CrockPot Cream Cheese Chicken Recipe

Day 144.

Cream cheese chicken is usually one of the first dishes tried in a crockpot. It is delicious. There are many different variations, but the standard recipe revolves around a can of cream-of-something soup, a package of Italian salad dressing mix, and a block of cream cheese.

I have a freezer full of cream of mushroom soup, so I made this recipe fully from scratch. But it's okay with me if you use the packaged stuff. It's really good either way.

But the made-from-scratch way gives you lots of bragging rights.

The Ingredients.

--2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup

--frozen chicken--enough to feed four adults

--2 T Italian seasoning

--1/2 t celery seed

--1 T onion powder

--1 T sugar (weird, I know.)

--1/4 t black pepper

--1 t kosher salt

--2 cloves minced garlic

--block of cream cheese (to add later)

or you can make it with:

--1 can cream-of-something soup

--1/2 cup chicken broth

--frozen chicken pieces

--packet of Italian salad dressing mix

--2 cloves minced garlic

--block of cream cheese (to add later)

The Directions.

Put everything except for the cream cheese into the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and begins to shred. Shred the chicken with two large forks, and mix in the block of cream cheese. Switch the crock to high and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fully melted.

Serve over pasta. We used Trader Joe's brown rice fusilli.

The Verdict.

This is really, really, really, really good. I like the original cream cheese chicken an awful lot, but this truly did taste better. The homemade mushroom soup just tastes better and gives it that "restaurant" flavor.

My six-year-old retorted that this was the very best pasta she's ever had. I let her skip bathtime.

Tuna and Noodle Casserole in the CrockPot

Day 164.

Hello! It's day 5 of Retro Week. So far we've had instant mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sloppy joes, and cabbage rolls. Today I'll show you how I made tuna and noodles in the crockpot.

I grew up on tuna and noodles, and loved them. I remember eating them cold out of the pot for breakfast because I loved them so much. We either used cream of mushroom soup or golden mushroom soup, and mixed it with a can of drained tuna and cooked noodles. It was wonderful.

I was certain that the tuna and noodles would work well in the crockpot. I have done pasta before, with the ziti, spinach and cheese noodles, and the lasagna. But this didn't work. Well, it cooked, and it was edible, but no one liked it, and it most certainly didn't taste like my childhood tuna and noodles.

This is what I did. If anyone can "fix" it---please let me know!

The Ingredients:

--1 lb dried pasta

--6oz can of tuna (I mistakenly got it packed in oil. that set off a domino effect of bad tuna casserole karma, I believe.)

--2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup

--2 cups soy milk

--1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

--1 cup frozen peas (to add later)

--1/2 cup crushed tortilla or potato chips (to add later, optional)

If you'd like to use canned cream of something soup, measure it out and add enough milk to achieve 4 cups of liquid.

The Directions.

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray.

Add the dry noodles into the crock, and mix in the soup, milk, cheese, and drained tuna.

Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours.

I was AMAZED at how quickly this cooked on low. It was pretty much done at 2 hours. I couldn't believe it.

30 minutes before serving time, stir in frozen peas, and make sure the crunchy pasta on top gets moved to the bottom of the crock. Top with chips, if desired.

The Verdict.

There was nothing wrong with this, but we didn't like it. The pasta got overly cooked and was kind of gloppy and starchy. It needed more seasoning---and I should have thought to add a bunch of salt because I was using my own soup.

We went out for Japanese.

and now my kitchen has a crockput FULL of tuna and noodles sitting in it, that needs to be scraped out since we left it out all night. We might have to move.

--> I just saw that on The Crispy Cook's website, she has compiled a huge list of 70 gluten-free blogs! Holy toledo, what a resource! <--

CrockPot Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Day 181.

This is the best macaroni and cheese, ever. Ninety-seven days ago, when I made the crockpot ziti, my buddy Alison wrote in the comments her recipe for macaroni and cheese.

I waited too long to make it----this is a superb recipe.

I wouldn't recommend putting this in the crockpot unsupervised. There is a lot of liquid and the noodles cook VERY quickly. Our pasta was perfectly cooked and al dente after about 90 minutes on high, but I left it on and accidentally fell asleep on the couch when I should have been folding laundry. An hour later, the pasta was still amazingly delicious, but it got mushy. The above picture was taken after I fell asleep. Imagine the pasta fully intact, doing the back float in a yummy sea of cheesy goodness.

The Ingredients.

--1/2 pound uncooked macaroni or hearty pasta (I used a 1/2 bag of Trader Joe's Brown Rice fusilli)
--4 cups of milk (I used skim cow's)
--1 egg (Alison's recipe calls for 2. I only had one in the house because we had company over the weekend and they ate all my eggs. Well, Adam cooked them all my eggs. And left the carton in the fridge with only 1 egg in it and didn't write eggs on the list even though I've been to the store numerous times this week and could easily have bought eggs. It's a good thing he's so cute.)
--4 cups shredded cheese (I used all cheddar)
--1/2 t kosher salt
--1/2 t black pepper
--1 tsp dried mustard (edited 8/24: okay. I made a mistake and originally wrote a BIG T which is tablespoon. yet, some people made it with that much mustard and liked it. So use what you'd like. I'm so sorry!)


The Directions.

Spray crock well with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, whip egg and milk together. Stir in spices.

Add cheese and noodles, and stir well to combine. Pour the mixture into the crockpot.

It will be very liquidy.

Cover and cook on low for 2-5 hours, or on high for 1-3. The cooking time will vary depending on what size crockpot you are using, and how quickly it heats and cooks. I was quite surprised at how quickly our pasta got fork-tender.


The Verdict.

Woah. This tastes like macaroni and cheese should taste. The cheese on top was bubbly and brown and had the neat texture it gets when baked in the oven. The pasta was perfectly cooked.

Until I fell asleep.

The kids each ate 2 bowls, and my three-year-old has requested that I make this every single day for lunch from now on. In the crockpot.

I was a little surprised that the ingredients called for only a half-pound of pasta. This was more than enough food for 6 people to eat. The pasta swelled and completely filled a round 4qt.

Thank you, Alison! xoxox

*** Edited July 7 to add: There have been mixed reviews on this dish! Please read the comments for suggestions, and attempt at your own risk! ;-) *** -steph

Super Easy CrockPot Spaghetti Sauce

Day 185.

I have no idea why I waited so long to make this. It is so terribly easy, and I was able to get 3 very nice-sized plastic containers of sauce, which now live in the freezer. There isn't anything wrong with jarred sauce---I use it quite often, but there isn't much to brag about when you open a jar.

This? This you can brag about. "oh yes. Of course I make my own pasta sauce."

I kept this simple, and did not add a lot of spices, or even onion and garlic. I usually throw in onion and garlic whenever I make something using marinara, anyhow, and prefer the crunch when added freshly. But like a lot of what I do: There are NO rules. Throw in your favorite spices, and customize how you see fit. There are also no rules about the tomatoes. I used what I happened to have in the pantry at the time. Buy what's on sale, and have at it!

The Ingredients.

--1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
--1 15oz can of tomato sauce
--1 12.5 oz Italian flavored diced tomatoes.
--16 oz fresh mushrooms
--1 T Italian seasoning (and a bit more to taste when cooking is done)
--1 lb super lean ground turkey meat

The Directions.

Add the thawed (or fresh) turkey meat to the crockpot. Dump in all the cans of tomatoes, and break the ground meat up with a large spoon. Stir in the spices and mushrooms.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

When done cooking, break up the ground meat a bit more and season to taste. Jarred pasta sauce is awfully salty; I didn't add any salt, but your tongue might desperately want to.

Serve right away, or package for freezing.

The Verdict.

This is very tasty. I shared a bunch with my grandparents, who enjoyed it also. It has been rather warm, so I let this cook overnight on the counter in front of an open window. I'm sure the neighborhood dogs were quite happy!

The kids and I had a small bowl for breakfast. I loved that I didn't need to brown the meat, and that turkey meat is so lean that there was very little fat that floated to the top during cooking. If you decide to use a different type of meat, you can chill the sauce, and scrape off the collected fat.

CrockPot Chow Mein Recipe

Day 204.

I made this chow mein with chicken, but you easily could keep it vegetarian, or use your favorite kind of meat---even pork!

Debbi (who doesn't have a blog, but totally needs one) sent me this recipe in May, and I made it just yesterday.

This is a good one; I'm excited to share it with you.

The Ingredients.

--1-2 lbs of meat (I used one pound of chicken breast; Debbi uses two pounds)
--2 cups of water
--2 chopped yellow onions
--2-3 cups of chopped celery

--1/4 cup cornstarch
--1/4 cup soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)
--3 T molasses
--1 can (16 oz) baby corn, drained
--1 can (6.5 oz) bamboo shoots, drained
--1 cup bean sprouts
--1 chopped red bell pepper

--salt and pepper to taste
--olive oil
--spaghetti or chow mein noodles (I used Trader Joe's brown rice spaghetti)

The Directions.

If you are using meat, put it into the crockpot. I used frozen chicken breast tenderloins. Add the chopped onion and celery, and two cups of water.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4. Shred meat carefully with two forks.

In a glass bowl, mix the cornstarch, soy sauce, and molasses. Mix to get rid of the little clumpy balls of cornstarch. I ended up needing to use my fingers to really break them up--which reminds me that I should really make a batch of Ooblek for the kids.
set aside.

Chop up the red bell pepper, and add it to the crockpot. Open the bamboo shoots and corn, drain liquid, and add remaining content. Add bean sprouts.

Stir in the sauce mixture.

Cover your crockpot again and cook on high for about an hour, or until flavors have melded and the added vegetables reach desired tenderness.

Before serving, cook pasta according to package instructions. I heavily salted my water before adding the pasta (about 1 tablespoon of kosher salt) and added some olive oil.

When the pasta reaches the al dente stage, drain it and set aside. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan or wok, and add some salt and pepper, if desired (I didn't add any pepper). On high heat, toss the cooked pasta in the olive oil and salt, allowing it to sizzle a bit and get a tiny crust on some of the noodles.

Serve the noodles with the crockpot vgetables and meat.

The Verdict.

Oh thank you, Debbi! This was one of the best chow mein dishes I've ever had, ever. I loved how the noodles were not squishy and gross, and how the vegetables remained crisp and the sauce was SPOT ON. Debbi totally got it right.

We will make this again and again. My three-year-old has never had chow mein, and gobbled up her portion, and then ate more off of my plate. My six-year-old was hesitant with the veggies, but ate all the chicken and pasta.

Adam ate two plates, and so did I.

My parents dropped by and I gave them each some.

Everyone really liked this meal.

I have enough meat and veggies to make another 1/2 package of pasta to feed the girls and I for lunch.

Awesome.

If you'd like to have a full Chinese-style crockpot dinner at home, you could make:

Hot and Sour Soup
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Mongolian Beef

Sundried Tomato and Caper Pasta Sauce CrockPot Recipe

Day 244.

That title is a mouthful. It's the last of the tomato recipes! If you still have some tomatoes on hand, and they're beginning to get squishy, this is a great way to use them up if you aren't in the mood for a heavy marinara.

These aren't tomatoes that I grew. I have never successfully grown anything other than the children. And morning glories. But my mom has a great tomato crop, and we live close by to an awesome produce stand.

This is a great, easy pasta sauce with a bit of a bite due to a handful of sundried tomatoes and capers. I was supposed to toss in some frozen peas at the very end to make it more of a full meal, and I completely forgot. We didn't miss them, but I'm going to add them to the leftovers.

The Ingredients.

--1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and rinsed
--5 fresh tomatoes, chopped
--1 medium onion, minced
--8 garlic cloves, chopped
--2 T capers, drained
--1 T Italian seasoning
--1/2 cup frozen peas, optional
--fresh Parmesan cheese, optional
--1 pound cooked pasta (I used Trader Joe's brown rice penne)

The Directions.

Use a 4-6 quart crockpot for this sauce.

Chop up the tomatoes, garlic, and onion and toss them into your crockpot. Add the tablespoon of Italian seasoning. After draining and rinsing off as much of the oil as you can from the sundried tomatoes, add 1/4 cup of them whole to the crockpot. Chop up the remaining 1/4 cup, and then add that. Stir in the 2 T of drained capers.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in the frozen peas 20 minutes before serving. Toss the sauce with hot cooked pasta. Garnish with shredded Parmesan cheese.

The Verdict.

This was a great meal, and we all really enjoyed it. My kids aren't quite sold on capers, but they enjoy pasta a lot, and ate quite a bit.

This was a great dinner on a Saturday night. I love turning the crockpot on during a weekend morning---it saves us from ordering take-out on a busy day.

Slow Cooker Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe

Sharon emailed me last week and said that she had a hanker'n for some Turkey Tetrazzini a la Slow Cooker. I didn't know that I had a hanker'n until I read her email and the recipes she linked for me to look at.
But I did. I seemed to have had a hanker'n. She sent links to Epicurious, AllRecipes, and Food Network.

After reading through the recipes, I wrote one of my own to work with the slow cooker. It worked, eventually. I at first didn't include enough pasta, so my tetrazzini was more like wallpaper paste than a creamy pasta dish. This was easily fixed, however, and the end result was a nice comforting meal we enjoyed on an unseasonably chilly night.

Thank you, Sharon!

The Ingredients.

1 (16-ounce package) dry spaghetti noodles (maybe divided. Please read the entire recipe and decide for yourself how you'd like to proceed!) I used brown rice noodles from TJ's.
1-2 pounds turkey breast tenders, cut in small chunks
5 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, diced
1 (14.5-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, chunked
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups chicken broth (check for gluten!)
salt to taste at the table

The Directions.

Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker, and spray the inside well with cooking spray.

What I did: I initially used a half-package of spaghetti noodles, and broke them in half, and laid them on the bottom of the stoneware. I then layered the other ingredients on top, in the order I typed up above. But! after cooking on low for 3 hours, I noticed that the noodles pretty much disappeared, so I cooked the remainder of the package on the stovetop in heavily salted water (super-heavily salted, the top of the container fell off!) until barely al dente, then stirred the drained pasta into the slow cooker.

I then cooked on low for only one more hour, then clicked it to warm for another 3. The turkey was fully cooked, the noodles were perfect, but the onion that I didn't cut fine enough had still a bit of a crunch.

The Verdict.

So. My dilemma is in deciding if it would have been better to put the entire package of pasta into the machine and then layer the ingredients in and cook on low for 3-5 hours (not high!) or if it is better to leave all the pasta out, and just cook it on the stove, then mix it in.
Or, do what I did.
I just don't know.

I do know that this worked, but it certainly wasn't a very hands-off meal. And we ate it, even the leftovers for lunch the next day (the onion was soft by then!)

other pasta dishes that work well:

traditional lasagna
buffalo chicken lasagna
macaroni and cheese
ziti

(super easy) Slow Cooker Artichoke Pasta Recipe

 

Look at that pasta dish---

yum.

This is a vegetarian meal (although you certainly can add chicken if you'd like) fit to serve company. This is  also a great weeknight meal for a busy family, and one the kids will enjoy.

Everyone likes pasta!

The Ingredients.

serves 4 large adults (can easily squeeze in a few kids, too)

3 (14.5-ounce) cans Italian tomatoes (diced, stewed, your choice) (do not drain)

2 (14.5-ounce) cans artichoke hearts in water, drained and lightly chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup pimento-stuffed olives

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (to add later)

1 pound freshly cooked pasta (to add later; I use brown rice penne or fusilli from Trader Joes)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour the tomatoes into your crockpot. Lightly chop the drained artichoke hearts and toss them in. Add garlic and olives. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. If you are adding chicken, cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, or until chicken is no longer pink. 

Stir in heavy cream and hot, cooked pasta before serving.

*If you are out of the house all day, you can still make this by using a programmable slow cooker. Set it to turn to warm after 5 hours on low. The warm setting will work for a full 12 hours, and will keep your food nice and hot (but not still cooking) until you arrive home. Stir in the heavy cream. Cook pasta according to package instructions and toss with the sauce.

garnish with shredded parmesan cheese, if desired.

The Verdict.

I really like this sauce. I've served it to dinner guests a few times, and my parents have taken home leftovers. My kids eat the sauce, but prefer eating it separately from the cooked pasta.

The olives provide enough of a salty flavor that additional seasoning is not required. So easy!

other great pasta dishes:

traditional lasagna

buffalo lasagna

pesto lasagna

American chop suey

sundried tomato and caper pasta