Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken
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Tender and flavorful slow cooker mediterranean chicken with olives, onions, and roasted red peppers makes a hearty and tasty meal all made in one dish.
The slow cooker is constant around our house! If you’re loving yours too, try Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff Soup, Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala, Best Easy Slow Cooker Ribs, and Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb Chicken & Orzo.
I love slow cooker meals so much, I sometimes wonder if I should be a spokesperson for some massive slow cooker producer. I mean seriously, do you know how much I use this kitchen appliance?? Let’s just say it’s a lot. A LOT. It’s not just that it’s so convenient to toss everything in a pot, cover, and come back a few hours later to a whole meal ready to go. It’s also that I love the way slow cooking meals can bring out more flavor in the dish. Like in this mediterranean chicken dish. All those flavors melding together for a while in the slow cooker makes them ten times better.
But let’s talk about a couple of ingredients here. First of all the olives. I’ll preface this by saying that I rarely use regular black olives in my cooking because I just don’t care for them. But kalamata olives? Those are my jam. I adore the briny, salty taste of kalamata olives. If you haven’t tried them, this is your chance to fall in love with these little black beauties.
The other ingredient you might not have a pre-existing relationship with is capers. They too are briny and salty and I can’t get enough of them, particularly in this dish. They’re those little green pea-looking things you see throughout this dish ^^^. They aren’t expensive and they add a lot to this chicken dish. Together with those kalamata olives, onions, and roasted red peppers… there’s some serious flavor happening here. Not to mention aromas. Your home will smell like a little slice of Southern Europe when you make this dish and that is a very very good thing.
What people are saying about this Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken
“This is delicious! I made this today with bone-in chicken thighs. The chicken was falling off the bone, juicy and tender. I sauteed the onions and garlic before putting in the crockpot. Will make this again!” – Jennifer
“I made this tonight and it was so AWESOME! My guests said it was like a gourmet meal in a restaurant! Served it with garlic Parmesan potatoes and nothing was left!!! Not even a caper!!!” – Jerry
“I made it today and it was so delicious!! It is super easy to make. I didn’t have a lot of time so I opted to do the two hours on high but used thighs instead of breast, they were very moist.” – Gabrielle
“I tried this for my family of four tonight and it was DELICIOUS!!! Even the 3 yr. old & 5 yr. old enjoyed it! I served it over orzo pasta and topped with fresh thyme. Also used red/purple onion instead of yellow. YUM…definitely a ‘keeper’!” – Jill
Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 medium-large boneless skinless chicken breasts , OR 4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- juice of 1 medium lemon , (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup kalamata olives
- 1 cup roughly chopped roasted red peppers
- 2 tablespoons capers
- fresh thyme, oregano, or basil for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Cook in a large skillet over medium-high heat 1-2 minutes on each side til browned. Transfer to greased slow cooker.
- Add onions, olives, red peppers, and capers to slow cooker (tuck them around the sides so they aren’t covering up the chicken). Whisk together italian seasoning, lemon juice, and garlic and pour over chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours. Garnish with fresh thyme, oregano, or basil and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! Smells wonderful while cooking. (Drove my husband crazy).i added 1/2 C of chicken stock, but didn’t need it. for serving puRposes, what size are the breasts-4 oz, 6oz?
I’d say 4-6 oz is a great estimation!
I made this recipe tonight. It was a real Hit! My brother usually doesn’t like olives but loved every part of this fish. My dad said he would eat it again.
Cassidy- way to impress the crowd!! Fantastic job 😉 Thanks for sharing your feedback!
I made this laSt night for my husband and i. It was very easy to put together and cooked nice and quickly. The flavor was amazing and the chickEn turned out tender and pulled apart. It wasnt at all dry. I servEd it wIth white rice and used the sauce frOm the crockpot to DRIZZLE over the top. I will be making this again! Thank you for the easy and delicious recipe:)
Great job, Megan! Thank you for sharing your feedback! I am excited to hear that you and your husband enjoyed this recipe so much!
Easy And delicious@ I used white wine inplace of lemon juic, topped with feta cheese and servied over roasted spagettti squash.
Fantastic job, Julie! Sounds super delicious if you ask me! 🙂
Justmade this for dinner! Amazing- Added some black olives as well and put it on top of brown rice noodles!
However the 6 hours low was a bit much- my chicken is a bit dry.. but every crockpot is different! Thank you
Great job, Carly! Sounds like you did a great job. Thanks for your feedback!
Would the time be adjusted if you used the Instant Pot slow cook setting? I’m new to the Instant pot(used it twice) so don’t really know much about it yet.
Hi Elizabeth- I haven’t actually tested that feature out for this recipe! I think it will work the same as a traditntal slow cooker however!
I made this tonight for dinner – DELICIOUS! I lightly browned the onions and chicken, skipped the italian spice since i don’t care for the taste. Definitely a keepEr – Thank you!
Great job, Lorraine! Sounds like you did awesome. Thanks for your feedback!
Sounds good. Why list “Italian seasoning” as an ingred? Why not list the components? OreganO? Basil? Garlic? These are all on your list. So what in “italian seasoning”?
Looks great
Could you double this recipe to 8 (or even 10) breasts? I have a large group coming for dinner!
I’m sure you could but you will need a large slow cooker! Or multiple slow cookers.
If i have a 6 qt crockpot can i use 7 chicken thighs is it ok to layer the thighs or no and would i DOUBLE ingredients
Yes, you should be fine to layer them.