3 Ingredient Crock-pot Tuscan Chicken
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Crock-pot Tuscan Chicken is juicy slow-cooked chicken with fire-roasted tomatoes and capers that’s an insanely easy and flavorful dinner to make.
With just a few ingredients, you can serve a meal that tastes like you cooked all day but really, it only took 5 minutes to put together.
Why This 3 Ingredient Tuscan Chicken Recipe Is So Awesome
- Chicken thighs are inexpensive and very forgiving when it comes to cooking time.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes add incredible flavor to a dish. They taste as if you grilled them beforehand.
- This recipe takes less than five minutes to prepare. All the cooking time is done in the slow cooker!
What You’ll Need For This Chicken Dinner
Chicken Thighs – I used skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe, but you don’t have to. You can certainly use boneless, skinless chicken thighs if that’s what you prefer. I removed the skin from the pot when you serve, but I left it in during cooking because it adds so much extra flavor.
Fire Roasted Tomatoes – These are pretty easy to find at your local grocery store now. They are tomatoes that have been roasted over flames and then the peels are removed usually. They offer a smoky flavor to the tomatoes which of course, adds even more flavor to the dish.
Capers in brine – Capers are little immature flower buds of a caper bush typically grown around the Mediterranean and Italy. They’re picked and bottled in a salty type brine and when added to dishes, they lend a salty, vinegary type flavor. They’re delicious!! You’ll find them in the pickle aisle at the grocery store.
Pantry Ingredients
Salt, Pepper, Garlic powder, oil.
Eazy Tip: Remember, salt, pepper, garlic, oil, and water don’t factor into the ingredient count because most people have those pantry items in their kitchen.
How to Make This Easy Slow-Cooker Chicken Recipe
Crock-Pot Tuscan Chicken is insanely easy to make because of the effortless prep it requires.
STEP 1: Salt and pepper the chicken pieces, top, and bottom. Then sprinkle the chicken with your garlic powder, again, both top and bottom.
STEP 2: Place the oil into the slow cooker, and add the chicken. Then add the fire-roasted tomatoes. Be sure they are drained before you add them.
STEP 3: Add the capers and the brine. Place the lid on the slow cooker, and cook!
STEP 4: After the cooking time is up, you can choose to shred the chicken pieces or carefully serve the chicken over rice or potatoes.
***Look for the printable recipe card below for all the specific directions to make this chicken dinner perfect.
Can I Make this in the Oven?
You sure can! Instead of putting the ingredients in the crockpot, use a baking dish instead. It should have a lid, or you can cover it with foil. You’ll want to cook it for a shorter amount of time than the slow cooker.
EAZY TIP: If using chicken thighs with the skin on, you can choose to remove the skin after the cooking time is up. Keeping the skin on during cooking adds extra flavor to the dish as it renders some fat into the mix, and we all know – fat is flavor!
Customize Tuscan Chicken in the Slow Cooker
- Try adding some extra dry herbs if you have them on hand. Italian Seasoning (1 tsp), or dried oregano and/or marjoram (1/2 tsp each) would add spectacular flavor.
- If you have some fresh onion you can dice, go ahead and include that in the crockpot with the chicken and other ingredients. Adding about 1/2 a diced onion would be perfect.
- If you’d like a little zip of heat, add some dried chili flakes. Chili flakes and tomatoes are best friends, but careful not to add too many. You don’t want to burn your lips off! (Try just a pinch if you’re not used to spicy flavors.)
Storing Leftovers
Store any leftovers in a tight-fitting, lidded container in the fridge. This chicken dinner will last up to 5 days and can easily be reheated in the microwave, toaster oven, or air fryer if you have one. (The air fryer would be an awesome way to reheat it!)
Freezing the chicken leftovers is also an option. Remember to use a freezer-safe, tight-fitting container. Freeze for up to 3 months, then let the chicken thaw in the fridge overnight. You could also use a microwave to thaw as well.
Recipe Q&A
Absolutely. You can still keep the skin on the breasts during the cooking time, or choose to remove it before you add them to the crockpot. You can also use chicken legs in place of thighs if you want.
If you don’t want to serve rice, boiling any pasta shape you like is a great idea, or even making some quick mashed potatoes (hey, boxed mashed potatoes are easy and delish!), or if you have the time, roasted diced potatoes would be yummy as well. My recipe for 3 Ingredient Greek Pasta Salad goes perfectly with this chicken dish.
Heat up some peas or serve some steamed carrots alongside if you want to add some vegetables
You can substitute green olives for capers. They have that same salty briny flavor that capers do. Make sure you don’t get the green olives that are filled with pimento; just buy the seedless green olives and chop them up! If olives aren’t your jam, Purewow has a few other ideas you can use as a substitute for the capers.
Thanks for checking out the recipes here at EazyGrub! If you’ve tried this recipe already, please leave a comment and a star rating below! Have an awesome day!
3 Ingredient Crockpot Tuscan Chicken
Tender chicken thighs are slow cooked with smoky flavored fire roasted tomatoes. Capers add a salty, briny flavor that makes this chicken dish perfect for any night of the week.
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs, skin on, bone-in *see notes below for added information
- 2 cans Fire roasted tomatoes, diced, lightly drained, 14oz each
- 2-3 tablespoons Capers
- 1 tablespoon caper brine
- 2 tablespoons oil
- As desired: Salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Be sure to salt top and bottom of the pieces.
- Place the oil in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the chicken pieces on top.
- Add the fire roasted tomatoes and capers, along with the caper brine as well.
- Cover and set on low for 6-7 hours or high for 4 -5.
- When serving, remove the chicken skin. Serve over rice, potatoes or pasta. Enjoy!
Notes
1. You can use any chicken pieces you want. They can also be skinless and boneless. I like to use bone in chicken pieces because I believe the bone adds more flavor during the cooking process.
2. When the cooking time is complete, you can use two forks and shred the chicken if you want, or leave it whole and serve over whatever side you choose.
3. If you can't find fire roasted tomatoes, use diced tomatoes that include some italian seasonings in the can.
Oven Cooking Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Assemble the ingredients in the baking dish just as you would in the slow cooker pot directions above.
Cover (using a lid or foil), and cook for 45 minutes (if using bone in thighs) or until the chicken registers 165 degrees.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
2 thighsAmount Per Serving Calories 640Total Fat 43gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 32gCholesterol 333mgSodium 914mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 62g
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands used, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.