Slow Cooker French Basil Chicken is an easy recipe to make for a busy-day dinner.
I realize that many of you are in a place where it’s majorly hot both outside and inside your home. And all that heat surrounding you means you probably don’t feel like cooking either, right? Well, using your slow cooker is a good option then.
In this Slow Cooker Basil Chicken recipe, you just need to sauté the onions for a few minutes, then throw in a few other ingredients to blend the flavors. The rest of the recipe is done in the slow cooker. If you’re afraid that your slow cooker is going to heat up your house, try putting it on your porch to do its thing!
How to make Slow Cooker Basil Chicken:
This recipe begins with chicken- lots of chicken. You can use boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs, or you can use a combination of the two. If you need a smaller portion, just cut all the ingredients in this recipe in half.
You’ll sauté onions with artichoke hearts and a few other things on the stove, and then that mixture is spooned right on top of the chicken.
Toward the end of the cooking process, some red bell pepper and fresh basil are sprinkled on top. Then you can let it cook for an additional ½ hour.
All done! Dinner is so incredibly easy when you have a slow cooker around. This recipe can be finished in about 3½ hours if you wish to use the high setting on your slow cooker, or you can let it cook low and slow for 6½ hours instead.
We love this French Basil Chicken served over freshly cooked fluffy rice. My son pushes away the artichoke hearts (which I am happy to acquire!) but he loves everything else. It’s always good to know that a picky teenager enjoyed a recipe, right? 🙂
Here are a few more slow cooker chicken recipes you may enjoy:
- The Best Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker
- Sesame Chicken
- Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Crunchy Honey Lime Chicken
- Santa Fe Chicken
- Honey Sriracha Orange Chicken
- Apricot Glazed Chicken
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Slow Cooker French Basil Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (or more, to taste)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup dry white wine (see Tips below)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- One 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, including juice
- One 14-ounce can artichoke hearts (drained, rinsed and quartered)
- 3 pounds skinless boneless chicken (can mix breasts and thighs, if you'd like)
- 2 large red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- cooked rice or something else, for serving over (if you'd like)
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes with the juice and bring to a boil. Stir in the artichoke hearts and remove from heat.
- Arrange the chicken pieces evenly over the bottom of your slow cooker insert and pour the tomato mixture on top. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Stir in the bell pepper and basil. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes.
Notes
- If you don't wish to use wine in the recipe, you can sub chicken broth for the wine.
- If you are preparing this recipe as gluten-free, just be sure to use brands of artichoke hearts, tomato and chicken broth that are known to be GF.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello Recipe Girl!
I have used many of your recipes with great success. I just have one question concerning your “Slow Cooker French Basil Chicken” – what is the correct cook time in slow cooker? On the top of my print out it indicates 3 HRS and 40 MIN meanwhile at the end of the recipe it tells me to cook on low, for 6 hours. Is the 3 hour 40 min time meant to be if you set the slow cooker on “high”? Very eager to know the answer – I have set out all my ingredients, but now at a stand still! By the way, this sounds delicious – can’t wait to make it!
Thank you,
~ Elizabeth Grant
Sorry- yes, you are correct. I find that slower cooking turns out a better result, but you can opt to do the 3 hour instruction if you’re in a hurry.
Loving this recipe! I have so much basil and need great recipes to use it up. This is it!
Thanks so much for another slow cooker recipe. I’ve been using my cooker so much this summer, more so than in previous years. We’ve been trying to stay cool and the slow cooker helps so much. Cooking at home is important to us because of financial reasons and also for health reasons. This recipe sounds healthy and inexpensive, and, I know what ingredients are in our food.