Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

If you're craving a filling, comforting, and savory dinner, then this chicken pot pie recipe has you covered. There are few other dishes that combine a bunch of healthy vegetables, hearty meat, and sauce into a convenient little package. Adding to the convenience is the fact that this specific recipe uses a slow cooker, meaning you won't have to do much at all as far as prep work is concerned. So basically, this is an amazing recipe to keep on hand and whip up even during the busiest of weeks.

Recipe developer Erin Johnson has created this ultimate meal for the busy home chef. It only takes 10 minutes of prep to make a meal capable of stuffing a table full of hungry friends and family. Other than some veggie chopping, this slow cooker chicken pot pie recipe is really just pouring and adding items to the slow cooker. It's about the easiest way to fill your table, and it will surely leave everyone satisfied.

The key to preparing a perfect chicken pot pie is just the right mixture of vegetables, meat, and sauce. You'll start with the vegetables, since they make up the bulk of the ingredients and really help establish the flavors that make this pot pie so delicious. In the vegetable aisle, you'll need an onion and a garlic bulb. However, since you only need two cloves, you could pull them off a partially-used bulb if you already have one on hand. Round out the vegetable medley with two stalks of celery and 12 red potatoes, or about a 1.5-pound bag. As Johnson says, "You could really use any potato that you like. I use red, because I like the pop of colors." Grab a bag of frozen peas and carrots before moving on.

Next, it's time for the heart of the pie: a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You'll want a jar of poultry seasoning as well. Two cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup tie the chicken and the vegetables together, and you'll also need to gather a cup of heavy cream to add even more creaminess to this dish.

Finally, since this is a pie, you'll of course need a crust. Johnson suggests a container of crescent sheets or rolls, making this recipe just about as easy as it gets.

Before you do anything else, prep your vegetables. Start with dicing the onion and mincing two cloves of garlic. Then, quarter the 12 small red potatoes before chopping all of the celery.

Put the onion, garlic, celery, potatoes, peas, and carrots into the bottom of the slow cooker, mixing your veggies together to create a good base that covers the bottom of the slow cooker insert. Note that you don't have to defrost the peas and carrots. As Johnson explains, "They will cook perfectly fine on their own from [being] frozen."

Place the chicken breasts on top of the vegetables, and season with the poultry seasoning. In a separate bowl, mix the soup with ½ cup of the heavy cream. Make sure it's well-blended to keep the mixture as creamy as can be. "Because you're cooking this in a slow cooker, the veggies and chicken release a lot of water into the pot," Johnson explains. "Adding the heavy cream gives more of the creaminess that we associate [with a classic] chicken pot pie."

Finally, you'll pour this mixture over the chicken, cover the slow cooker, and cook for three hours on high or six hours on low. When it's fully cooked, the potatoes should be tender.

Once the potatoes are done, preheat the oven to 375 F. Turn off the slow cooker, and get ready to shred the chicken. Johnson suggests pulling the chicken breasts out and putting them into a bowl. The slow cooker should have made the chicken breasts soft enough to shred it by using two forks and simply pulling them apart strip by strip. Once shredded, return the chicken to the pot, and then pour the remaining heavy cream on top of it. (Alternatively, you can simply shred the chicken in the slow cooker.) Season with salt and pepper to taste, and mix well to ensure the chicken goes evenly throughout the cream and vegetables mixture.

Finally, add the crescent roll dough over the chicken mix. If you want to just cover the mix in the slow cooker, combine the dough into one bigger sheet that will spread over it without a break. Then, put the slow cooker insert into the oven. Of course, Johnson notes that you should check the manufacturer's directions for your slow cooker to make absolutely sure that your insert is oven-proof.

Another way you could finish the pot pie is by ladling the mixture into individual oven-proof dishes. Then, cover each mini serving with a piece of the dough, and place these in the oven. "Ladling the chicken pot pie filling into individual dishes makes for a more attractive presentation," Johnson adds. "But [putting] the entire crock in the oven is the easiest option."

Either way, cook the chicken pot pie until the crust is golden brown, or for about 15 minutes. Once it's finished, pull your pot pie out of the oven, and let cool for a few minutes. Serve either in the individual dishes or by scooping out individual chunks of the pot pie and plating. Nobody will mind how you serve it — they'll only be able to think about how delicious it smells and tastes!