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Crockpot Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Chicken, a cozier weeknight, slow cooker meal. This comforting chicken and broccoli is tossed in a creamy, spicy salsa verde white cheddar cheese sauce, then finished with a golden garlic thyme butter, so delish. It’s the perfect hearty and delicious meal to come home to at the end of a busy day. And what’s even better is just how easy it is to prepare!
And just like that, the crockpot recipes are slowly returning for the season ahead. To say that I’m excited would be an understatement. It’s not that I’m ready for chilly fall days, but I am ready to celebrate and share all of my favorite things. Baked apple recipes, dishes made with pumpkin, cozy stews and chilis, fresh bread, and warming cocktails.
As we enter into September this year, I have so much excitement. There’s so much to look forward to in the autumn months.
And the one thing I think we all know I love is creating easy, cozy dinners that we can all really enjoy.
At this point, I have more broccoli cheddar recipes in my toolbox than most need, but they’re all so yummy. My very favorite is a good bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. But I love my broccoli cheddar chicken noodle casserole, broccoli cheddar chicken and rice casserole and we can’t forget creamy one pot broccoli cheddar orzo.
Yes, I love this combination. But this is my first recipe for the crockpot, and I think you’ll really love it. This is the creamiest chicken, and it’s topped with a little garlic butter to make it that much more delicious.
Here are the details
Step 1: layer the chicken
Working in the bowl of your crockpot, layer the onion, chicken, and seasonings. Pour over the salsa verde, then add some water.
Now cover the crockpot and let the chicken cook. I usually cook 1-2 hours on high or 3 to 4 hours on low.
Step 2: make the chicken creamy
Once the chicken is cooked, mix in a bit of milk or cream, a block of cream cheese, a couple of handfuls of cheddar cheese, then lots of fresh broccoli.
Now let this cook on high for 10 or 15 minutes. Just until the sauce is very creamy and the cheese has melted.
Step 3: brown the butter
Brown the butter in a small skillet with garlic and thyme. The goal is to get the butter to a nice golden color and the thyme crispy. This takes about 4-5 minutes.
This is “extra” and while you don’t need it, it makes every bite of this dish that much yummier. So I of course recommend it.
I love to serve the chicken, broccoli, and sauce over rice or creamy polenta. And then drizzle that golden butter on top.
Once you plate this, I recommend adding fresh basil on top and some crusty bread on the side. The bread is perfect for scooping up all that extra creamy sauce.
Looking for other easy weeknight night dinners?? Here are my favorites:
One Pan Herb Butter Chicken and Zucchini Rice Pilaf
Simple Thai Chicken Zucchini Meatball Curry
Sheet Pan Hot Honey Garlic Chicken and Zucchini
Slow Cooker Mustard Herb Chicken and Creamy Orzo
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup with Salty Lime Chips
30 Minute Creamy Chicken and Parmesan Sage Dumplings
Creamy Gnocchi Soup with Rosemary Bacon
Lastly, if you make this Crockpot Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Chicken, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crockpot Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Chicken.
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 612 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 3/4 cup salsa verde
- 1/2 cup milk or cream
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 3-4 cups chopped broccoli
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
- fresh basil for serving
Instructions
Crockpot
- 1. In the bowl of your slow cooker, layer the onion and then the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the salsa verde and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 1-2 hours.2. Crank the heat on the slow cooker to high. Stir in the milk, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese. Add the broccoli. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until the sauce is creamy.3. Melt together the butter, garlic, and thyme leaves in a small skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter is browning and the thyme is crisp, 4 minutes.4. Serve the chicken, broccoli, and sauce topped with brown butter and fresh basil. Enjoy!
Instant Pot
- 1. In the bowl of your Instant Pot, layer the onion and then the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the salsa verde and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.2. Once done cooking, release the steam. Set the Instant Pot to sauté. Stir in the milk, cream cheese, and cheddar. Add the broccoli. Cook 6-8 minutes, until the sauce is creamy.3. Melt together the butter, garlic, and thyme leaves in a small skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter is browning and the thyme is crisp, 4 minutes.4. Serve the chicken, broccoli, and sauce topped with brown butter and fresh basil. Enjoy!
Have made this recipe many times now and every time has been great! My family loves it! Im terrible at measuring so I dump stuff in until it looks good and it’s turned out differently but delicious every time. Love your recipes!
Thank you so much Sarah! So glad you’re enjoying this recipe! xT
Decent flavour, but the timing is off for doing the high temp method. The onions didn’t cook down and the broccoli was crunchy. The sauce didn’t thicken at all either.
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear you had issues with the cook time! xx
I made this using the Instant Pot directions. I split the broccoli and put half in at the beginning and the other half when directed. I would recommend putting it in at the beginning. The sauce came out beautifully. However, I found the flavor a little off, but that just might be a matter of personal taste.
Hi Katy,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear you didn’t love it! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
This dish is amazing! Now that I’ve made it twice I’d recommend mixing in some orzo pasta which really takes it up another level and helps thicken the sauce.
Timing-wise: I let the broccoli and cheese cook for an extra hour in the crockpot, so I just figure it into the cook time. Next time I might cook the broccoli separately and mix it at the end to save time.
Hey Lena,
Awesome!! Thank you so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback! So glad to hear it’s been enjoyed! xT
Tieghan, you may want to recipe test this one again. It has the ingredients to be great, but the timing was off. I did the slow cooker option and had 30 mins left and went to stir my chicken and it was already done. I rushed to add the rest; and, like others commented, the broccoli didn’t really cook and then my chicken was over-cooked. I also omitted the milk bc this was already a bit watery. I did add a few extra sprigs of thyme when cooking the chicken, which helped with the flavor. I won’t be making this one again. Maybe the InstaPot one is a better method? Or, the stove?
Hi Kari,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. I tested this recipe several times before sharing using all methods and didn’t have any issues. Let me know if you try using the stove top! xx
Made some good recipes of yours but this was super disappointing. “Sauce” was watery (I should have known some milk and cream cheese can’t result in sauce). Flavor lacking even tho i doubled up on spices. Time in crockpot to cook broccoli is substantially more than 15 min even on high. Personally I don’t think this should’ve ever been a recipe for a crockpot.
Hi Katie,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! Please let me know if I can help in any way! xx
The flavors are there, I just didn’t nail it. The chicken was overcooked after 4 hours and the broccoli was undercooked after even 20 mins on high. There is a sauce but I wouldn’t describe this as “creamy.” Love the salsa verde addition and the browned butter with garlic and thyme! Adds so much yummy flavor. I would like to perfect this one!
Hi Brooke,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback! I would try adding the broccoli earlier next time and maybe cut them into smaller pieces. I would try chicken thighs or larger chicken breasts. I hope this helps! xT
Really enjoyed making this recipe. Have not cooked with salsa verde before and wasn’t sure if it might be too spicy so I added the juice of two limes and it was perfect. Another fantastic, flavorful dish. So creative.
Hey Natalie,
That’s fantastic to hear! Thanks for trying this dish and your comment, love that it was enjoyed! xT
I wasn’t super crazy about this recipe. It seems a lot to do for a Crockpot recipe for pretty bland results. It amazed me how many flavorful things I put in this, made it step by step, word for word and both myself and my husband just found it to be “meh” at best.
Hi there,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
OMGEEEE! I love this!!!!! Of course, as is usual for me, I didn’t make it exactly as written, but read comments & improvised: I didn’t have salsa verde but you suggested using more spice, which I did, and added a 1/4 c more water to start to compensate, along with some Sriracha. As others said the sauce was watery or thin, I didn’t add milk, just the cream cheese & cheese. My house smells amazing and it tastes to die for! Thank you Tieghan!
Thank you for the feedback Christine! xT
I made this in our Rival crockpot. These traditional slow cookers could never thoroughly cook chicken completely in 3 – 4 hours on low, so I cooked it 4 hours on high. So far so good, but at the end I removed the crock and finished the dish in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes or so until the cheeses were melted and bubbly. The crockpot on high was just not getting the job done. There was quite a bit of liquid, so I also thickened the sauce with 3 TB quick mixing flour and 1/3 cup water at the end. Then we had a successful dish!~
Thanks so much for the input Craig! xT
I have made this almost weekly now and my teen asks for it every week. delicious!
Hi! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for trying it out! xT
Can you use frozen broccoli?
Yes, that should be fine! xT
What about using frozen chicken breasts? Maybe double the cook time for the chicken in the instant pot?
Yes, that should work fine! Yes, I would maybe just add a little bit of time! xT
I was a crockpot hater until a friend recommended your site. you have made me love it. that was delicious!!! huge hit with the entire family.
Thank you!! Love to hear that!