Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan

Our easy slow cooker chicken parmesan recipe made with a jar of spaghetti sauce you can throw together in the morning and have tender boneless skinless chicken breasts covered with mozzarella cheese for dinner tonight. 

If you’re looking for the best slow cooker chicken parmesan recipe, this is it! Needing only a few ingredients, it is a healthy and simple Crockpot recipe everyone (even the kids) will love. Use chicken breasts, thighs, lightly breaded, and you’re set.

Yes, we do have a lot of simple chicken recipes on The Typical Mom blog but this gets thumbs up all around from my kids and husband. It’s also on our list of easy cheap Crockpot meals because it costs under $20 to make for all of us! That is always the ultimate win for me as I am frugal but want to eat healthy at the same time.

If you love this meal when you are at your local Italian restaurant it is actually not hard to do. Yes you can make frozen breaded and processed pieces, homemade is better. You just need to dip, coat and lay in with some sauce to get it much better.

Ingredient Notes

Start with some boneless skinless chicken breasts. I mean you could use thighs if you really wanted but typically this is the cut that is preferred. If you want to make this with Crockpot frozen chicken breasts make sure they are small sized and separated from one another.

I like them breaded so I use Italian breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings to coat the outsides. You do not have to coat it though. Instead you can use the same flavors but skip that part. To incorporate the breading flavor just sprinkle crushed breadcrumbs over the top before serving.

To make this super easy I use a jar of spaghetti sauce, prego is my favorite brand. You can make homemade spaghetti sauce too though. That is totally fine! I have done that myself from time to time. If you have a family recipe, use that. I have a link above to the throw together method I follow. 😉

Parmesan cheese grated is great with some melted Mozzarella cheese for the top is our choice. Love this when we make our Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole too

Garlic powder and any other seasonings you like can be added too. I like to season as I am adding ingredients into the pot but not too heavily. You can always add more later when served but you can’t take it away and you don’t want it to be overwhelming. Remember the sauce has a lot of seasonings in it as it is.

No Breading (Option)

If you want to skip the breading that is fine too, it just won’t give you the same sentiment of the original old fashioned dish. You would just skip that whole step and sit the meat into the pot as is like we do with our Crockpot chicken cacciatore.

How Long to Cook Chicken Parmesan in Slow Cooker

You are going to be about 6 hours give or take. There will be a bit of variations depending on the size of your breasts of course. We use medium sizes, boneless skinless so anything larger or thicker may need an additional 30 minutes or so until it slices easily.

Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan with Frozen Chicken

Believe it or not you can use medium size frozen chicken in Crockpot for this too. Just make sure they are separated from one another before laying inside. You won’t be able to coat the with breading but do the rest as stated below and sprinkle that on top of the cheese before serving to get that incorporated.

You can’t get much better than that right??!! I mean we love this combination for all sorts of things, not just meat. From eggplant parm to this same mix on chicken and even pork chops would be killer. We make this often. Forgot to defrost your meat?? NO problem, you can still save dinner.

Maybe you think since it cooks low and slow all day that you’d need to skip the breading, wrong! It still works great to roll the meat in breadcrumbs so you still have that coated flavor and texture you love. Add your favorite seasonings to coat and you’re set.

Can You Add Pasta? 

Pasta cooks quickly in a Crockpot and adding it too soon will leave you with a mushy mess. You’ll need to add pasta, stir it into the sauce, liquid, or soup you’re making. Add extra water if the liquid content is low so noodles are submerged. Cook for 20 minutes and serve similar to how we do with Crockpot spaghetti and meatballs.

For something like our Crockpot hamburger casserole you can cook everything together including the pasta. This is because the cook time is only 3 hours AND the ground beef is cooked before it’s added into your slow cooker. In this case I would say it’s a flat out NO, don’t do it. Instead just boil it on your stovetop, or in your pressure cooker covered with water for about 3 minutes with a quick release. 

Tips for Success

First I recommend spraying the inside of your crock with non stick olive oil spray to help with cleanup later on.  Then you’re going to use a shallow bowl to combine your seasoned bread crumbs together and coat both sides of chicken well.

Now with that said just know that the texture on the outside is going to be soft. That is typical when it is served to you yes but if you need a bit of crisp you won’t get that. NOW if you want a crunchy coated outside you’ll need to follow our air fryer chicken parm recipe instead. Up to you.

How to Serve

We like to serve this over or with a side of pasta or air fryer zoodles are a good low carb alternative side dish. Of course you can’t go wrong with a salads. This option gives you a crispness to balance out the rich flavors of your dish.

Veggies are usually a favorite around here. A mix of air fryer vegetables like zucchini, squash and mushrooms are my go to. Mashed potatoes are easy to throw together in your pressure cooker or another Crock. Bread options include garlic bread or refrigerated biscuits pull apart bread.

FAQ

Other chicken recipes you’ll love

I will say this is how my Mom has done it, I prefer the quicker method above myself.  For more easy Crockpot chicken recipes see our roundup here and enjoy friends.

Directions for Instant Pot chicken parmesan are here. The same great flavors in a fraction of the time. So good. We have a printable recipe card here below for your reference with nutritional information listed in it as well. Calories and saturated fat amounts will vary slightly depending on the sauce and amount of cheese you use but is pretty accurate for each serving amount.