce and it came out really good. Definitely try it.