Chicken legs in crock pot with cream of mushroom soup

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Whether you just don't feel like cooking or you have a busy day ahead of you, this slow cooker chicken is the perfect solution. All you have to do is throw four ingredients together in the crock pot with some basic seasonings and then set it and forget it. The slow cooker does all the work, creating a rich sauce from the cream of mushroom soup and sliced mushrooms, while you go about your daily routine.

Serve the cooked chicken with its sauce over hot white or brown rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes. Add a salad or some steamed green beans, carrots, or spinach on the side for a well-balanced family dinner.

"A fantastically easy meal to put together, this crock pot chicken is also delicious. Adding the flour thickens the sauce perfectly, and the paprika gives the dish a nice flavor. It’s a great main for a family dinner that’s versatile enough for other chicken pieces if you adjust the cook time." —Colleen Graham

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• Kosher salt, to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

• 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, strained, liquid reserved

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. Gather the ingredients.

   The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

2. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels.

   The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

3. Sprinkle them all over with the salt, pepper, and paprika, and then arrange them in the crock pot.

   The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

4. In a bowl, whisk the cream of mushroom soup with the flour and the reserved liquid from the mushrooms. Stir the mushrooms into the soup mixture.

   The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

5. Pour the sauce over the chicken.

   The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

6. Cover the pot and cook on low for about 5 to 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked and tender.  The chicken's internal temperature should read 165 F on an instant-read thermometer.

   The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

7. Serve sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley and enjoy.

   The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Tips

• Chicken breasts can become dry and tough when slow-cooked for longer than 5 or 6 hours. Some newer crock pots cook at higher temperatures, so check the chicken breasts for tenderness after 5 hours if your slow cooker tends to cook foods quickly. Because chicken breasts are so lean and can dry out easily, it is recommended to cook them on low instead of high.
• If you have to be away for more than 6 hours, consider using boneless chicken thighs, as they are more forgiving than chicken breasts. The chicken thighs contain more fat than breasts, so they maintain their tenderness and juiciness after 8 hours in the slow cooker on low. Chicken thighs don't yield as much meat as chicken breasts do, so you might need 6 to 8 for a family of 4, depending on the size of the thighs and your family's appetite.

Recipe Variations

• Add a chicken bouillon cube to the sauce for extra flavor.
• Replace the cream of mushroom soup with cream of chicken soup or cream of chicken with herbs.
• If you crave smoky flavor, add about 1 cup of diced ham to the dish.
• Sprinkle crumbled cooked bacon over the chicken just before serving. 
• For a burst of color, add some pimiento or red bell pepper strips to the chicken during the last hour of cooking, or garnish the chicken with sliced green onion tops. 
• To turn this dish into a complete meal, add some frozen peas toward the very end of cooking; the peas only need about 10 minutes or so to heat up.

Can I put frozen chicken in the slow cooker?

For food safety purposes and to ensure the dish cooks evenly, you should always defrost frozen chicken before adding it to the slow cooker. The USDA points out that the amount of time it takes for frozen meat to reach a safe temperature allows for bacterial growth. Plan ahead and move the chicken from the freezer to the refrigerator and let it thaw overnight.

The Spruce Eats uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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