Fresh and Flavorful Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe with Veggies
This recipe makes a slow cooker full! As in once you add the broccoli it will be nearly filled to the top. So it’s the perfect recipe to feed a hungry family on a busy day. And I love this combination of chicken sweet potatoes and broccoli. Not only a great flavor combo but a good color combo too. I seasoned the chicken and sweet potatoes with a sort of rotisserie/cajun-style seasoning. So it’s got plenty of spices with a kick of sweet and spicy. But if you don’t do spicy just omit the cayenne pepper. Then if you’ve got fresh thyme and/or rosemary on hand you can definitely use those in place of the dry like I used. I went with dry to save time but fresh would make it just that much better.
Ingredients Needed for This Recipe
Sweet potatoes Chicken broth Garlic Salt and pepper Seasonings including paprika, brown sugar, onion powder, cayenne pepper Herbs including thyme, rosemary, and optional fresh parsley Chicken thighs Olive oil Frozen broccoli
Scroll below for a full printable recipe.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken and Veggies
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place sweet potatoes in slow cooker, pour over chicken broth then sprinkle with half of the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Whisk together paprika, brown sugar, onion powder, thyme, rosemary and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle half of the spice mixture evenly over potatoes, set remaining aside. Sear chicken in 2 batches in olive oil in pot to brown skin. Transfer to slow cooker. Repeat with remaining 3 pieces of chicken. Sprinkle remaining spice mixture and garlic evenly over chicken. Cook on low heat until chicken registers 165. Add broccoli either during the last 30 minutes of cooking or steam in bag as directed on package.
And for simplicity, plus a time saver, you can just steam the broccoli in the microwave in the bag (as directed on the package) or if you’d rather you can add them to the slow cooker near the end of cooking. Just be sure they are fully heated through (for food safety, plus no one likes semi-thawed cold broccoli with a warm meal).
Can I Use Chicken Breasts in This Recipe?
If preferred boneless skinless chicken breasts will work as well. It just won’t be quite as flavorful. If doing so, I’d skip the browning step because you’ll end up with dry chicken breasts if you do. And use smaller chicken breasts so they cook through by the time the sweet potatoes are done. Then also you’ll want to add in a a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil to the slow cooker along with the broth since you won’t get the fat from the chicken thighs.
Note that those first few photos were rearranged from the layers that are listed in the recipe, that’s just so you could actually see everything that went into this recipe and not just the broccoli layer on top :). So stick with the layering directions listed below.
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes You Might Like
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