Creamy, cheesy & SO addicting, Crock Pot Crack Chicken is the dinner of your dreams! Crazy easy to make, delicious as is, or serve on buns!
Ask anyone – I am the QUEEN of easy, stress-free recipes. I love me a good one-pot meal or crock pot dinner. Give me an easy meal that my whole family is obsessed with and I’m sold.
That is EXACTLY what Crock Pot Crack Chicken is. It’s so easy to make, the ingredients couldn’t be simpler, AND my family devours it the minute I put it on the table. They love it just as much as they love our other favorite chicken recipe, Honey Butter Chicken. I love it because it’s got my favorite ingredient …bacon!
CROCK POT CRACK CHICKEN
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We’ve been in a chicken cooking rut in our house lately. Chicken breasts are the perfect meat to use as inspiration for your family’s favorite meals. However, I’ve just been cooking the same recipes over, and over, and over again.
You can only eat grilled chicken salads so many times. While it’s delicious, chicken parmesan gets old after a while. I was bored, my husband was bored, my kids were bored.
When I finally decided to be a little more creative with my recipes, I stumbled upon this amazing idea of creating a crack chicken recipe.
Even better? A crack chicken recipe that is made in the crock pot!
This is a recipe that I’m pretty convinced will never get old, even if we eat it weekly. It’s tender, cheesy, and filled with my favorite ingredient – BACON! It totally lives up to it’s name because it is so addicting.
What is Crack Chicken?
A simple google search of “crack chicken” will bring you down a deep rabbit hole of recipe heaven. The idea behind “crack” recipes is that they are super cheesy and super addicting. You know, those recipes that you put some on your plate and then find yourself going back for seconds, thirds, fourths….
People have been bringing Crack Dip to potluck parties for years. It’s a simple (yet delicious) combination of ranch seasoning, crumbled bacon, and cheddar cheese. We’ve taken that classic, addicting dip recipe, and made it into a whole meal of cheesy amazingness.
Sticking with the staples of ranch seasoning, bacon, and cheddar, slow cooker crack chicken is a meal your family will be begging you to make again and again!
Crack Chicken Ingredients
In order to make a true “crack” recipe, you’ll need three key ingredients:
BACON – the bacon in this particular crack chicken recipe gets added into the mix at the very end of the process. BUT, it does have to be cooked and crumbled. So, I typically get my chicken cooking in the crock pot and then get to work on prepping the bacon. Here’s my go-to method for easily cooking bacon in the oven!
Please, please, please don’t use pre-cooked bacon bits. This chicken recipe is SO much butter with freshly cooked bacon!
RANCH SEASONING – we make veggie dips so often in our house that we have the JUMBO shaker of our favorite powdered ranch seasoning from our warehouse store… If your family is slightly less addicted to all things ranch, you can find a small packet of powdered deliciousness in the dressing aisle of your local grocery store.
CHEESE – For this crack chicken recipe, I typically use sharp shredded cheddar or Colby jack. To create the creaminess for this delicious chicken, you’ll need some cream cheese too. I recommend full fat cream cheese, but the low-fat options work well too!
I’m pretty sure that cheese is my love language. I think that adding cheese to any recipe takes it from good to great.
How to Make Crack Chicken
As with any of my favorite crock pot recipes, the name of the game is “Cooking with Ease.” I love a recipe that I can throw into the crockpot in the morning then pull in the driveway at the end of a busy day and spend about 5 minutes finishing it up. Dinner is on the table before the kids can even unpack their backpacks!
If you’ve got time on your hands, start this recipe in the morning and cook it on low. If you’re in more of a time crunch (and you’ve got 3ish hours…) start the chicken mid-day, cook it on high, and you’ll be good to go!
- Start by adding the chicken breasts to your crock pot.
- Next, add the chicken broth, cream cheese, and ranch dressing mix. Turn crock pot on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours.
(Yes, that’s IT. So, so, so simple! Dump ingredients in, turn on your slow cooker, and let the chicken work it’s magic!!!) - Once the chicken is cooked, pull it of the slow cooker out and shred the chicken with 2 forks. You can do this right in your crock if you prefer, but I do better having it on a plate.
- In the bottom of your crock you’ll have some cream cheesy, “ranchy” yummy sauce. Give the sauce a quick mix and then add the chicken back in.
- Last, add the shredded cheese, bacon, and green onions. Mix it up well and serve immediately on sandwich rolls. Watch out, those extras left in the crock pot are going to disappear REAL fast…
What goes with Crack Chicken?
Like I said earlier, I love making crock pot crack chicken as an easy weeknight dinner. One of my key rules for a weeknight dinner is that every aspect of the meal has to be EASY and quick. That’s why when we eat crack chicken, I throw it onto some sandwich buns and serve them with a side of kettle-cooked potato chips. Dinner is prepped and ready to go within a few minutes!
Another family favorite way to serve up crack chicken is to forget the bun and serve it as a dip. Throw together a platter of tortilla chips, crackers, carrot sticks, pretzels, celery, you name it. My kids love when we eat dip for dinner!
If you’ve got a family who thrives off pasta (don’t we all…), then you can totally mix some crock pot crack chicken into some cooked pasta… and voila! You’ve got yourself an Italian pasta dish your family will love!
How to make Crack Chicken Keto
If you’re on the Keto diet, or just looking to cut down on some carbs, don’t worry. Crack chicken can STILL be one of your go-to recipes! Instead of putting it on a bun, serve it up with your favorite green salad and you’ve got yourself some keto friendly crack chicken!
Or use lettuce leaves to make crack chicken lettuce wraps!
If you loved the idea of putting it over pasta, but dread the idea of so many carbs, cook up some zoodles. You’ll have a complete, filling meal that you can feel good about.
Looking for some more easy weeknight meals?
- Crock Pot Pork Chops
- BBQ Pork Loin Sliders
- Pulled Pork Sandwich
- Philly Cheesesteak Casserole
- Super Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
- more DINNER recipes…
Tools used to make this Crock Pot Crack Chicken recipe
Crock Pot: this is definitely my most used kitchen appliance!
Cutting Board: every kitchen needs a go-to cutting board and this one is mine!
Ingredients
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 ounces ranch dressing mix (powdered)
- 16 ounces cream cheese,
- 8 ounces bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded (or colby jack)
- ½ cup green onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Add chicken breasts to crock pot.
- Add chicken broth, cream cheese, and ranch seasoning over chicken. Turn crock pot to HIGH and cook for 3 hours, or cook on LOW for 6 hours.
- Once chicken is cooked, pull out the breasts and shred with two forks. (You should shred the chicken right in your slow cooker if you prefer.)
- Stir sauce in the crock pot and add chicken back in.
- Add shredded cheese, bacon, and green onions to chicken. Mix well and serve warm on buns or in bowls.
Nutrition
Jan says
Huge hit with our family. I change things up sometimes adding giardiniera or green chilies. I’m curious how it would be with whole chicken breasts instead of shredding the chicken. I’m sure it would still fall apart on the plate.
Blank says
I’m sorry but…I really don’t understand why people like this. I took one bite and it was awful. I tried to add different seasonings bite by bite but it didn’t help. I threw it all away. What a waste of food and 6 hours.
Sarah says
I’m confused…I made this 2 nights ago and it tastes like pure salt. I took a few bites and then threw away my plate. My husband didn’t finish his either. I see a lot of good reviews here so I’m wondering what’s going on. I followed the recipe, checked it several times.
Kay Blake says
I wonder if the broth you used was high in sodium? That has happened to me before.
Heather says
I have a store bought cold rotisserie chicken that I was going to shred and want to make this…how would that change your directions?
Siviah Henry says
I would do the same but instead of it being on high or low.. put it on warm and let everything kind of melt together.
Tateum says
This recipe became in instant favorite in our house. It’s my go to for a low maintenance, delicious meal.
Kate says
What do you serve as sides?
Real Housemoms JK says
Hello Kate!, This goes perfectly with a side of kettle-cooked potato chips or even tater tots. I like to keep it simple and easy! Or use this as a dip with chips, crackers, carrot sticks etc. Super easy!
Jolie says
I feel like this may also be good served over penne pasta as well. Is it too thick and if so how would I make it more of a sauce? My son and I are excited to try it!
Rachel says
I’m planning to make this for a picnic but I have shredded chicken already cooked… Any tips on timing to get the sauces to a happy melty place?
Hannah says
I used two packets of seasoning which seemed like a lot but it did taste good, you couple probably get away with one if you didn’t have two! I think I’ll just use one next time. I also only used a block and a half of cream cheese because again it seemed like too much and I’m glad I did!! I might even try just one block next time! I cooked on low for 5 hours because when I went to stir it at that time, the chicken was falling apart! Yummy! I used real bacon bits and Mexican blend cheese and it’s delicious! I got ciabatta buns for it and for my side, ruffled lays and dip!
Jaci says
I love this recipe! Is the 440 calories per serving?
Rebecca says
My family doesn’t eat bacon. Will this chicken still come out well without it? Thanks!
Real Housemoms JK says
Hello Rebecca! This will still be a great recipe without the bacon. Let me know if you try it!
Chrissi says
OMG! This really is crack. Everyone absolutely loved it. From grandma to the little ones, they fought over the last of it. Before he was done eating his 2nd helping, my 11 yr old asked if I would make it again next week. I have a new family favorite! Thanks.