Weight Watchers Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Osso Buco
This is the first recipe I've tried from my new Weight Watchers One Pot Cookbook (affiliate link). I gotta say, it's a grand slam outta the park winner!
Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Osso Buco
Easy. Healthy. Delectable.
The recipe name - Chicken Thighs Osso Buco - is a little misleading since according to Wikipedia, Osso Buco is Italian for "bone with a hole" (osso bone; buco hole) and refers to the marrow hole at the center of a cross-cut veal shank.
Since there was neither a bone nor a hole to be found in the boneless skinless chicken thighs I used to prepare this dish, I think it's safe to assume that "osso buco" is referring to the preparation style…
Braised with tomatoes, carrots, celery and onions and topped with chopped a combination of garlic, parsley and lemon zest, called Gremolata.
How Many Calories/WW SmartPoints in this Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Osso Buco Recipe?
According to my calculations, each serving contains about 150 calories and:
3 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
3 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
3 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
4 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Skinny on Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Osso Buco Recipe Notes
You simply prepare the vegetables, stir them together in the slow cooker and snuggle the chicken down in the mixture. In a few hours, your dinner is ready and waiting! This recipe is definitely going in my "Make Again" file.
Cooking Tips & Variations:
- The recipe called for skinless chicken thighs with bone, but I used boneless, skinless instead.
- Substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts to lower the SmartPoints but decrease cooking time to avoid overcooking.
- Spicier? Add crushed red pepper flakes, chopped fresh chiles or jalapeno peppers
- Zestier? Drizzle with balsamic vinegar
- Deeper Tomato Flavor? Add 2-4 tablespoons tomato paste to the vegetable/tomato mixture
- Other Possible Flavor Boosts? Chopped anchovies, anchovy paste, Italian Seasoning, Herbs de Provence (affiliate link), granulated garlic, dried thyme leaves, dried rosemary, dried oregano
Serving Suggestions:
- I served these luscious slow cooker osso buco chicken thighs with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.
- This dish would also be delicious served with whole wheat couscous, polenta, grits, rice, pasta, or on a bed of cauliflower rice, or puree.
- A green salad such as this simple arugula salad, WW Italian Arugula Salad, or your favorite mix of greens would be a nice accompaniment too.
Are You Ready To Slow Cook Yourself Slim?
If you like this easy, healthy recipe for Slow Cooked Chicken Osso Buco, be sure to check out some of my other Weight Watchers friendly slow cooker recipes including 5-Ingredient Chicken Parmesan Lasagna, 4-Ingredient Slow Cooker Porcupine Meatballs, Slow Cooker Italian (Pizza) Sloppy Joes, Skinny Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce and Skinny Pepperoni Pizza Chili
If you've made this Crock Pot Chicken Osso Buco, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it.
Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Osso Buco Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
- ½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 skinless chicken thighs (5 ounces each), trimmed (I used boneless, skinless)
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1-½ teaspoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- In a 5- or 6-Quart slow cooker (affiliate link), combine the tomatoes, chicken broth, carrot, celery, onion, parsley sprigs, 1 teaspoon garlic, salt and pepper.
- Snuggle the chicken thighs into the vegetable mixture.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or until the chicken and vegetables are tender.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken thighs to a serving dish. Discard the parsley sprigs.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a bowl.
- In a small bowl (affiliate link), mix together the remaining teaspoon of garlic, lemon zest and chopped parsley.
- Stir half the parsley mixture into the vegetables. Taste and add more salt and pepper to suit your tastes.
- Top the chicken with the vegetables and remaining parsley mixture and serve.
Recipe Notes
- The recipe called for skinless chicken thighs with bone, but I used boneless, skinless instead.
- Substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts to lower the SmartPoints but decrease cooking time to avoid overcooking.
- Spicier? Add crushed red pepper flakes, chopped fresh chiles or jalapeno peppers
- Zestier? Drizzle with balsamic vinegar
- Deeper Tomato Flavor? Add 2-4 tablespoons tomato paste to the vegetable/tomato mixture
- Other Possible Flavor Boosts? Chopped anchovies, anchovy paste, Italian Seasoning, Herbs de Provence (affiliate link), granulated garlic, dried thyme leaves, dried rosemary or dried oregano
Source: slightly adapted from Weight Watchers One Pot Cookbook (affiliate link)
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
More Easy, Healthy Weight Watchers Recipes You Might Like:
- Sheet Pan Italian Chicken & Veggie Dinner (SkinnyTaste)
- 3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- ONe-Pot Italian Chicken & Quinoa (Cookin'Canuck)
- Italian Wedding Pasta Skillet (EmilyBites)
- Easy 2-Ingredient Slow Cooker Italian Chicken (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Crock Pot Italian Chicken (LaaLoosh)
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Joanne T Ferguson
FANTASTIC recipe! TRUE!
Made this yesterday and is WHOO HOO
Love the ease, versatility and simplicity, works for me!
Thank you as I thoroughly enjoyed finding and making this recipe!
Daisy
If I ever make this again - dialing down the onion. Way too much for my preference. After slow cooking for 7 hours or so, I pulled the dish, set it aside because it was dinner the next day before finishing it off. Ended up re-heating it in an attempt to reduce - wayyyyy too soupy. It finally got to a good consistency, but the onion just killed it for me. There has to be better recipes out there.
CZ
I have to agree with Daisy, there was a bit too much onion for my liking and I only put half an onion. Also, not sure what slow cooker this writer has but it definitely does not take 4 hours on low. After 2-3 hours I noticed my chicken was still raw so I upped the setting to high for about 2 hours. The sauce never really thickened and I followed the recipe to a T. It was a bit bland but after I added a ton of spices it was edible. I really wanted to like this recipe but sadly I did not.
Kristen Goodban
I made this and used a can of diced tomato with jalapenos instead of just plain old tomatoes, used diced fresh zucchini instead of celery and used the cilantro that you can buy at walmart in the frozen section that is in tiny cubes, I used four of those. I kept it in the crock pot 6 hours on low setting, and at the end added a water and flour mixture to thicken it all. It was delicious.. had a bite to it with the cilantro and jalapenos and the chicken was falling apart. Put it over some egg noodles.. I would make this again definitely. Just decided to put my own twist on it.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Kristen,
I love what you did to the recipe to give it a zesty Mexican twist! I've never tried those frozen cilantro cubes, but think I want to pick some up to have in the freezer when I'm out of the fresh stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Becca
Just read the reviews on this one and am surprised at the negatives, as it's become a real beloved staple for me. I switch it around frequently - add other/different veggies, various spice combos (it's very good curried, like chicken tikka, with Mexican seasonings, or lots of garlic and french provencal spice, etc. etc.) - I think of it as a base for lots of variation. Simple, healthy, cheap, very low cal - what's not to love?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Becca,
Thanks for leaving such a thoughtful comment. I've come to learn that cooking, recipes and food are very subjective. What one person thinks is bland, another finds too spicy! I appreciate you sharing all your recipe variations. At its heart, that is what I believe cooking is all apart. Taking a recipe and then changing it up and making it your own. I want to try your chicken tikka and provencal variations. Sounds delicious 🙂
Sharron G
Made this after the change over to Smartpoints when i went looking for good value recipes. Substituted 4 small chicken breasts so I've got an extra meal in hand.
I served it with mashed celariac (0), kale (0) and sauted courgettes (zucchini) (1), can't believe what a tasty dinner it made for 3SP!!!
Martha McKinnon
Way to go Sharron! It is possible to eat really really well on SmartPoints as your meal proves 🙂
Michele
If one boneless, skinless cooked 3oz chicken thigh is 5 points, how can this recipe only be 4?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Michele, My mistake! This recipe is from the WW One Pot Cookbook. It called for bone-in, skinless chicken thighs, and I substituted boneless without re-running through the WW Recipe Builder. I've updated the recipe to reflect the use of bone-in chicken thighs. Sorry about that.
Kristine
So does the bone-in add 1 point to this meal? I'm confused.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Kristine. If you use 5 ounce bone-in skinless chicken thighs SmartPoints is 4. If you use 5 ounce boneless, skinless, chicken thighs SmartPoints is 5. Hope this helps.
mary brennan
Why is the bonless, skinless chicken thigh more points than the bone-in chicken thigh?
Martha McKinnon
3 ounces of boneless chicken thigh would have more points than 3 ounces of bone-in chicken thigh because there's more meat to eat. Hope this makes sense. - Martha
Elaine
Really tasty, mine was a bit soupy, but I liked it. I cooked it in a Dutch oven for 1.5 hours. I think it would be good over polenta. Thanks for the recipe.