Simple Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken And Potatoes Recipe

As long as you get started a few hours in advance, the slow cooker, a.k.a. the Crockpot, is your ticket to a low-effort dinner. Slow cooker recipes don't come much simpler than developer Feta Topalu's ranch chicken and potatoes — it takes just a few minutes to open a can of soup and a packet of seasoning and to chop up the vegetables. In fact, you don't have to peel the carrots or potatoes since the skins will soften up as they cook, although you should give both root vegetables a rinse and scrub to make sure they're clean.

Once this slow cooker dish has finished cooking, you'll have the makings of a hearty, one-pot meal complete with protein, starch, and vegetables. A green salad, however, would make an excellent addition, as would verdant vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts or budget-friendly cabbage (here's a selection of recipes for the latter).

This slow cooker meal is made from chicken and potatoes — Topalu likes to use red potatoes and boneless, skinless breasts. She also adds carrots, canned cream of chicken soup, and milk, while ranch dressing mix, salt, and pepper are used for flavoring. Parsley adds a touch of green to the finished dish.

Spray the inside of the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray or grease it with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Place the potatoes and sliced carrots into the bowl of the slow cooker. Arrange the chicken breasts over the vegetables.

In a bowl, combine the condensed cream of chicken soup, ranch dressing mix, and milk. Whisk until well combined.

Pour the soup mixture over the chicken and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cover and cook on low for 6–8 hours or on high for 3–4 hours, until chicken is cooked through.

Garnish with parsley, and serve.

Topalu uses potatoes and carrots in this slow cooker because both are "sturdy vegetables and hold up exceptionally well when cooked in liquid." While she uses red potatoes, other waxy (but not starchy) potatoes will work just as well. If you choose smaller ones, such as fingerling or baby potatoes, you won't even need to chop them. Likewise, you can also use baby carrots — either leave these whole or just cut them in half, depending on your preference.

If you want to make your one-pot meal even more vegetable-heavy, you could also add some cauliflower or broccoli florets as these, too, are fairly sturdy. Green beans will also work, as will a peeled, quartered onion. For the easiest addition of all, however, you can simply open up a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and dump it into the pot along with the rest of the ingredients.

Any leftover ranch chicken and potatoes can, of course, be refrigerated and then heated up again in the microwave or on the stovetop. Topalu, however, suggests that you could also repurpose the meat and vegetables separately if you don't like to eat the same thing two days in a row.

Putting the chicken to a different use is easy-peasy — all you need to do is to remove it from the liquid, pat it dry, and then treat it just like leftover rotisserie chicken. It can work in a casserole, in a soup, or in a salad, either a mayonnaise-based chicken salad or a lettuce-based chef salad. You can also shred it and stuff it inside tacos or burritos, or scatter it over nachos or pizza. As for the vegetables, Topalu says, "The potatoes and carrots may be a little more tricky to repurpose," but it's not impossible. For starters, you could toss them into a soup or a stew. You could also dice them to use in an omelet or quiche, or mash them to make carrot-potato pancakes.