Slow Cooker Balsamic and Tomato Chicken

This is a guest post from Katie Sullivan Morford, MS, RD of Mom’s Kitchen Handbook. Check out her blog for more tasty (and healthy) family-friendly meals and don’t forget to like her on Facebook.

The slow cooker is a lifesaver on the family dinner front: Put food in crock pot. Set timer. Serve.

It’s that easy. Unless, of course, you find yourself with a recipe that demands a lot of prep before it’s even time to start the crock pot. Spending twenty minutes caramelizing an onion or searing a pork tenderloin before the food even makes it into the slow cooker makes it more complicated than I’d like. Sure, these steps help to infuse flavor into the food, but when it comes to crock pot cooking, I want it to be quick.

This Balsamic and Tomato Slow Cooker Chicken is just that. The only advance prep is a couple of minutes of peeling and chopping. Everything goes straight into the pot, the switch gets flipped to “on,” and you can go about your business until dinner is done.

The result is a super flavorful, savory dish with fork-tender chicken that’s delicious over a swirl of spaghetti or other favorite grain. It also makes a dynamite leftover along with crusty bread for soaking up all those tasty juices.

Balsamic and Tomato Slow Cooker Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

-1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
-Salt and pepper to taste
-1 large red onion, very thinly sliced
-4 whole cloves garlic, peeled
-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
-1 26-ounce box chopped tomatoes (such as the POMI brand)
-1/2 teaspoon dried, chopped rosemary
-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
-1 teaspoon dried basil
-1 teaspoon dried oregano
-1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed, roughly chopped

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.

2. Put onion, garlic, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, basil, and oregano into the crock pot and stir well.

3. Nestle the chicken pieces into the tomatoes. Turn crock pot to high.

4. Cook until the chicken is very tender, about 4 hours.

5. Add chard to the pot and stir so that it is covered with liquid. Cook 15 20 minutes longer until the chard is tender.

6. Serve over cooked whole grain spaghetti, brown rice, or farro.

Note: feel free to substitute kale, spinach, or other dark leafy green and adjust cooking time accordingly

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Tagged as: Katie Sullivan Morford, Mom's Kitchen Handbook, MS, RD, slow cooker balsamic and tomato chicken, slow cooker recipes