WW Recipe of the Day: Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Puttanesca
Boneless, skinless chicken topped with tomatoes, garlic, olives, and capers and cooked in the CrockPot until tender. This is an easy, healthy, low carb, flavor packed recipe that was an immediate hit with everyone.
I’m a huge fan of slow cooker recipes that take five minutes in the morning, yet taste like your spent all day in the kitchen. It's easy enough to serve for a weeknight supper, yet fancy enough for weekend guests!
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Puttanesca
I love spaghetti alla puttanesca, a classic Italian pasta dish made with a sauce consisting of tomatoes, olive oil, anchovies, olives, capers , crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic.
But I never thought of adding chicken until this recipe showed up in my email a while back. With it's short list of fresh, flavorful ingredients, I just knew it would be a winner of a chicken dinner 🙂
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Puttanesca?
According to my calculations, each serving of chicken and puttanesca sauce has 192 calories and
3 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
1 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
1 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
How to Make Crock Pot Chicken Puttanesca Step-by-Step
Step 1: Gather and Prep Your Ingredients:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (I used a combination of red and yellow ones from the garden)
- ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, drained and sliced in half
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic (or 3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and chopped)
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning or oregano (I used herbs de provence (affiliate link) instead)
- ½ teaspoon dried red chile flakes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Step 2: Load the Crock Pot, Cover & Cook
Use a 4-quart slow cooker (affiliate link) for best results. If you use a larger crock pot your chicken is apt to cook more quickly, so check it sooner to prevent overcooking it.
Season the chicken with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and then place them in the bottom of your slow cooker.
Seasoned boneless skinless chicken breasts in the slow cooker
Top with remaining ingredients.
Chicken breasts topped with tomatoes, olives, capers and seasonings
Cover, and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and fork tender.
Cooking Notes
This recipe can be modified in a number of ways to suit your tastes and what you have on hand. Here are a few suggestions that come to mind:
Recipe Substitutions & Variations
No chicken breasts? Boneless skinless chicken thighs are a great substitute. They are less prone to overcooking making them a good choice if you want a dish that can hang out longer in the crockpot. Pork chops would be good too.
No cherry tomatoes? Chopped fresh roma tomatoes would be good. Canned diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes would work as well.
Garnishes? Grated or shaved Parmesan or crumbled feta would be good as would a sprinkling of fresh chopped Italian parsley. We enjoyed it with a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar.
Zestier? For a zestier more authentic version, add 1-2 tablespoons chopped anchovies or anchovy paste.
Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Puttanesca Serving Suggestions
I served our chicken puttanesca with Al Dente Carba-Nada Pasta (affiliate link) (Egg Fettuccini) on the side. It's low in carbs, with texture and taste like real pasta and only *3 SmartPoints for 1-½ cups.
Al Dente Carba Nada Pasta - Fettuccini
You could also serve this with rice, cauliflower rice or zoodles zucchini noodles, if you are looking to keep your points low. Warm crusty bread and a simple green salad would also work nicely.
Ways to Use Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Puttanesca Leftovers
This recipe makes four generous servings. You could always portion out and freeze the leftovers for future quick and easy meals. We simply reheated ours in the microwave (affiliate link) the next day for a quick and easy lunch.
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Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Puttanesca
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (about 2 cups - I used red & yellow)
- ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic (or 3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled & minced)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning or oregano (I used herbs de Provence)
- ½ teaspoon dried red chile flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half (about 25 olives)
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
Instructions
- Ideal Slow Cooker Size: 4-quart (If you use a larger slow cooker, check after 4 hours on LOW as it will cook more quickly.)
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning and place in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients.
- Cover, and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and fork tender.
Recipe Notes
No chicken breasts? Boneless skinless chicken thighs are a great substitute. They are less prone to overcooking making them a good choice if you want a dish that can hang out longer in the crockpot. Pork chops would be good also. No cherry tomatoes? Chopped fresh roma tomatoes would be good. Canned diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes would work too Garnishes? Grated or shaved Parmesan or crumbled feta would be good as would a sprinkling of fresh chopped Italian parsley. We enjoyed it with a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar. Zestier? For a zestier more authentic version add 1-2 tablespoons chopped anchovies or anchovy paste Click here to see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site. 3 *SmartPoints (Green plan) 1 *SmartPoints (Blue plan) 1 *SmartPoints (Purple plan) 5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
Recipe source: adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking
*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.
If you like this Slow Cooker Low Carb Chicken Puttanesca, you might also like:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Osso Buco
- Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
- Slow Fat Crockpot Chicken & Peppers
- Slow Cooker Chicken Pasta Fagioli
- Spaghetti alla Puttanesca (Gluten-Free)
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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Cindy
No liquid?
Martha McKinnon
No liquid. The chicken and tomatoes provided enough for us. ~Martha
Elaine
How do you think this would work on top of the stove in a dutch oven? Maybe on med to low heat for a couple hours? I don't have a slow cooker.
Marilyn
I made this recipe tonight. Cut it down as only serving 2. I would try pan frying it next time as found the chicken breast dry cooking it on high for 2 1/2 hours. I would also use the canned tomatoes for making more of a sauce. I did add a splash of the 18 year old balsamic vinegar and fresh grated parmesan really did pick up the flavor. I also wondered if it would be better to use chicken thighs instead of the chicken breasts. Worth making it again with some little changes.
Amanda
I have made this recipe many times. It is my favorite! So tasty, especially over roasted spaghetti squash. I replaced the cherry tomatoes with a can of diced tomatoes with chiles because I didn't have any fresh tomatoes. It was an excellent substitution and added a little extra umph. ?
Martha McKinnon
So glad you like it, Amanda! Love the idea of using canned diced tomatoes with chilies instead of fresh. Thanks for sharing.
Carla Chandler
I made as written but used thighs. A flavorful meal. My husband and I love it. W did pick up the great bread from Panera we love to soak up the juices. Thanks Martha.
Sue
This is one of my favorite recipes. I make it often. Thank you for all the great recipes!
Tammy
Would it change the flavor too much if you sub out black olives for kalamata? Can I skip the capers?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Tammy, Of course, you can amend the recipe to make it work for you. However the flavor will change if you skip the capers and sub out kalamta olives, both of which provide tangy brininess. Hope this helps. ~Martha