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.
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 (affiliate link) 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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Decalo Weight Loss
This looks SO good.
CherieZ
Thank you looks soooo good and easy too!
PatB
Made this last night and it is so good. I will definitely make this again. The chicken was very moist
Martha McKinnon
PatB, Glad you liked it 🙂
Marge
The cook time says 6 mins. and the total time says 16 mins. I'm sure these are just typos.
Martha McKinnon
Thanks, Marge. Good catch! I fixed the cook and total times.
Anne O'Brien
Martha, you're absolutely right that slow cookers cook much faster these days. Manufacturers turned up cooking temps because of concerns about whether food was being cooked to a high enough temperature. I think it really had to do more with people's tendencies to lift the lid before a dish was done, thereby slowing the cooking process considerably. With the new slow cookers, I don't dare leave chicken cooking all day, and even beef doesn't take as long as it once did.
I have a recipe similar to this one that uses chicken thighs. I saute them, then put them in the cooker with chicken broth and a mixture of seasonings. I'm looking forward to trying yours because it sounds ever easier!
Martha McKinnon
Thanks, Anne. I appreciate your insights. Cooking with these hotter slow cookers takes a little getting used to. It's important to check recipes much sooner to see if they are done.
Jen McLaughlin
Hi Martha! Just found your site this morning. I'm preparing to start the WW simply filling technique (tracking is not working for me). Would this recipe count if I used fat free soup? Thanks!
Martha McKinnon
Hi Jen! Glad you found my site and hope it helps 🙂 I'm not sure that this recipe technically fits with simply filling. I've just checked the WW Power Foods List http://www.weightwatchers.com/images/1033/dynamic/GCMSImages/Food_List.pdf and I don't think either the gravy mix or cream of mushroom soup make the cut! But of course, this is always a personal call. I take little liberties here and there and are still able to successfully maintain. I'd say if you used the fat free cream of soup and when light with the gravy when eating this chicken and gravy you'd be okay. Best of luck with Simply Filling. I'll be curious to hear how it works for you. I'm a big fan!!
Joanna
I made this last week and it is so good! Easy and tasty this will become a regular in my house! Even my picky 5 yr old loves it.
Martha McKinnon
HiJoanna,
Glad you liked it!
Laura
This was delicious!! Made with biscuits and mashed potatoes. Lots of juicy goodness to sop up with biscuit!
Martha McKinnon
Glad you enjoyed it Laura! Love the idea of biscuits and mashed potatoes. They are two of my favorite foods of all time 🙂
Joanna
I have made this recipe twice and adore it! Easy and so delicious. No one believes me when I show them the recipe and calories. This is restaurant quality. Thank you!
Martha McKinnon
So glad to hear that, Joanna!
Theresa L
I made this tonight for the first time and it was a huge hit with my hubby and 16 yr old daughter. I actually cut the recipe in half and served it over toast with a side vegetable. Will certainly be making this again...super easy and super delicious on a cold NY night.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Teresa,
So glad you all enjoyed it! What a perfect dinner for a cold NY night!! Stay warm 🙂
JewTomMommy
I just put this in the crockpot. I substituted boneless, skinless chicken thighs (caught them on sale!). It's cold here (wind chill of -18), so I figured this would be a good recipe to try out to warm us up. My hubby isn't a soup person, so comfort foods are my go-to meals on days like today. I'll let you know how it turns out later.
Martha McKinnon
I love boneless, skinless thighs in the slow cooker and scoring them on sale is always a treat! Enjoy dinner and stay warm 🙂
Happy Crocking!!
Amanda M
So glad I found your site. I'm an on-again member and plan to make lifetime this time around! I'm making this tomorrow night and can't wait! It looks so good!! I assume it is freezable too, so I can double it up
Martha McKinnon
Hi Amanda,
Best of luck with your return to WW and journey to lifetime! The key is to just take it slow and steady and never give up!! Though I haven't frozen it, I see no reason it wouldn't work.
Happy CrockingPot Cooking 🙂
kristen
1. Do you just put uncooked chicken into the crockpot or cook it first? (sorry am new to this)
Martha McKinnon
Hi Kristen, Just put it right in the crockpot. NO precooking required 🙂
Enjoy!!
Denise
I made this tonight and it was really watery and not even close to gravy-ish....what did I do wrong?! I followed the recipe to the letter, and I'm thinking maybe only use 1 cup water next time? I used the exact same soup/gravy mixes you suggested.
Martha McKinnon
Sorry to hear that Denise. I can't really figure out why that would be. Did you use frozen chicken that might have released more water into the mix? You could always thicken it by making a slurry of the flour or cornstarch and a little of the cooking liquid, whisking it till smooth and then whisking it into your too thin gravy. Cook on high, stirring, and it should thicken up. You can try using 1 cup water with the 2 packages of gravy mix, but I'm afraid it might be too salty. I would say follow your instincts because they are usually right 🙂
Denise
Nope, fresh chicken! When I warmed up some for my husband (he works late), I added some thickener (corn starch/water) and it was perfect! Would definitely make again!
Martha McKinnon
Glad the thickener helped, Denise!!
Kate
Thank you for sharing this recipe! Made it tonight for dinner, it was delicious! The chicken turned out perfect. We also added in baby carrots to the slow cooker towards the end and served it over brown rice. I will definitely be making this again.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Kate, so glad you liked it! Love the idea of adding baby carrots and serving it over brown rice. Yum!
Katelyn Rydstrom
Would it be possible to use frozen chx breast? How would that affect the recipe?
Martha McKinnon
I've never done it, so I'm not exactly sure! I would say that it will, of course, take longer to cook and will make the gravy more watery, so you may need to thicken it at the end with a little flour or cornstarch and water. Otherwise, it should be fine.
Meg
I have seen lots of recipes that call for using frozen meat in the slow cooker. HOWEVER, I have also read on a number of sites and also heard on TV that this is not a good idea. When starting with frozen meat, the temperature stays in the "unsafe" range for too long.
Mary Stone
My family and I love this recipe. My husband wants me to brown his chicken first next time. Thanks for giving us this recipe and all the others on this site.
Martha McKinnon
You are so welcome, Mary. Let us know how it turns out with browning the chicken first.
Roberta Thorne
Love this recipe, have already made it 3 times. My family who are very fussy loved it also. The second time I made it I jacked it up a bit and near the end I added diced potatoes and frozen peas and carrots......after serving this with biscuits for the guys I finally broke down and told them it was a WW recipe, they said they didn't care and that if I could find more recipes they would all gladly eat them......YEAH!!!!!
Cindy
Martha
My crock pot just died 🙁
Would I be able 2 make this in the oven & cook it on a low degree?
How long & @ what temperature?
Thanks
Cindy
Martha McKinnon
Hi Cindy,
I haven't tried it in the oven but think it would work. I would snuggle everything into an oven safe covered casserole dish and cook at about 300 for 1 to 2 hours or until tender. I'd check after one hour and then try to judge doneness from there.
Cindy
Thanks so much
I will be making this, this weekend 🙂
Martha McKinnon
Hope you like it Cindy.
Kimber
I have used my cast iron dutch oven like a crock pot many times over the years. It works great!
Martha McKinnon
I love my cast iron dutch oven too. It works well for slow cooking, you're so right!!