Description
Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Chicken cooks juicy chicken breasts low and slow in a creamy marinara sauce made from pantry staples — marinara, diced tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, and a heavy cream slurry that thickens into a rich, velvety sauce ready to spoon over pasta or rice in just 3 hours.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs total)
- 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, with all the juice
- 1 cup marinara sauce (choose a well-seasoned brand)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped (add at the very end)
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
1. Add the diced tomatoes with juice, marinara sauce, minced garlic, salt, Italian seasoning, dried basil, and black pepper to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Stir to combine. Taste the sauce — if your marinara already runs salty, reduce the added salt slightly.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the heavy cream and cornstarch together until the cornstarch dissolves completely with no visible lumps. Pour into the slow cooker and stir through the tomato sauce.
3. Nestle the chicken breasts into the sauce and press them down so the sauce covers each piece. Put the lid on — do not lift it during cooking.
4. Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours. Start checking the internal temperature at 2.5 hours for smaller breasts, at 3 hours for larger ones. The chicken is done when a meat thermometer reads 165°F in the thickest part. Do not cook on HIGH — it dries out the chicken and breaks the cream sauce.
5. Stir in the freshly chopped basil. Replace the lid for 2 to 3 minutes to let it warm through. Taste the sauce and adjust salt, pepper, or Italian seasoning as needed.
6. Serve the chicken whole or sliced over pasta, rice, or zucchini noodles. Spoon plenty of the creamy tomato sauce on top and finish with freshly grated Parmesan.
Notes
Always whisk the cornstarch into the cream before adding it to the slow cooker — dry cornstarch clumps in the sauce and leaves gluey, starchy spots that cooking cannot fix.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American, Italian-American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 chicken breast with sauce
- Calories: 310
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 1099mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 34g
- Cholesterol: 100mg