The slow cooker is your friend
I’ve been sharing a lot of Crock Pot recipes lately, haven’t I? I am so excited to share this recipe for Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan. I’ve been working my slow cooker on overtime lately. I really do use them a lot. I own 3 slow cookers. One is a 4.5 quart round (good for soups or smaller meals). I also own a 5-quart oval slow cooker and and a 7-quart oval slow cooker. Those oval ones are great for slightly larger meals and for meals like this one where you need a bit more room to spread your food out. You don’t want to have chicken breasts that are coated in bread crumbs stacked on top of each other.
Picking a Crock Pot
I love a round slow cooker but I find when making meals that require whole chicken breasts or larger cuts of meats, that it cooks more evenly in the oval ones. Also, the crock pots of today heat up much more quickly than the older ones so it can be easy for things to cook unevenly in a round slow cooker unless you are making a soup or shredded beef or chicken. All of my crock pots cost between $15-$20. I don’t have any of the fancier ones that are digital with timers, etc. Those are perfectly nice, but I find my cheap ones work just fine. And if you are only looking to making a small investment in a kitchen appliance, then the $20 one will do the trick.
So now that we’ve had our mini-lesson in Crock Pots, lets get on with this yummy supper recipe. By the way, the terms “Crock Pot” and “slow cooker” are used interchangeably. It’s all the same thing. Crock Pot is just a name brand of a line of slow cookers. Lots of companies make slow cookers. I have one made by Hamilton Beach and the other two are made by Crock Pot. But we always seem to refer to these meals as “Crock Pot” meals.
Yo, where’s the parm?
Now, I know y’all are gonna read this recipe and say, “Um Brandie, this is called Chicken Parmesan and I don’t see a speck of Parmesan anywhere in this recipe.”And you would be right. There isn’t any in this particular recipe. I guess I should have called it Chicken Mozarella. But we all know this by Chicken Parmesan so that’s what I’m rolling with. I hope you’ll forgive me. It’s just that my family isn’t a huge fan of the Parmesan flavor. My Alex is slowly starting to enjoy it on his salads. And I can sometimes sneak it into the breading. But more often than not, I leave it out. So, if you’d like, feel free to add some shredded Parmesan into the breading on the chicken. Or sprinkle a bit on top along with the mozzarella.
Ingredients:1 (25 oz). jar spaghetti sauce
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup (or more if you like) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package of spaghetti noodles (for serving)
Directions:
Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray (or use a slow cooker liner). Pour in jar of spaghetti sauce.
Get out two shallow bowls. In one bowl, whisk together egg and milk (add in any salt & pepper to taste).
In a second bowl, mix together panko bread crumbs with garlic powder, oregano and basil.
Get your assembly line all set up to make this go quicker. In a large skillet, begin heating up the vegetable oil (over medium-high heat). You want to get your skillet hot before adding chicken to it.
Dip each chicken breast into the milk mixture (those little black specks are black pepper).
Then roll it around in the seasoned bread crumbs. Do each breast one at a time.
Then add chicken to hot skillet. Continue with the rest of the chicken. You aren’t cooking them. All you want is to create a nice golden brown crust on both sides of the chicken breasts. If necessary, add a bit more oil to the pan.
After browning both sides, add chicken to the crock pot on top of the sauce.
You will notice I only have 3 breasts in here. This is plenty for my family and this package only came with 3. It all depends on the size of the chicken breasts you are using. If you are making more than 4 for this recipe, or if your chicken breasts are large, I suggest making this in a 7-quart oval slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for about 6-8 hours. Note: About 30 minutes before this is ready, you’ll want to start cooking your spaghetti noodles, if using.
About 10-15 minutes before serving, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese (and Parmesan, if using).
Cover again and allow cheese to melt.
Serve over cooked spaghetti with a crisp, green salad and some garlic bread..jpg)
Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 20 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 859 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 25 oz jar spaghetti sauce
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or more if you like
- 1 package of spaghetti noodles for serving
Instructions
- Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray (or use a slow cooker liner).
- Pour in jar of spaghetti sauce.
- Get out two shallow bowls.
- In one bowl, whisk together egg and milk (add in any salt & pepper to taste).
- In a second bowl, mix together panko bread crumbs with garlic powder, oregano and basil.
- In a large skillet, begin heating up the vegetable oil (over medium-high heat).
- You want to get your skillet hot before adding chicken to it.
- Dip each chicken breast into the milk mixture.
- Then roll it around in the seasoned bread crumbs.
- Do each breast one at a time.
- Then add chicken to hot skillet.
- Continue with the rest of the chicken. You aren't cooking them.
All you want is to create a nice golden brown crust on both sides of the chicken breasts. If necessary, add a bit more oil to the pan.
- After browning both sides, add chicken to the crock pot on top of the sauce.
- Cover and cook on low for about 6-8 hours.
- About 10-15 minutes before serving, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Cover again and allow cheese to melt.
Recipe Notes
About 30 minutes before this is ready, you'll want to start
cooking your spaghetti noodles, if using. Serve over cooked spaghetti with a crisp, green salad and some garlic bread.
Nutrition Facts
Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan
Amount Per Serving
Calories 859 Calories from Fat 189
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g 32%
Saturated Fat 11g 55%
Cholesterol 138mg 46%
Sodium 1435mg 60%
Potassium 1378mg 39%
Total Carbohydrates 112g 37%
Dietary Fiber 7g 28%
Sugars 13g
Protein 52g 104%
Vitamin A 22%
Vitamin C 16.7%
Calcium 27.6%
Iron 29%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
I'm looking for new crock pot recipes to try, so keep them coming! This one looks delicious.
Keep the crock pot recipes coming! I need to start using mine more during the week!
This recipe looks so good ( and easy to assemble ) =) love it!
I shared on Pinterest and Google+ ..plus I added to my recipe email folder, so I would remember to make this! =)
Melissa
This looks sooooo delicious! Can't wait to try it!
I am totally all over these crock pot recipes. When it is 106 or worse and my husband does not want one more salad or sandwich…well, you understand?
Love my crockpot so thanks for sharing new recipes.
I must make a comment though about the "fancy" digital crockpots. We got one for Christmas one year and left in the morning with the thought that we would come home to a great smelling dinner. It didn't happen that way. The electricity at our house flipped sometime early morning and that turned off the crockpot and since its digital it didn't just turn back on. So we came home to a raw piece of meat that had to be thrown away. That was the end of the "fancy" digital crockpot at our house.
This was delicious! Loved it – thank you!!
Hi Brandie! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I love using the crock-pot and this sounds delicious! Blessings from Bama!
Made this tonight – it was great 🙂
I'm making this tonight. It looks awesome and smells amazing.
Has anyone done this and put it on HIGH for 3-4 hours? I'm gone too long all day to do it on low in the AM..I come home for lunch & throw stuff in there. I'm afraid of the panko burning though?
I made this on the low setting but it was soo tender that it fell apart. It's probably just the settings on my crockpot. Nonetheless, it was amazing! I am trying in on high heat tonight for three hours. I'm sure it will be more than done and turn out just as great!
Welllll, I just tried this and realized I forgot to fry the chicken first! I just laid the breaded pieces in. They didn’t stick totally but the taste was still great!
made this tonight! very good I added a little parm cheese to my bread crumbs. love love your website!
I have a question for ya. What if I wanted to make some of this a head of time? For example, I would bread the thawed chicken, brown it, and then freeze it in a separate bag. Then I would have some chicken ready to go when I needed them, right? Then when the time comes to cook them, throw the frozen breasts on tops of the sauce like normal.
I think that’s a great idea! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work:)
I made this last night and it was fabulous!
Best chicken parmesan recipe ever! I made it last night, exactly as directed, and it turned out delicious. Was ready in six hours. Thank you, Brandie!!!
Just put in the crockpot can't wait to try it this evening!!
Made this without the milk. (It makes my little one wheezy) Took his out and then added cheese. We loved it! Even the wheezy one:)
Brandi,
Hi! My husband and I made it when our son went away for church camp for the week last week! Son was so bummed when he came home and found out that we had already had it! Guess that we'll be making it again, once son's home for longer than a week this summer! It was delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I love my slow cooker and I love this recipe! The chicken comes out so tender – great for a week night. I just come in the door from work, boil some noodles and serve! Delicious!!
I love 'slow cooker' recipes and this one is a KEEPER for sure. I'm also not a big fan of parmesan and love the change to mozzarella cheese.
Thanks again for a great recipe!
I am new to your site and so excited to have
found it. My family love, love your
Crockpot Chicken Parmesan. Looking forward
to more wonderful goodies.
Can't wait to try this. I love Chicken Parmesan. Thank you so much for posting all your great recipes!
I was wondering if the chicken breading is still crisp when the chicken is finished cooking? Is there a consensus (for the crispiness of the crust)? on whether this chicken dish should be cooked on Hi for 3-4 hours or on Low for 6-8 hours?
Thanks.
Brandy, this sounds delicious! Will add it to my list of things to try. Have made and served several of your cump cake recipes and are going to serve the pumpkie pie dump cake next Friday night for a neighbor's birthday party. Seven of us on our court celebrate birthdays by hosting dessert parties. It doesn't always fall on the birthday lady's real birthday; we try for that date but try to make it so all can attend. After all when you're Sr. Citizens age, who's fussing at whether it's on the actual birthday or not? We just enjoy the comaradie of good neighbors! The guest of honor will be either 89 or 90 but she's a young one!
I had some chicken to use up tonight, and although I have made this recipe before, I didn't think about dinner early enough in the day to make this in the crock pot.
I followed the recipe, but used a 13×9 baking dish and just baked the chicken in a 350 degree oven for about half an hour.
Dinner was ready in no time, and the room was silent as my family DEVOURED this meal.
When he was done eating, my picky-eater son simply said "You need to make this more often!"
Thank you for the terrific recipe Brandi!
Hi Brandi! So funny, my husband and I had chicken parm for dinner last night and I'm having the left-overs for lunch today. We love it and have a favorite restaurant (Clemmons Kitchen in Clemmons, NC) that we love to get it from.
Now, maybe I can make it just as good at home. Thanks!! Pinning it!
Hello,
I was wondering if it is possible to cook this in the oven the same way?
I want to cook it for tonight, but I don't have enough time for the crock pot. So I want to try it in the oven, where it doesn't have to cook as long.
Thanks
Thank you for all the sweet comments everyone! I'm so happy you enjoy this one as much as I do. As for baking in the oven, you can absolutely do it with this recipe. Preheat oven to 400f degrees. Follow this recipe with the breading and pan frying. Then stick it in a glass baking dish that has the sauce in it. Bake for about 15 minutes. Then take out, add cheese on top and bake for a few more minutes until cheese is melted. 🙂
I do not like crispy parmesan chicken, can I skip the browning/crust part and just put breaded frozen chicken breast in?
I saw in the comments someone was doing it that way but tyhey never said how it turned out
Have this in the crockpot now and cannot wait to eat it. Smells delicious. Will update after eating it.
Can this recipe be doubled in the crockpot?
Oh boy! This looks amazing and we love chicken Parmesan! Thanks again, Brandie for another great recipe!
So I just want to make sure I understand this correctly…..you just brown the chicken and don't cook it all the way thru. Is that correct?
Thanks so much. Tammy
tammy.anderson@comcast.net
Hey there Tammy- you are only browning these before adding them to the crock pot. Not cooking them all the way. They will continue to cook in the crock pot. Hope this helps.
Made this tonight, just loved it! The breading didn't stay as crispy as I'd hoped, but it was still a great dish. This is definitely a new go-to dish, super easy prep with simple ingredients we always seem to have around & everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing!!
So glad it was a winner for you. This one is definitely easy. Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you.
Has anyone let this cook in the cooker on low for recommended time and then had the slow cooker switch over to warm? Due to my work schedule this would probably be in the crock pot for 10 hours before I got home. My crockpot is digital and can switch to warm after it has cooked for the set time. Just curious if anyone has had luck with this! The recipe looks delicious!
This recipe is delicious. I followed it to the tee, didn’t change nothing. Turned out perfect. Will make it again.
Thanks so much for letting me know! And I appreciate you trying the recipe as written!!
I hate cooking, but it is something I now have to do. Trying this tomorrow, fingers crossed. Thank you so much for all the crockpot recipes.