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This crockpot Olive Garden chicken is to die for! The juicy and tender chicken cooked with some pasta is insanely delicious! Plus, it’s super easy which is a total win-win!
I love an easy and delicious crockpot meal! If you want to try more meals like this, you should start with Soup, this Beef and Broccoli, and this amazing Lasagna!
Crockpot Olive Garden Chicken (with Pasta!)
I love a recipe I can whip up at the last minute and still taste delicious!! This Olive Garden crockpot chicken and pasta is the perfect meal! It only takes 5 minutes to put together! Then, it cooks all day, and you don’t have to do a thing! Cook up some Broccoli, Asparagus, or this delicious salad, and you have a meal to remember!
This recipe only uses 5 ingredients! And one is a bottle of Olive Garden salad dressing. The dressing is SO GOOD, and when you mix it with the chicken and cheeses, it takes it to a whole new level! I also love that you just throw in some cooked pasta again, and the meal is done! My kids go crazy over this and are so impatient that they want to just eat it straight out of the crockpot! Another delicious cheesy recipe you won’t want to miss is my creamy four cheese pasta!
Ingredients for Crockpot Olive Garden Chicken
This recipe only uses 5 ingredients…. yes, 5! If you don’t have time to wait for a slow cooker, make my Baked Olive Garden Chicken and Pasta. See the recipe card below for a list of exact ingredient measurements.
- Chicken breasts: Use fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe.
- Olive Garden Italian dressing: This dressing is SO GOOD! Using the entire bottle will let you get all of that amazing flavor!
- Parmesan: I just used Parmesan cheese from the can! It’s super easy, and you probably already have it in your fridge.
- Cream cheese: This makes the sauce texture taste so creamy. And you can’t beat the tangy flavor of cream cheese!
- Pasta: Cook the pasta right before the chicken is done, then just throw it in and mix it up!
Let’s Cook Some Chicken!
This is a true set-it-and-forget-it meal. Just a few minutes of prep, then let the slow cooker work its magic! Love easy crockpot pasta recipes? Be sure to check out my Crockpot Million Dollar Pasta, and crockpot poppy seed chicken, too!
- Add chicken and dressing: Place the chicken breasts in a slow cooker laying flat. Pour the whole bottle or homemade olive garden dressing over top the chicken.
- Add cheeses and cook: Sprinkle parmesan over the top of the chicken and dressing. Place the block of cream cheese on top. Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours.
- Cook pasta: Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Shred the chicken, add pasta, and serve: Using 2 forks or shredders, shred the chicken evenly. Use 1/4 cup of Parmesan and sprinkle it over the top of the chicken. Add in the pasta and stir until well combined. Serve while hot.
Crockpot Cooking Tips
Using a crockpot is already easy. These quick tips make it even better.
- Keep the lid on: Lifting the lid lets heat escape and slows cooking. Trust the process and peek through the glass.
- Preheat first: Turn it on about 20 minutes before adding food. Do it while you prep.
- Spray it: A quick coat of cooking spray prevents sticking and makes cleanup easier.
Olive Garden Chicken Freezer Meal Instructions
Instructions:
- Add & Mix: Add the bottle of dressing and parmesan cheese to a gallon-sized, freezer-safe, sealable storage bag and mix well.
- Add, Coat, & Freeze: Add the chicken to the bag with the sauce and mix to coat the chicken in the sauce. Press out as much air as possible, seal the bag, and freeze it flat for better storage.
Reheat:
- Thaw Slightly: Pull the bag out of the freezer one hour before cooking to let it thaw slightly on the counter before cooking.
- Cook: Place the contents of the bag and the softened cream cheese into the crockpot. Cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 4 hours until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily.
- Shred: Remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred it. Return the shredded chicken to the crockpot and mix to coat it in the sauce.
- Cook Pasta & Serve: Cook the penne noodles according to package instructions and drain well. Stir the noodles into the chicken mixture and serve!
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Crockpot Olive Garden Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken breasts
- 1 (16 ounce bottle ) Olive Garden Italian dressing or homemade Olive Garden Italian Dressing
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 16 ounces cooked pasta
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in a slow cooker laying flat. Pour the whole bottle or homemade olive garden dressing over top the chicken.
- Sprinkle parmesan over top the chicken and dressing. Place the block of cream cheese on top. Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook for 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Using 2 forks or shredders, shred the chicken evenly. Use 1/4 cup parmesan and sprinkle over top the chicken. Add in the pasta and stir until well combined. Serve while hot.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to Store Leftovers
If you have some leftovers with this dish then consider yourself lucky! This crockpot Olive Garden chicken and pasta is so delicious the next day! Once the food has cooled them store it in an airtight container in your fridge. It will last for 3-4 days! When you are ready to eat, you can heat it up in your microwave for 1-2 minutes or until heated through!
More Delicious Crockpot Recipes
I love crockpot meals, they’re easy and always turn out juicy and delicious. My Crockpot Chicken Alfredo is a fave, but honestly, you’ll want to try them all!
Great recipe! My mother, husband and 1.5 year old all loved it! Definitely keeper. Easy to make as well!
I was so excited to try this. Used exactly what it called for.
It was so salty and the cholesterol amount…wow
I love olive garden dressing but it’s to much .. next time not 8 Oz maybe 4oz
Regarding the Recipe Tips, I never preheat my crock, having learned a hard and expensive lesson when I added a cold ingredient to my preheated crock, and the thermal shock immediately cracked it! I put a note to self that I keep in my replacement crock “Cold ingredients in a cold crock, hot ingredients in a hot crock.”
Additionally, I use slow cooker liners rather than spraying the crock with cooking spray; clean up is so much quicker and easier!
If this was too tangy for people, then it was made incorrectly or with not enough cream cheese when they did it. 8 ounces of cream cheese is what you want to use. I added sautéed yellow squash, broccoli, on the vine tomato and red peppers to mine to make it more like a primavera. Was really tasty. Next time I plan to add the new shredded cream cheese and mozarella mixture that kraft now makes partnered with philadelphia cream cheese to give it a bit more cheese pull. I will also not be addding more parmesan as a topper after it cooks. And I may pop it into the oven for a broiler at the end with some of that mozarella on top and serve with garlic toast
Absolutely loved this it was so full of flavor I will definitely be making this again
Super easy recipe! The only issue I found with this recipe is that it is rich. Maybe it would be better as a side than a main course. As someone who loves rich food, this recipe was almost too rich!
Made this dish with the home-made Italian dressing recipe. Added a little half & half to the pasta before serving which toned down the tanginess & made it more creamy. I’ll make it again with this revision.
While putting this together I was worried it would be overwhelming. ( just the smell)I added heavy cream. Then cooked asparagus to mix in. Hope it helps.
Perfect! Absolutely yummy. I did add garlic because I love garlic. I used grated Parmesan because that’s what I had on hand. Only took a couple hours in my crockpot. This is a keeper!
What happens if I accidentally cooked the chicken for 10 minutes, will it still be good ?
I still put the chicken in the crockpot.
That should be fine!
I love this recipe! I dont use the bottled dressing, I prepare the homeade dressing. I like to add real garlic, 1 Vidalia onion, sometimes a red pepper, & sun dried tomatoes. Whatever I have on hand. Sometimes I use half the cream cheese called for, sometimes I omit it all together. I always use more mayo, about 1/3 C. It’s just a delicious chicken & pasta combo!! I’ve made this a dozen times in the past 9 months & everyone loves it!!
I added more chicken , so there’s 4 chicken breast instead of 2 . Do you think 2 blocks of cream cheese is okay since I added more chicken ?
OMG…. I never leave comments…..
This was gross….. really salty…& tangy!!!
Don’t bother…..
Omg it was aweful. Taste was strong and overwhelming I tried to dilute it with cream. It was terrible
I wish I had read the reviews. We had to throw it away. It was WAY too tangy to eat yuck
It was awful!! I tried doctoring it up,added sour cream, more parm, seasoning salt,pepper, butter. Nothing could get thru the flavor of the too tangy dressing. Oh, and heavy cream. Nothing helped. Just bad!!
Too much Olive Garden dressing flavor boring and dry. I added heavy cream and 4 oz. More of cream cheese after cooking. Not so dry but definitely needs some color or other flavors. Won’t cook this again.
It was too tangy for me. Too much dressing. My partner and bestie liked it. Not something I’ll make again.
Apple cider vinegar helps knock out that salty taste. I used half the bottle and half the cream cheese. Added heavy cream and some 6 blend Italian cheeses to it. It was still saltier than I’d like so I added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and it worked wonders!!
This is wayyy too much Olive Garden dressing! It was so strong, salty and tangy that we couldn’t eat it.
I read some of the reviews about it being too salty. I did follow the recipe except after I had shredded the chicken and added the pasta I added 3/4 of a cup of heavy cream. It was perfect. The cream added a smoothness to the sauce and took the salty taste down. Very good. I am putting it in a sealing bag and freezing it. I will let you know how it freezes.
so after reading all the comments I didn’t want mine to come out tasting bad so I only used 1/3 of the Olive garden dressing. I added basil. oregano. Italian seasoning and paprika to make up for the lack of dressing I put in there and also one cup of water. the cream cheese was still in clumps at the end but using a plastic spoon I was able to break down the chicken breasts into small pieces and mixed it til it looked like a sauce. then I added sun dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese. It came out good. I needed to add a bit of salt but not bad.