6 Quick and Easy Crockpot Chicken Recipes For Healthy Weeknight Dinners
Here’s a list of easy weeknight crockpot meals, that will save you time and have you looking forward to dinner at the end of a busy day.
The crock pot is a great tool for easy meal prep recipes. Crockpot recipes are also great for easy weeknight dinners when you haven’t meal prepped, as long as you can set it up before or during work (if you work from home). I love flavorful low effort recipes like these, that you can let simmer for hours without supervision. The slow cooker is a perfect tool for batch cooking meats because you can make a large quantity to have through the week or to portion and freeze, and reheat later on. Meats are the perfect crock pot food, because they get tender and fall apart after cooking low and slow. Vegetables on the other hand, lose their texture and color, so it’s best to cook them separately and add in to serve, or add in for the last bit of cooking in the slow cooler.
Using the crock pot for meats, rather than full meals, helps you get more variety out of a recipe. It’s especially great if you don’t enjoy left overs or eating the same meal through the week. This way, you have a protein already prepped and made, so you can add it to different meals, and the flavor tends to get even better after it sits. The crock pot is also a great warm weather cooking method, helping you avoid the oven or standing over a grill.
I’ve curated six healthy chicken recipes using the slow cooker for weeknight dinner ideas to inspire your weekly meal plan. I’ll share the different ways I’d serve each recipe too.
Crockpot Mexican Chili Lime Chicken
I’d avoid the taco boats she used in this recipe as they’re quite processed, and as a personal preference, I’d also skip the cinnamon in the recipe.
Tacos
Use corn or flour tortillas and top with mashed avocado, shredded red cabbage or lettuce, sliced scallions and chopped cilantro.
Tostada
Crisp a plain corn tortilla in the oven at 325F until crisp. Layer with refried beans, slow cooked chicken, and a little cheese. Then serve with things like a slaw, side salad or sautéed bell peppers.
Rice Bowl
Cook your favorite rice or grain to serve or ahead, add chicken and other things like avocado/guac, salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, sliced scallions, chopped cilantro, pickled jalapeño, sautéed peppers and shredded cabbage or lettuce.
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Meatballs
This recipe is so simple and a lighter take on traditional meatballs. The one thing I’d personally do in this recipe is add freshly grated garlic and onion rather than powdered, but powdered is easier and there’s nothing wrong with using it!
Meatball Sandwich
You can switch it up from a traditional sandwich on a white roll, to using a whole wheat pita, or doing an open faced melt style sandwich on sourdough or rustic wheat toast. Top with your favorite mix of cheese. Mine would be fresh mozzarella and grated parm.
Pasta with Chicken Meatballs
Pasta can definitely be part of a healthy weekday meal plan, especially when you use a pasta that has more fiber like whole wheat or bean based. I personally like lentil pasta the best. A simple arugula salad would be great with it.
Farro Bowl with Chicken Meatballs
You can make a hearty grain bowl using farro as the base. Add the saucy chicken meatballs and other vegetables like garlic sautéed spinach or kale, roasted vegetables like peppers, broccoli and/or zucchini.
Asian Sweet Chili Sesame Chicken
I’d swap some or all of the brown sugar for some honey or maple syrup, and I’d definitely recommend using fresh chopped garlic and ginger if you have it. I might try doubling the sauce so you have enough to coat the vegetables and rice/noodles. If you’re meal prepping and plan to freeze portions, you can freeze the shredded chicken with extra sauce.
Rice bowl
Forbidden rice would be great with this recipe, you can make it ahead or to serve. Then top with this chicken, sliced scallion and veggies like sautéed peppers, steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, snap peas, spinach or kale and toasted sesame seeds.
Noodle bowl
You could make a noodle bowl similar to the rice bowl above. Soba noodles would be great with the mix of veggies you want, tossed in the sauce from the chicken.
Crockpot Thai Chicken Curry
I think that Thai curry is one of the best fake-out takeout meals. It’s so satisfying and can easily taste like something not made at home. My favorite vegetables to add to Thai curry are kale, sliced onion and broccoli. I think the cruciferous vegetables pair so well with the flavors. I’d steam the vegetables separately and add into the chicken and sauce mixture to serve. Other vegetables that would pair well are bell peppers, mushrooms, bok choy, squash, carrot and cabbage.
Rice Bowl
You can cook your favorite rice, brown basmati is my personal go to, ahead or to serve. You could even use a mix of rice and cauliflower rice for a lower carb option.
Noodle Bowl
Thai curry goes really well with noodles. As it cools and thickens, it coats the noodles and makes for scrumptious bites. Soba noodles are my go to. Top with toasted sesame seeds and sliced scallion.
Crockpot White Chicken Chili
This is a perfect recipe for when you want something simple and comforting. It uses ingredients you likely have on hand to throw together in a pinch. I’d top it with fresh chopped cilantro, sliced scallion and avocado, and maybe some sour cream and/or cheddar if I’m feelin indulgent.
Chili and Corn Bread
The natural choice to serve chili, is with corn bread. I might use a ‘healthier’ recipe like this one made with olive oil and maple syrup.
Rice Bowl
Serving chili over rice is an easy comforting option. I’d use brown basmati, or even quinoa, with this recipe.
Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken
Recipe by Don’t Go Bacon My Heart
I love sweet and spicy and this recipe looks so delicious, and easy.
Tacos
The recipe is for tacos, but there’s other great ways to serve this too. You can top tacos with a variety of things, like a slaw, or street taco style with chopped onion and cilantro, or loaded up Chipotle style with salsas, guacamole, fajita veggies and beans.
Rice Bowl
You can pretty much serve anything over rice. Top this rice bowl with chopped cilantro, sliced scallion, sautéed bell peppers, pickled jalapeños, avocado, pickled red onions, corn salsa and/or shredded cabbage.
Quesadilla
The sweet aspect of this recipe would pair well with cheese, so a quesadilla would be a great lazy dinner option. Serve with a side salad for a low effort veggie.
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I hope these ideas help you create a healthy meal plan you’re excited about, with less stress and effort.