From the roundup: 22 High Protein Slow Cooker Meals That Actually Fill You Up

My first batch of slow cooker chicken thighs with sun-dried tomato cream sauce came out flat, and I traced it back to skipping the packing oil from the sun-dried tomato jar. One teaspoon stirred into the pot before I added anything else fixed it completely. I set everything up around 7:30, stir in the cream and Parmesan right before we sit down, and the sauce stays silky instead of grainy because the dairy never sees hours of direct heat. Spoon it over pasta and you have enough for seven with one lunch container left over for whoever got to the pot last.

Why you will love this

15 minutes of actual prep, then the slow cooker handles the rest for 4 to 5 hours on LOW
Chicken thighs stay juicy through the long cook in a way chicken breasts simply do not
The cream goes in only during the last 20 minutes, so the sauce stays silky instead of curdling
Sun-dried tomatoes and garlic build real depth without any browning or extra steps
One pot of sauce works over pasta, rice, or cauliflower rice so you can feed different preferences at the same table

Tips for success

Use the packing oil: add that one teaspoon of oil from the sun-dried tomato jar to the pot. It carries a lot of flavor and the sauce tastes noticeably flat without it.
Do not skip the 20-minute cream step at the end. Stirring cold cream into a screaming-hot slow cooker and immediately serving it can leave the sauce thin and slightly grainy. Letting it sit on LOW with the lid on gives it time to warm through and thicken.
Check the chicken at the 4-hour mark on LOW before assuming it needs more time. Slow cookers run differently, and thighs that go too long can start to shred into the sauce rather than hold their shape for serving.
After you stir in the Parmesan, taste the sauce before adding more salt. The cheese brings its own saltiness, and the sun-dried tomatoes can too depending on the brand.

If the sauce looks thin or too rich

Thin sauce: remove the lid for the last 15 to 20 minutes on HIGH after adding the cream. Letting steam escape helps it tighten up.
Too rich: a small squeeze of fresh lemon juice stirred in at the end cuts through the cream without changing the flavor profile.
Not enough sauce for pasta: add a splash of the starchy pasta cooking water to the slow cooker before serving. It loosens the sauce and helps it cling to noodles.

Substitutions

Boneless skinless chicken breasts work here, but reduce the cook time to 3 hours on LOW and check early. They do not have the same fat content as thighs, so they dry out faster. For the sun-dried tomatoes, water-packed jars are fine, just add an extra teaspoon of olive oil to make up for the missing packing oil. Half-and-half can replace the heavy cream for a lighter sauce, though it will be a bit thinner. For a dairy-free version, full-fat coconut cream works in place of the heavy cream and the Parmesan can simply be left out.

If red pepper flakes are a hard no for your kids, skip them entirely. The sauce has plenty of flavor from the garlic and Italian seasoning without any heat.

Make-ahead and storage

You can assemble everything except the cream the night before: season the chicken, combine the sauce ingredients, pour it over the chicken in the insert, and refrigerate the whole thing covered. In the morning, let it sit on the counter while the slow cooker preheats, then cook as directed. Add the cream and Parmesan only in the last 20 minutes, same as always.

Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat gently in a skillet over low heat with a splash of chicken broth if the sauce has thickened too much in the fridge. High heat will cause the cream sauce to separate, so keep it low and slow even when reheating. I do not recommend freezing this one after the cream is added, but if you want to freeze a portion, do it before stirring in the cream and Parmesan, then finish the sauce fresh when you reheat it.

Brittany Stage