WW Recipe of the Day: Easy Slow Cooker Chicken & Gravy
I got the idea for this easy slow cooker chicken and gravy from The Magical Slow Cooker, where Sarah cooked 1 pound of chicken breasts in a simple gravy for 8 to 10 hours on LOW.
Lightened Up Slow Cooker Chicken & Gravy
I loved the idea, but realized I would need to do a little tweaking to make this slow cooker chicken and gravy work for me. And I also needed to determine the nutritional and Weight Watchers *Points realities.
How Many Calories/Points in this Slow Cooker Chicken with Gravy?
According to my calculations, each serving of the crock pot chicken and gravy (4 ounces chicken + ¼ cup gravy) has 228 calories and:
3 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
2 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
2 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
6 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy Recipe Notes
As a longtime Weight Watcher, I tend to think of gravy as "fattening." And I'd never really paid attention to how low in fat gravy mixes are.
According the the nutrition details on the gravy mix packages, I used McCormick (affiliate link), each quarter cup serving has just 20 calories, 0.5 g fat, 4 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, *1 WW PointsPlus, *1 WW SmartPoint.
I used Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup, which is lower in fat and sodium. And decided to cook 2 pounds of chicken breasts so we could have plenty of leftovers.
For those opposed to the whole "cream of chicken soup and packaged gravy" thing, you could always cook the chicken breasts in 2 cups of chicken broth until tender, shred the meat and make your own gravy right in the slow cooker, which should take about 15 minutes on HIGH. 🙂
This recipe for easy slow cooker chicken and gravy is really tasty. Served with mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce, it was a big hit. But, there's not much that makes my husband or me happier than mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner!
Tomorrow night, I'll use the leftovers to make open-faced hot chicken and gravy sandwiches. And serve them with cranberry sauce and a mixed green salad.
I love the whole cook once, eat twice concept. It makes life in the kitchen so much easier!
My 4-Quart slow cooker (affiliate link) must cook "hot" because my chicken breasts were done in way less than 8 to 10 hours.
I cooked mine on LOW for about 4 hours and then flipped the switch to WARM. If they had cooked 8 to 10 hours, I'm afraid they would have been really tough and stringy.
Already, I can see the need to invest in a programmable slow cooker (affiliate link) for those days I'm not here to flip the switch to warm manually 🙂
This easy slow cooker chicken and gravy is a real keeper for when we are wanting a comfort food fix.
How to Thicken Watery Gravy?
A few commenters have posted that their gravy turned out too thin and watery. Even with simple recipes results can vary depending on so many things including ingredients, kind of slow cooker and cooking time.
These days many producers inject chicken with a 15% or more solution of saline and water or chicken broth. The amount can be even higher if using pieces of individual quick frozen chicken.
So some chicken will result in releasing more water during cooking than others. You'll also get more water released if the chicken was still frozen, or partially frozen.
The good news is that too thin gravy is a pretty easy fix. This article from Real Simple provides great tips/techniques for thickening too thin gravy.
Enjoy!
Are You Ready To Slow Cook Yourself Slim?
If you like this lightened up slow-cooked chicken and gravy, be sure to check out my other easy, healthy Weight Watchers friendly slow cooker recipes including WW Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala, 3-Ingredient Creamy Italian Chicken, Skinny & Delicious Southwestern Slow Cooker Chicken, Lightened Up Slow Cooker Beef & Mushrooms and Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Osso Buco
If you've made this Slow Cooked Chicken with Gravy, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken & Gravy Recipe Made Lighter
Ingredients
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5-6 ounces each, about 2 pounds total)
- 2 packages chicken gravy mix (I used McCormick)
- 1 can (10-¾ ounces) low-fat, low-sodium cream of chicken soup (I used Campbell's Healthy Request)
- 2 cups water
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Ideal slow cooker size: 4-Quart.
- Place chicken in the slow cooker.
- In a bowl, mix together the dry gravy mix, soup, water and pepper with a whisk until the gravy is as smooth as you can get it.
- Pour the gravy mixture over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, until the chicken registers 165 on an instant read meat thermometer stuck into the center of the breasts.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, brown rice or toast, if desired.
Recipe Notes
*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.
Here's another way to make crock pot chicken and gravy:
More Weight Watchers Friendly Crock Pot Recipes
- Slow Cooker Turkey Breast with Gravy (SkinnyTaste)
- Crock Pot Beef Stew (LaaLoosh)
- Slow Cooker Sweet & Tangy Chicken (EmilyBites)
- Salisbury Steak Meatballs (SkinnyTaste)
- Slow Cooker Beef Tips & Gravy over Mashed Potatoes (MealPlanningMommies)
- Turkey Meatball Stroganoff (SkinnyTaste)
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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Sherry Norris
Hi Martha; first of all thank you for all the work you have put into this.
We made your Chicken and gravy crockpot recipe and my husband and I LOOOVVVEEEDDD IT!!! We have been struggling with what to cook that I can eat and it still taste good and that my husband will like also. Thank you.
ELIZABETH BASSETT
Made it tonight for the first time. Everyone liked it.
Cheryl Ivancik
This recipe is a keeper! I was a little afraid it would be too salty, but it was excellent. We've made it several times now. This last time I froze part of it for future lunches. Thanks for the great recipes.
Rosa R
Delicious made this tonight and everyone had second helpings. The only change I made was to make my own gravy, like you had in recipe notes. The soup even the reduced sodium had to much salt. I thicken the gravy with a cornstarch slurry.
Deanna
My husband and I love the Chicken and gravy recipe. It’s in the rotation!
Thank you!
Deanna
Debbie morrison
This was so delicious! Does it freeze well?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Debbie, I have not tried freezing this but believe it will work fine. ~Martha
Ro
This is a great and easy meal to have for meals for me for the week and alternate serving with noodles, mashed potatoes or over bread. Great served with cranberry sauce too. It's also a great & simple meal to drop off to friends or family who are unable to cook a meal due to sickness. All they have to do is heat it up.
Ida
Thank you for keeping the recipes with the blue,green, and purple. My husband and I stick with green all the time it worlds for us. Tonight we made the chicken and gravy and it was good. I loved the fact out it in the slow cooker and go. Last summer I froze green beans from our garden plus has mashed potatoes yummm a keeper.