I dreamt this recipe up in my sleep. Actually, I probably wasn’t asleep. It was probably 3:30am and I was nursing. I do a lot of thinking while I nurse – and reading. But it’s hard to read in the dark, so I think about food instead.
This is a take off an Italian dish that my roommate Niki used to make in college – except it involved beef….and cream cheese. So, yeah – maybe this is way different, but still it’s where the idea started. Does anyone else’s thoughts start in one place and end up somewhere else? Kinda like thinking about doing laundry and then ending up organizing under the kitchen sink instead?
This sauce is soooo flavorful – but the chicken is what really shines in this recipe. If you like lots of sauce, you might want to double it. I like meat – I eat a lot of meat…therefore, MEAT shines in this recipe because that’s the way I like it, uh huh, uh huh.
This is a fix-and-forget dish. You just throw it all in the crock and come back 8 hours later. The prep is pretty easy and you should be able to finish everything at dinnertime in less than 30 minutes – more like 20 minutes unless you get interrupted by screaming because there is a wasp in the living room.
The spinach in this recipe is mainly a garnish. It just makes it look pretty and gives it a bit of flavor. If you hate spinach, you can leave it out. If you love spinach, you can double or triple the amount. In other news, I hate raw spinach. The end.
If you don’t have fresh spinach, you can use canned or frozen – just warm them and drain very well…otherwise everything will be floating in spinach juice on your plate. Ew. Spinach juice. *Shudder*
When everything is done, you have two options: serve the breasts whole or shred them. I like shredding chicken, so I shredded mine. Whatever floats your boat.
Also, people tell me you can easily shred chicken in your stand mixer. I cannot make sense of this in my mind. Why would I want to dirty my mixing bowl and attachment when I can just use two forks? Two forks are WAY easier to wash than all that mess – I’m just sayin’. This chicken is so tender you won’t have difficulty shredding it AT ALL.
Crock Pot Red Chicken with Spinach
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sucanat (or other sugar)
- 9 ounces fresh spinach, sautéed and seasoned as desired – or 10 ounces frozen, cooked and drained
- Parmesan for topping
- Rice, pasta, or quinoa for serving
- Put chicken in the bottom of a greased crock (I use my 4 quart).
- In a small mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, sauce, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and sucanat. Stir well.
- Pour sauce over chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
- Prepare spinach when time is up.
- Shred chicken if desired.
- To serve, use a slotted spoon and place chicken mixture over your bed of rice/quinoa/pasta. Top with a spoon of spinach and sprinkle with Parmesan.
Yield: 6 servings
I tried this recipe today & loved it! I’ve been having a love affair with my crockpot the last year since some health issues turned me onto the amazing ness that a crockpot is. I have been perusing Pinterest for good recipes, trying them, and tweaking them for my dietary needs. I find myself coming back to your page quite often, and I’m grateful for you sharing these things. I give shoutouts when I use and/or modify someone else’s recipe because that is only fair. 😉 I am revamping my entire business and changing names, so right now, it’s still under the past name. I put the facebook link for the website entry.
To make this one gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb and moderate on sugar levels, I tweaked it like this. I cooked it with whole wheat pasta on the side for my husband because he doesn’t need the same restrictions.
Red Chicken Ingredients:
o 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
o 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
o 8 ounces tomato sauce
o ½ cup chopped onion
o 1 teaspoon minced garlic
o 3/4 teaspoon each of dried parsley, oregano, & sweet basil
o 1 teaspoon salt
o ¼ cup pure maple syrup
Side(s) Ingredients:
o 10 ounces fresh spinach, sautéed and seasoned with 2 tbsp avocado oil, 1 small diced onion, & 3 minced garlic
1. Put chicken in the bottom of a greased crock
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, sauce, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and maple syrup. Stir well.
3. Pour sauce over chicken.
4. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.(my crockpot runs hotter than others from what I’ve gathered doing other people’s crockpot recipes) Shred chicken and return to crockpot to cook on low for 2 more hours. Turn off crockpot.
5. Prepare spinach & pasta when time is up.
6. To serve, use a slotted spoon and place chicken mixture over your bed of pasta, spinach, or both.
Yield: 6 servings
Thanks again,
Jennifer
Thanks for posting your version, Jennifer!
I don’t usually care for crockpot recipes, but I gave this one a go…and I’m glad I did! Scrummy! The whole family liked it! Thank you once more for sharing such great recipes.
🙂 I hope you’ll find some of my other crock recipes to be good too! I love my crock.
i already have several in my planning queue!
Score!
Yummy! Just bookmarked! Please feel free to share with our G+ Community, The Crock Pot Crowd. We welcome posts and recipes from bloggers! 🙂
http://bit.ly/Zmy5vZ
Thanks for bookmarking!
This sounds good! Thanks for the giveaway.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Sounds delicious! Just a quick question…does the chicken have to be frozen or thawed? I ask because recently I’ve had a couple flops cooking chicken in the crock pot. I followed the recipe and it ended up being way overdone and dry. Looking forward to trying it. Thanks!
I always cook my chicken from a thawed state. If your dishes are getting dry, it could be your crock cooks too hot. Add come additional liquid or cut back your time. 🙂
I’m going to have to try this tomorrow for supper! I even have all the ingredients 🙂
Don’t you love when that happens?
I took a look at their website and there is so MUCH to choose from. PICK ME…PICK ME!! 🙂 I really want to try the 7 seed crust, yum.
LOL You made me laugh!
That looks really good. Minus the spinach for me. I’m the opposite of you I love fresh but don’t like cooked.
You could serve a spinach salad on the side! 🙂
Ok don’t be mad…our family can not stand crock pot meals! We’ve tried lots of different kinds but nothing tastes good to us; we prefer grilled or pan fried for almost everything. I usually adapt your recipes to the stove. We also, no joke, hate pasta. Weird, right? I ferment a lot of my own foods, too. It may take me a long time in the kitchen but our meals are worth it.
I ain’t mad…we can still be friends. LOL
ok good, phew! 🙂
I made something similar a few weeks ago. I had been making salsa chicken and decided to make the salsa myself. I added everything but the sugar and didn’t serve with spinach but now I need to try it this way.
The spinach really puts it over the top!
Thanks so much for the THM friendly meal! So far my crockpot meals have been S meals, so I am glad to have a new E one to try.
I think Es are easier in the crock because it doesn’t require any fat and you can put just about any vegetable in there for E….except potatoes. 🙂