Creamy Crockpot Lemon Chicken Recipe

For those days when making dinner feels like too daunting of a task, turn to this creamy Crockpot lemon chicken recipe to help relieve the burden. Yes, you'll still have to do some cooking, but the Crockpot will greatly reduce the active labor and any stress that might come with it. As recipe developer Jessica Morone says, this is "a dish that you can mostly set and forget, you don't have to spend a lot of time making it or checking on it." Moreover, she says, "Cooking the chicken in a Crockpot makes it really tender and moist," so you can also let go of any fears of overcooking and ending up with a dry mess.

While the chicken may be the star protein here, there's another irresistible highlight of this dish that happens to be Morone's favorite part. "My favorite thing about this dish is the delicious creamy sauce," she explains. "The cream cheese gives it a nice tang, and all the flavors of the lemon juice and seasoning are all really balanced." This sauce is so good, in fact, that Morone would make the sauce all by itself to pair with other foods — and, after whipping up this recipe, you just might feel the same way.

Chicken breasts will serve as the bulk of this dish, and you'll need some salt and pepper for seasoning along with some olive oil for searing them. For the sauce, you'll need lemon juice, chicken broth, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and some cream cheese. "The cream cheese is the special ingredient because it makes the sauce creamy and thick without having to add a thickening agent," Morone says. Finally, for garnish, you may want some chopped parsley on hand for a pop of green.

While this is mostly a one-pot Crockpot recipe, the first step does call for searing the chicken breasts in a skillet, though Morone does note that it's an optional step. "Searing the chicken before putting it in the crockpot makes it golden and also locks in more of the flavor, but you could really skip that step if you don't have time and you will still end up with a really tasty meal, especially if you plan on shredding the chicken," she explains.

If you do opt for searing, first pat the chicken dry and season each breast with salt and pepper. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add in the olive oil, then once that's heated up, add in the chicken. Sear the chicken breasts for roughly 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until they have a nice golden color. Keep in mind that the breasts won't be cooked through — they'll finish cooking in the Crockpot.

Once the chicken breasts are seared (or, if you skipped that step altogether), go ahead and place them at the bottom of the Crockpot. Then, whisk together the lemon juice, chicken broth, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning, and pour the mixture over the chicken. Finally, cut the cream cheese into cubes and spread them out across the chicken.

Place the lid on the Crockpot and either set it to low for 4 to 6 hours or high for 2 to 3 hours. Ultimately, just make sure that the chicken is cooked through to 165 F.

When the chicken is finished cooking, you have a couple of options. You can either serve it whole, as Morone does, or you can shred it up and mix it into the sauce. Either way, do give that creamy sauce a couple of good stirs to remove any lumps, and don't forget to add a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Then, you're ready to serve it, and you really can't go wrong with pairing options. "This chicken and sauce is really good with everything," Morone says. "I put it over pasta, but it's also good with rice or potatoes. The sauce will cling nicely to any side dish and be really yummy."

If you end up with leftovers, you can go ahead and hang onto them for up to 4 days, but make sure to store them in an airtight container in the fridge. When it comes time to reheat, a quick zap in the microwave will breathe a second life into this rich and creamy dish.