Chicken Parmesan-Style – Slow Cooker

This easy slow cooker chicken parmesan Style is made with just six simple ingredients. Chicken breasts cook in marinara sauce until soft, then get topped with melty mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. No frying or breading needed — just cozy, cheesy comfort food made easy.

This slow cooker 6-ingredient chicken parmesan-style recipe is the kind of easy weeknight dinner I love: you just pour a jar of store-bought marinara sauce and five more simple ingredients over raw chicken breasts in the slow cooker, then let it cook while you go about your day. It has all the warm, cheesy, red-sauce goodness of chicken parmesan, but without the breading, frying, or standing over a hot stove.

I started making this on nights when I knew I’d come home hungry and wanting a real dinner, not just a frozen pizza. It quickly became one of those meals that never gets old, and everyone is always happy to see it again.

I usually spoon this saucy chicken over a big bowl of warm spaghetti or penne pasta, then add a simple green salad with garlic bread or buttered toast on the side. It’s also tasty served over zucchini noodles or steamed broccoli if you want something lighter. For a more filling, Midwest-style meal, try it with buttered egg noodles and a side of green beans.

Leftovers make a great chicken parmesan-style sandwich too: pile the shredded chicken and extra sauce onto a toasted hoagie roll, add more cheese on top, and pop it under the broiler until it’s melty and bubbly.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1½ – 2 pounds boneless, chicken breast (about 3 to 4 medium pieces)
• 1 jar (24 ounces) store-bought marinara sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (or dried oregano)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
• 1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Chicken Parmesan-Style: Directions

1. Spray the inside of your slow cooker with a little nonstick cooking spray, or rub a small amount of oil inside. This step makes cleaning up later much easier.
2. Lay the raw chicken breasts flat in one layer on the bottom of the slow cooker. It’s fine if they touch a bit or overlap slightly, but try to spread them out so they cook evenly all over.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, pour in the marinara sauce. Add the garlic powder, Italian herbs, and a little salt. Stir everything together really well until it’s fully mixed.
4. Pour the seasoned marinara sauce over the chicken breasts in the slow cooker, making sure to spread it evenly so every piece of chicken gets covered in sauce.
5. Place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, or on HIGH for 2½ to 3 hours, until the chicken is fully cooked through and falls apart easily when you poke it with a fork.
6. Once the chicken is fully cooked, use two forks to shred it into smaller pieces right inside the slow cooker. Mix the shredded chicken into the sauce until all the chicken is covered.
7. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese evenly across the top of the saucy chicken. Then sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese on top of the mozzarella layer.
8. Put the lid back on and cook on LOW for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and turned soft and gooey. If your slow cooker has a “warm” setting, you can switch to it once the cheese melts to keep everything warm until you’re ready to eat.
9. Taste the sauce and sprinkle in a little more salt if needed. Serve the cheesy chicken hot over cooked pasta, rice, or vegetables, spooning extra sauce and cheese on top of each serving.