This Crockpot Tuscan Chicken features juicy chicken breasts slow cooked in a rich and flavorful cream sauce. This recipe takes just 10 minutes to prep and makes the perfect dinner served over your favorite pasta!
Love your slow cooker? Enjoy more of the best Crockpot Chicken Breast recipes like Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken Breast, Crockpot Creamy Garlic Chicken and Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken.
This Baked Tuscan Chicken combines some of my favorite flavors into one delicious dish! There are days though that it feels really nice knowing that dinner is cooking away in the slow cooker (and we all love this Slow Cooker Chicken Breast!)
Enter this Tuscan Crockpot Chicken Recipe. It’s the best of both worlds!
It features those signature Tuscan flavors that we all know and love. Sun dried tomatoes, parmesan, spinach and more come together to create the very best flavor combo!
You can enjoy this creamy chicken dish all by itself with a side salad or veggies, or toss it on top of a heaping pile of rice or Buttered Noodles. It’s hard to go wrong with a meal that tastes this good!
Reader Rating
“This recipe is amazing! My husband literally could not stop eating it, and we all agreed that it tasted like something that you would get at a very nice Italian restaurant!” — Jenny
Why we love this crockpot chicken recipe:
- Easy: This is a true set it and forget it recipe. I love Crockpot chicken recipes like this one that require almost no prep work!
- Versatile: Add more or less spinach, garlic, seasonings, etc. This recipe is so easy to change up.
- Summery: With sun dried tomatoes and spinach, this recipe is lovely to serve during the warmer months when you’re craving some vibrant flavor.
Ingredients Needed:
- Chicken Breasts: I use boneless and skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs will also work — you’ll need about twice as many or the same weight.
- Seasonings: We’re seasoning the chicken with a simple blend of salt, Italian seasoning, paprika and black pepper.
- Heavy Cream: The base for the cream sauce. You can lighten it up with half and half, but the sauce won’t be as rich and creamy, and won’t thicken quite as much.
- Cornstarch: Helps thicken the sauce as it cooks.
- Garlic: Use freshly minced garlic cloves for the best flavor.
- Salt and Black Pepper: Since the chicken is well seasoned, we just need a little salt and pepper to spice up the cream sauce.
- Sun Dried Tomatoes: Choose oil-packed, but be sure to drain and chop the sun dried tomatoes into smaller pieces so they incorporate well into the sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese: Use freshly shredded parmesan for the best flavor.
- Chopped Spinach: I recommend using fresh spinach for this recipe. Frozen spinach will water down the sauce, so be sure to thaw and squeeze it out if you are using it.
How to make Crockpot Tuscan Chicken Breast:
This Crock Pot Tuscan chicken recipe is a simple, flavorful dinner that takes just 10 minutes to prep! For more details about the process, just scroll down to the recipe card.
- Place chicken breasts in the Crockpot. Combine salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle all over chicken.
- Add the cream, garlic, cornstarch salt and pepper to a medium bowl and whisk.
- Stir in the sun dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese and pour around and over chicken in the Crockpot.
- Put the lid on. Cook on LOW for 3 hours or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Stir in the fresh spinach.
Variations and Substitutions
- Chicken: You can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. I would aim for 2 lbs of meat.
- Cream: You can use a lighter cream, but keep in mind that the sauce will not be as thick and rich. If you go this route, you may want to increase the cornstarch to compensate.
- Sun Dried Tomatoes and Spinach: Try swapping the sun dried tomatoes for roasted red peppers or the fresh spinach for kale if that’s what you have on hand!
- Artichoke Hearts: one commenter asked about adding artichoke hearts to the recipe — it’s a nice way to add more veggies to the dish.
How to store leftover chicken:
You can store leftover Tuscan chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat for 30 seconds at a time in the microwave until warmed all the way through and be careful not to scald the cream sauce!
Can I freeze tuscan chicken breasts?
Yes! Let the creamy chicken completely cool to room temperature prior to freezing in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Let it thaw prior to reheating.
To quickly thaw frozen chicken, place it in a bowl of cool water and allow it to sit until thawed. Change the water out every 20 minutes so that it doesn’t get too warm. If you have more time, just place the chicken in the fridge until it defrosts.
Serving suggestions:
I love to serve the finished chicken sliced over a pile of Garlic Mashed Potatoes and topped off with a scoop of extra cream sauce! These Roasted Green Beans or Honey Glazed Carrots are great way to add veggie to your plate as well.
More Crockpot dinner recipes you’ll love!
- Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef — skip the takeout!
- Crockpot Salsa Chicken — just a few ingredients!
- Crockpot Meatloaf –so juicy and tender!
- Sun Dried Tomato Crockpot Chicken and Potatoes — a complete meal in one.
Crockpot Tuscan Chicken recipe
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts , (about 2 lbs)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Tuscan Cream Sauce
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 cloves garlic, (finely minced)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes, (oil packed, drained and chopped)
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker.
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, and pepper. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the chicken.
Tuscan Cream Sauce
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream, cornstarch, garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Stir in the tomatoes and Parmesan and pour over the chicken in the slow cooker.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 3 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the chicken reaches 165°F. If the sauce separates as it cooks, simply stir it until smooth. Stir in the spinach.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Remove from the slow cooker and serve.
Video
Notes
- You can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. I would aim for 2 lbs of meat.
- You can use a lighter cream, but keep in mind that the sauce will not be as thick and rich (you may want to increase the corn starch to compensate)
- Try swapping the sun dried tomatoes for roasted red peppers or the fresh spinach for kale if that’s what you have on hand.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Marlene says
Soooo very good! We doubled the amount of sauce but followed the recipe as is, served over angel spaghetti. Perfect! Next time, we’ll have a loaf of crusty bread with it.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Marlene! So glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for this kind review!
Casey C. says
Can this be done in the instant pot? If so, what would the cook time be?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Casey! I haven’t tested this recipe in the instant pot, but I do have something similar that you could use as a guide. https://www.thereciperebel.com/creamy-italian-instant-pot-chicken-breasts/ If you decide to experiment, I’d love to know how it goes!
Casey C. says
I think I’m going to give it a shot. Thank you for the guide and I’ll let ya know 🙂
Linda C says
Do I use dried or oil sundried tomatoes? Thank you!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Linda, you could use either one but dried is probably preferred!
Marci says
Is it possible to use chicken thighs bone in?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Marci! I haven’t tried it myself but you probably could. If you decide to experiment, let me know how it goes!
Jennifer says
I made this with penne pasta. The only change I made is increasing the sauce by adding 8 oz. of chicken broth, and swapping creole seasoning for the paprika.
I will absolutely be making this again!
Jennifer says
I meant to leave 5 ***** but for some reason it only shows 3. My apologies!
The Recipe Rebel says
Thank you Jennifer!
Laura says
It is 100% safe to cook frozen chicken in a slow cooker. You just have to make sure it cooks all the way as you would with any other meat. A quick search will lead you to plenty of info and studies that show it’s safe. What’s the point of a slow cooker if you can’t cook frozen meat? Lol! I am cooking this today and CANNOT wait to try it!!!! I think my family is going to love it!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hope you enjoy it Laura.
wippy says
Excellent recipe I will make often. I cooked on high for the first hour because my chicken breasts were pretty thick. I used coconut cream (could not taste the coconut) because I am dairy free and used sun dried tomato paste. thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Carrie says
This was so delicious and easy to make. My family loved it and I definately will make it again.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Carrie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Janet says
Oh my goodness, this is incredibly tasty (and I haven’t even added the spinach!). So easy to prep and it fills the house with such a wonderful smell. Sadly, I just wanted a taste…and that led to a bite, and another bite. Delicious! Next time, I will make a homemade baguette and use that as the starch. The chicken, a nice salad, homemade bread, and white wine will make a lovely meal for a weeknight or even a dinner party.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Janet! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Meghan Keil says
Second time making this recipe! Love it! I add some fresh basil from the garden and swap out sundried tomatoes for fresh diced tomatoes on top. Bella!!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Meghan! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Rowan says
Made this last week and just finished it (cooking for one). As everyone else has said, it’s definitely short on sauce. The other problem I had was the need to add an hour of cooking time, as my chix breasts were quite raw at the 3 hr mark. I also used sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, but I rinsed them and patted them dry first, so didn’t have any trouble there. I served it over egg noodles and got several lunches out of it. The sauce problem and the raw chicken problem are the reasons for the 4 stars. If we were only rating on flavor, I’d definitely give it 5. Thanks for the recipe!
The Recipe Rebel says
Thanks for the feedback Rowan!
Marian Hughes says
Could this be made in the Instant Pot slow cooker option? Thank you
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Marian! Any slow cooker should work, but I don’t have that model so I have no experience in using it.
TannyG says
I made this recipe tonight. Full disclosure- I used 2 chicken breasts and smoked paprika. I cooked 3 chicken breasts, but after chopping them and adding the pasta, there wasn’t enough sauce to add all 3 back, but it still fed 2 adults and a baby with enough leftovers for 2 adult lunches the next day. Anyway, this was excellent! WHEN I make it again, I will definitely double the sauce. I served it with rigatoni and roasted broccoli.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi TannyG! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Claire says
I used sundried tomatoes that had been packed in olive oil and the oil broke the sauce. I refrigerated it overnight and was able to skim the separated oil off the top the next day and reheated the sauce on the stove with some milk over low heat. It was good once the excess oil was removed. Also, as a previous reviewer said, the amount of sauce was small for the five chicken breasts I cooked. Next time around I will double the sauce and use vacuum packed sundried tomatoes instead of the jarred ones.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Claire, this recipe only calls for the tomatoes and not the oil. I think next time, if you use the ones packed in oil, try to dry them out as much as possible so you are not getting any excess oil in the sauce.
Andea says
Made this tonight and a keeper! A lot of flavor and so easy. I didn’t have heavy cream so I used whole milk and added an extra tbsp of corn starch. Sauce was a little on the thin side but still very good. I cooked on low 3 hrs with 1.6 lbs of chicken and probably would have been done a little sooner.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Andrea! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Nichole says
Any ideas on how to incorporate mushrooms? Would that even taste good with it? I have a ton of shiitake growing on my property and am dying to use them!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Nichole! I think they would be great, I’ve just only tested the recipe as written so I am not sure how the mushrooms are cooked in it. If you decide to experiment, let me know how it goes!
Tonya says
This was EXCELLENT. I didn’t like sun dried tomatoes when I was younger so I started not to make this recipe. I’m so glad I gave it a chance. Only thing I did differently is I used less heavy cream and added chicken broth. I’m on WW so I wanted to make it more point friendly.
I’m off to check out your other recipes.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Tonya! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Erin says
Made this as it’s written except for that I completely forgot to add the spinach at the end. Really good and so easy! The amount of sauce, in my opinion, was totally fine the way it was written. It was really good sauce though, so I could see doubling it to be able to have extra for dipping bread or drinking through a straw. Glad to have another (easy) favorite recipe for dinner!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Erin! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Nancy says
My daughter made this and it was 😋delicious. I do not have a slow cooker and will try this recipe with my insta pot. Wish me luck.🤞
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Nancy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review! Would love to hear feedback on cooking this in the instant pot!
Paula says
I will definitely make this again. Is there a way to double the recipe?