Parmesan Chicken Shells-Creamy Garlic-Slow Cooker. You know those days when you’re tired before dinner even starts?
This recipe was made for exactly those days. All you do is layer a few things in your slow cooker, stir up a quick creamy sauce, pour it on top, and let the pot handle the rest. No babysitting, no stirring every five minutes — just set it and forget it. When it’s ready, you get a big pot full of soft, cheesy pasta shells and juicy shredded chicken swimming in a rich garlic sauce. It smells amazing, it fills everyone up, and the best part? Hardly any work at all. Dinner doesn’t get much better than that. Toss everything in, turn it on, and go do your thing. When you come back, dinner is done — creamy, cheesy, garlicky pasta with soft chicken that falls apart. It’s like magic in a pot!
Parmesan Chicken Shells-Creamy Garlic-Slow Cooker
Servings: 6
Parmesan Chicken Shells-Creamy Garlic-Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken breasts → 1.5 pounds
- medium pasta shells, uncooked → 12 ounces
- low-sodium chicken broth → 2 cups
- heavy cream → 1.5 cups
- Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (plus extra for serving) → 1 cups
- roasted garlic cloves or paste → 0.3 cups
- dried Italian herb blend → 1 teaspoons
- garlic powder → 0.5 teaspoons
- onion powder → 0.5 teaspoons
- kosher salt → 1 teaspoons
- black pepper → 0.5 teaspoons
- unsalted butter, cut into small bits → 2 tablespoons
- fresh parsley, chopped (optional) → 2 tablespoons
Steps
- Lightly spray the inside of your 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray. This just makes cleanup way easier later — trust us on that one.
- Add the pasta: Pour the dry 12 ounces medium pasta shells, uncooked into the bottom of the slow cooker. Spread them out as flat as you can so they cook nice and even.
- Place the chicken on top: Lay the raw 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts right on top of the shells. Push them down just a little so everything sits in one flat layer.
- Mix the creamy sauce: Grab a bowl and stir together the 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, 1.5 cups heavy cream, 1 cups Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (plus extra for serving), 0.3 cups roasted garlic cloves or paste, 1 teaspoons dried Italian herb blend, 0.5 teaspoons garlic powder, 0.5 teaspoons onion powder, 1 teaspoons kosher salt, and 0.5 teaspoons black pepper. Mix it until it mostly looks smooth. It might be a little lumpy from the cheese — that’s perfectly fine!
- Pour it all in: Pour your creamy sauce all over the chicken and pasta. Try to get the shells as wet as possible. Then drop the little bits of 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small bits on top.
- Cook it low and slow: Put the lid on and cook on LOW for 3½ to 4½ hours, or on HIGH for 2 to 2½ hours. The chicken should be fully cooked and the shells should be soft. Try not to peek too early — keeping the lid on helps the pasta cook right!
- Shred the chicken: Take the chicken out and put it on a cutting board. Use two forks to pull it apart into pieces. Then put all that shredded chicken right back into the pot.
- Stir and taste: Stir everything together so the chicken and pasta are mixed into the sauce. Take a small taste and add more salt or pepper if you think it needs it. If the sauce looks too thick, just pour in a tiny splash of warm broth or cream and stir again.
- Let it rest, then serve: Switch the slow cooker to WARM and let it sit for 5 to 7 minutes 07:00. This helps the sauce get a little thicker. When you’re ready to eat, sprinkle extra 1 cups Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (plus extra for serving) and some 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional) on top and dig in!