You'll love this easy lemon pepper chicken crock pot recipe! Perfectly cooked, tender chicken smothered in a tangy lemon sauce with this easy-to-make slow cooker lemon pepper chicken recipe. Make it in your crock pot today and get ready to savor the flavor!
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Why You'll Love Crock Pot Lemon Pepper Chicken
Super Easy to make and only 8 ingredients. Mix the sauce then top the chicken breast and spinach and cook. That's it. So simple.
Family-friendly! This recipe is kid-tested and approved, especially when served with cheesy risotto, mashed potatoes, or buttery pasta!
Bright Flavor. Who doesn't love the bright sunny flavor of lemon? Pair it with pepper you have perfectly seasoned chicken - with a bit of tang and saltiness. Oh yum.
🥘 Crockpot Lemon Pepper Chicken Ingredients
Only 8 ingredients are needed to make this Crock Pot Lemon Pepper Chicken!
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: use either boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs.
- Frozen Spinach: use chopped spinach or leaf. Thaw it and then squeeze it dry with your hands to get the excess water out of it.
- Cream of Chicken Soup: Use regular or lower-fat condensed cream of chicken soup.
- Fresh Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest: used to amp up the zesty lemon flavor!
- Lemon Pepper Seasoning: a salted blend of lemon and pepper.
- Italian Seasoning: This is an unsalted dried herb blend easily found in grocery stores.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce. 2 tablespoons of instant tapioca can also be used.
- Garlic: fresh garlic has the best flavor, but in a pinch, you can use garlic powder.
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
🔪 How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken in a Crock Pot
Here's how to make this easy slow cooker lemon pepper chicken recipe:
Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together.
Place chicken breasts in the bottom of a 3 to 4-quart crock pot.
Top with spinach, and then pour the sauce over.
Slow cook on low for 3 to 4 hours, or until chicken is done.
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
🥗 How to Serve It
There are several ways you can serve your delicious slow cooker lemon pepper chicken!
Serve over rice, small buttered pasta, or mashed potatoes. Garnish with fresh basil or thyme, parmesan cheese, and capers.
Side dish tip: when cooking rice add a tablespoon of lemon juice, or cook the rice in chicken broth instead of water. Season with salt and pepper - and butter (of course). So delicious!
To lower the carbs, serve over riced cauliflower.
📖 Variations
Here are some suggestions for customizing your crock pot lemon pepper chicken:
- Add minute rice or pasta to the sauce after cooking the chicken. Once the chicken is done, remove it, cover and keep it warm. Add the rice or pasta and 1 cup hot water or chicken broth. Turn the pot up to high and cook until tender.
💭 Slow Cooker Tips
Tip #1: Chicken breast cooks very fast, and cooking times will vary with the thickness of your chicken AND how hot your crock pot runs. For perfect, moist chicken, cook the breasts until their internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Tip #2: If you have to be away from your slow cooker for more than 5 hours, I would recommend using chicken thighs, as they will not dry out as fast as chicken breast.
Tip #3: Meal prep. The whole recipe can be assembled in your slow cooker then covered and stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it! As weird as it sounds, I used to have multiple slow cooker pots with several meals prepped every week. It was a lifesaver on busy weeks!
❓FAQ's
Simple side dishes such as steamed rice or buttery pasta are perfect for soaking up all those delicious juices. Mashed potatoes and roasted potatoes are lovely too.
Steamed or roasted vegetables such as green beans, broccoli, carrots, brussel sprouts are a great way of adding more vegetables to your meal. If you're feeling ambitious make a cheesy risotto!
Using a slow cooker to make chicken is very convenient and hands off method of cooking. It's wonderful to prep ahead of time and pull out of the fridge on the day you want to cook it, then walk away. The flavors blend slowly resulting in a very flavorful and delicious lemon pepper chicken.
Heat slowly in a microwave-safe dish on 50% power for 1 to 3 minutes, depending upon how many servings you are heating.
Let the crock pot lemon pepper chicken cool and transfer to an air-tight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 4 months. If frozen, let it thaw in the fridge.
Yes! Lemon pepper is a classic seasoning and combination of flavors that pairs perfectly with the mildness of chicken. Overall the flavor is bright and tangy, offset with the saltiness of the other seasonings. Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Lemon Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice + 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 2 teaspoons italian seasoning herb blend
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons garlic
- 5 ounces frozen spinach (use half a 10-ounce frozen package, thawed and squeezed to remove as much water as possible.)
- optional for serving: parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts, and cooked rice.
Instructions
- Spray the inside of a slow cooker crock with nonstick spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cream of chicken soup, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning, cornstarch, and garlic.
- Place chicken breasts in the bottom of a 4 to 6-quart crock pot. Top with spinach and then pour the sauce over.
- Cover and cook on low 4 to 5 hours on low (2 to 3 hours on high), or until chicken is done (internal temperature should be 165°F)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes and top with optional parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts, and capers.
Notes
- Don't miss all of our helpful hints, substitution ideas, cooking tips, and other delicious recipes that can be found in our post. Check it out!
- NOTES: Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve over rice, small pasta, or mashed potatoes. Garnish with fresh basil or parsley and parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
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