You won't believe that a dish this delicious is ACTUALLY healthy!
When you hear the words Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? It’s probably not healthy, and you definitely wouldn’t assume this is a dinner under 300 calories. But, guess what: both of those things are true! We figured out a way to make a healthier version of a comfort classic, and you’ll fall in love with the result.
The best part about this recipe isn’t how deliciously creamy it is, or how perfectly the chicken and mushrooms pair together. Those things are great, but we love how easy it is to make this recipe in a Crock Pot. There are a thousand slow cooker chicken recipes out there, and for a good reason: they’re simple and delicious to make! All you have to do is plop the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook it for six hours on low. When you’re ready to serve, whisk in the yogurt and cream cheese, and it’s ready to go!
Making Smart Ingredient Swaps
You might be wondering how we could pull off a dish this delicious and still keep everything under 300 calories. How did we do it? Well, it all starts with a few ingredient swaps.
Normally, you’d make a creamy chicken sauce by using cream. That sounds reasonable, right? Well, cream is just about one of the worst things for you. All the fat found in cream is saturated fat (which can lead to high cholesterol and can put you at a higher risk of heart disease). Not only that, but each ounce of heavy cream has a whopping 100 calories. That means each cup has 800 calories…yikes!
So we got to experimenting in the test kitchen. We wanted to give you the sweet, rich flavor of the cream without actually having to use any. When we combined fat-free cream cheese and plain Greek yogurt, we knew we’d hit the nail on the head. The cream cheese gave the dish its characteristic thick, creamy flavor while the Greek yogurt balanced everything out with a bit of a tang. Perfect!
A Quick Note about Dairy in the Slow Cooker
Before you get started making this Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms, we want to point out a crucial step in the recipe. Unlike some slow cooker chicken recipes, you can’t just dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker. You have to wait to add the dairy ingredients until just before serving.
If you were to add everything at the beginning, the heat of the slow cooker would curdle the yogurt and cream cheese. It wouldn’t necessarily taste bad, and it certainly wouldn’t kill you to eat it, but it definitely doesn’t look Instagram-worthy. To keep the dairy from breaking, make sure you whisk in the yogurt and cream cheese at the very end.
For those of you following a dairy-free diet, you could certainly experiment with using coconut milk instead. Although we haven’t tried it, we’d love to hear from you if you make it that way! Simply follow the instructions in the recipe and whisk in the coconut milk (or, coconut yogurt) at the end. Don’t forget to leave us a comment to let us know if it worked or not!
Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts 6 to 8 ounces each
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme not ground
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup cream cheese fat-free
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt plain, fat-free
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except the cream cheese and Greek yogurt in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and set aside. Whisk in the cream cheese and yogurt until smooth. Return the chicken to the slow cooker. Cook on high for another 15 minutes.
- Serve hot.
Nutrition Information
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I could totally get lost in this! Tbis is the type of meal I was raised on, with canned soup in the mix. My mouth is watering….can’t wait to make this, there’s just me and the dog and we’ll party!!
There is nothing in the recipe that about adding a can of soup. I made this and the flavor was very good but the sauce was like water. My husband was not impressed.
There is no can of soup in this recipe. You can thicken the sauce by adding about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with about 3 tablespoons of cold water to the hot sauce. Repeat as needed to reach your preferred consistency.
There is way too much broth it this recipe ??
So disappointing
Hi Barbara, please feel free to adjust the recipe to fit your personal preferences.
Can this be made in the instant pot?
Liz, Sure can.