This quick and comforting chicken spinach artichoke crock pot recipe is absolutely delicious!
If you like the popular appetizer dip, you’re going to go crazy over this chicken spinach artichoke crock pot recipe! Our Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Chicken takes all the flavor from the dip and turns it into a delicious dinner. It’s still as tender and creamy as the delicious appetizer, but with a fraction of the calories. Not only that but since we cooked it up with chicken, you won’t need to waste your carbs on dipping bread!
Make this Spinach and Artichoke Chicken
This simple, chicken spinach artichoke crock pot recipe looks gourmet, but it’s so easy to make. You just toss the ingredients into the Crock Pot and turn it on low for six to eight hours. The chicken will be melt-in-your-mouth tender, and that sauce is so creamy, you won’t believe it’s actually healthy! This recipe is perfect for lazy autumn weekends or wowing company at a dinner party.
What’s Up With Cream Cheese?
You might be wondering why we say to use reduced-fat cream cheese, but state NOT to use the fat-free stuff. What’s the deal with that? Wouldn’t we want you to use the lowest calorie, lowest fat ingredient possible? When it comes to cream cheese, it’s not worth it, and we’ll tell you why.
The thing about milk is that it’s naturally full of fat. It’s one thing to opt for skim milk at the store. To make that milk less fattening, the manufacturer only has to skim the cream off the top. Same thing with 2% milk: they remove the majority of the cream before homogenizing the milk.
When it comes to cheese, it’s not that easy. Skim milk doesn’t make great cheese because the butterfat is part of what gives cheese its texture and consistency. So, to make fat-free cream cheese, cheesemakers are adding in chemicals, sugar, and sodium. Just take a peek at the ingredients label of fat-free cream cheese and reduced-fat cream cheese and tell us which one you’d rather eat!
Using reduced-fat cream cheese in this chicken spinach artichoke crock pot recipe is a great way to achieve a delicious sauce that mimics everything you love about spinach artichoke dip. But, it cuts out a significant amount of calories as compared to the full-fat versions without adding any extra sugar or sodium. How great is that?
Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 cups spinach loosely packed, chopped
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 4 chicken breast filets
- 3 garlic cloves fresh, chopped
- 1/4 sweet onion finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons cream cheese reduced-fat but not fat-free
- 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese shredded
- 14 ounces artichoke hearts can, preservative-free or 6-8 artichoke hearts from a jar, drained and chopped
- 1 cup grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place spinach, chicken broth, and chicken breasts in 4-quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic, onion, and salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high from 4-6 hours.
- Just before serving, gently remove chicken breasts from the slow cooker and place on serving platters. Stir in cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and artichokes. Stir until creamy. Spoon sauce over chicken.
- Top with tomatoes. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese, if desired.
Nutrition Information
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Marinated or not – artichoke hearts??
Dana, It’s a personal preference, I prefer not marinated.
Making this with boneless chicken breast this week so I won’t have to make a trip to the store after work. How should the cooking time be adjusted?
Also, is there a way this could just be made on the stove?
Brittany,
Yes the stovetop should work fine.
Place spinach, chicken broth, and chicken breasts in a large, covered skillet. Cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked through, approximately 30 minutes.
Just before serving, gently remove chicken breasts from the skillet and place on serving platters. Stir in cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and artichokes. Stir until creamy. Spoon sauce over chicken.
Top with tomatoes. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese, if desired.
Absolutely loved the taste! However I couldn’t get the sauce to thicken? Did I do something wrong? I want to make it again but what should I do differently? It looked like the chicken broth wouldn’t mix.
Hi, Melissa. Glad you enjoyed our recipe!
There could be several reasons why the sauce didn’t thicken, like if you used frozen chicken breast. No matter the reason, next time you can reduce the amount of broth and/or increase the amount of Parmesan cheese.
Any suggestions on what to serve this with? Thanks!
Jill,
Here are some great side dish suggestions: 8 Healthy Sides for Chicken . All of these are great options! Since this chicken dish is a little more rich, I would also suggestion a fresh salad such as my recipe for Almond Orange Frisee Salad .
This is wonderful!!!!!I It felt like eating a creamy “cheat” yet being good for my diet. I did substitues chicken breast for the bone and skin chicken. I served it over rice to soak up that yummy sauce with corn on the side.the freshness of the tomatoes cut the richness to perfection. I cant wait til lunch to have the left overs. This recipie is a keeper for sure. Thanks for sharing it
My husband and I enjoyed this even though silly me forgot the artichokes they were sitting on the counter and everything lol. Only issue I had was the cream cheese didn’t want to melt and the cheese just turned into clumps not sure why.
Dawn, Next time try using reduced-fat cream cheese rather than fat-free. I tried both and it seems a little fat melts easier. Just be sure to add just before serving.
So my husband eats ANYTHING…except cherry/grape tomatoes. Is there anything you suggest to substitute them with? Or do you think leaving them out would be fine?
Kortney, What about sun-dried tomatoes? That would be yummy. Otherwise, just omit the tomatoes. 🙂
How much plain nonfat Greek yogurt would you sub for cream cheese??
Kelly, Equal amounts should work!
So you remove the chicken breasts, do you then add the cream cheese and artichokes to what is left in the crock pot? Or stir those ingredients together separately?
I’m cooking this tonight and am so excited!
Hi Blake,
First remove the chicken. Then, add the cream cheese, artichokes, and Parmesan to the mixture in the crock pot. Stir well so the sauce is creamy.
I used blskless thighs and oh my goodness. I didnt add the spinach till the end and ended up with a little cornstarch but again. … oh my goodness picky husband and daughter liked it too.
Sarah, YAH!!! So happy the entire family enjoy the chicken. 🙂
This was bland because it had way too much moisture which spread out / thinned out the creamy richness of the cheeses. Chicken with the skin on and bone in is very moist, which works well for slow cooking, but unfortunately produces too much moisture for a thick sauce. I’d recommend cooking seasoned chicken with onions and garlic alone, then adding the other ingredients after the chicken is cooked thru and removed from the pot. Then if you need additional moisture, you can add the broth into the crockpot with the spinach, cheeses, and artichoke. About 10 minutes on high should do it! It’s a good idea, just doesn’t execute well as described.
This was really good. The only change I made was substituting sundried tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes. The first time I made it there wasn’t enough liquid so I’ve added more chicken bone broth this time.
Do the points on this include the fat that drips into the juice from the skin-on chicken?
Sharon, Everything is included in the data.
This was my very first official weight watchers recipe and I have to say I loved it as did my husband. I was impressed by the complex flavors it produced. I really appreciate these postings and i can’t wait to try another recipe. In this recipe I took the skin off the chicken and used weight watchers cream cheese. Thank u again for an amazing dinner!
So glad to hear you and your husband enjoyed the recipe, Tiffany!
Is it really only 1 cup of chicken broth? It doesn’t seem like that’s enough liquid for a slow cooker? am I missing something?
Hi Alyssa. One cup of chicken broth will be plenty! The chicken and vegetables will also release liquid as the cook. Since this isn’t a soup or stew, you don’t want too much extra liquid in the slow cooker!