An easy slow cooker meal bursting with bright, healthy Mediterranean flavors, requiring just a few minutes of prep!
Watch this video to see how super easy this meal is to make:
Hello again friends! I’ve got a great recipe for you today, originally made for me by my mother-in-law when we were visiting them in Florida. We always have so much we want to do and see while we’re there that a hands-off, low-key meal is always in order.
Which is exactly why I love crock pot meals — they are super hands off. Even lovelier are the ones where you just throw everything in the insert, set it and get on with your day. You know, versus the recipes where you have to brown meat or chop a bunch of things or otherwise work at it. Cause I don’t always have the time or patience for that!
This slow cooker Mediterranean chicken is a complex medley of flavors. But despite having some heavy-hitting ingredients — tomatoes, olives, curry powder — everyone places nice together and melds into a delicious mix. Must be all that time spent together cooking away.
You will catch a whiff of olives in the air while this is cooking. Not overpowering, just enough of a hint to whisk you away to a field of olive trees in Italy. It’s divine. Go with it.
A few notes on this slow cooker Mediterranean chicken:
- I served this with couscous here but it’s also wonderful over brown rice. You could even do pasta or quinoa. All alone it’s gluten-free and low-carb, so you can just have it that way if you prefer.
- I recommend that you use a slotted spoon to serve it from the crock pot so you can more carefully control how much of the liquid you get. You don’t want it too dry, but you also don’t want soup.
- A sprinkling of fresh parsley (or even cilantro) helps add some freshness and brightness to this finished dish. I find a little fresh herbs make a big difference in most slow cooker meals. You could use a squeeze of lemon in a pinch if you prefer.
Whatever you do, take this journey to the Mediterranean for your next weeknight dinner. It’s as easy as it gets!
Enjoy 😊
~ Kathryn
Crock pot Mediterranean chicken
An easy crock pot meal bursting with bright, healthy Mediterranean flavors!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 - 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (it's fine to use frozen)
- 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, mostly drained and chopped a bit (I took a knife to the tomatoes while they were still in the can.)
- 2 14-oz. cans artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped, to garnish
Instructions
- Combine everything in your slow cooker (except the fresh parsley).
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (or on high for 3 1/2-4 hours).
- Once finished, use two forks to break apart the chicken into large shredded chunks. Stir the chicken back into the crock pot mixture. You can serve immediately or let it hang out on warm for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve over couscous, brown rice, quinoa or whole wheat pasta.
Recipe Notes
- If you’re a real olive lover, add an extra 1/4 cup of chopped olives to the crock pot. Or, reserve them as a garnish to really get their full flavor.
- P.S. This freezes great, so you can just package up the extras, once cooled, and store them away for a rainy day.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 382kcal Calories from fat 72 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 8g | 12% |
| Saturated Fat 2g | 10% |
| Transfat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 154mg | 51% |
| Sodium 849mg | 35% |
| Carbohydrate 24g | 8% |
| Dietary Fiber 11g | 44% |
| Sugars 7g | |
| Protein 54g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
This sounds and looks amazing! I love kalamata olives and artichoke hearts!!
Thanks! It is SO tasty! So many different bold flavors melding together 🙂
Kathryn, this looks fabulous! I am so busy and always in need of a great recipe that I can throw in the crock pot, leave, and come back home to a delicious cooked meal. I am so excited to try this for my family!
Thanks Katie! I love an easy crock pot meal, too! Makes dinner a breeze 🙂 I hope you try it and love it! XO
This mediterranean chicken looks seriously SO flavoursome and delicious. Perfect excuse for me to pull out and use my crock pot!
Thanks Thalia! So many good flavors here. Definitely worth hauling out the crock pot and letting it do all the work for you. Hope you try it and let me know how you like it!
Yum! I’m always looking for new slow cooker recipes – and this one has so many of my favourite ingredients in it!! Thanks for linking up with our Fabulous Foodie Fridays party xx
Thanks for hosting, Lucy! I love these ingredients all together – especially when you just toss everything in the slow cooker and let it do its thing. Makes dinner a cinch. Happy Friday! XO
Hi! Any reason you feel I couldn’t freeze it uncooked for later use? I usually prep and freeze on the weekends when I have a little time. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Sure, you certainly could get it all prepped and bagged up and keep it in the freezer for when you’re ready to make this. Though honestly, this recipe just takes 5 minutes to throw all of the ingredients in the slow cooker, so you might be making more work for yourself by bagging it up and freezing it. Either way, I hope you enjoy it!!
Making this right now! Added fresh lemon slices on top of the ingredients and I will toss in fresh baby spinach about 15 minutes before it’s finished cooking. I’m going to serve this over brown rice tonight for Valentine’s Day to my husband! 🙂
Hi Liz! I think the lemon and spinach sound like great additions – hope you both enjoyed it and had a lovely Valentine’s Day!
I think I have to have this in my life! I love these flavors, although the Curry Powder surprises me…
Thanks! The curry powder really brings a lot of flavor and helps tie everything together!
I made this tonight, served it over orzo, and it was an absolute hit! I wouldn’t change a thing from the original recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that Jody! Thanks so much for sharing!
This dish is very weird…adding curry to a “Mediterranean” dish is the first odd thing…it’s strange…not horrible, but doubt I’ll make it again
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t like it. I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on this recipe and while I initially wasn’t sure about the curry spice (which is actually used a lot in different types of Mediterranean cooking), I thought it worked great! Hope you’ll find another recipe hear that’s more your style. 😊
Those seasonings sound good!
They give it such big flavor!
Can I use something else in place of white wine vinegar?
Hi Veronica! I think you’d be fine to substitute with regular vinegar or an apple cider vinegar. They’re a little more acidic but after cooking so long, it shouldn’t make a huge difference in the final dish. (And if you don’t have any vinegar, just go without – I’m not a fussy cook and I bet it’d still be great.)
Great recipe! I have made several versions of this – but this is the first with the curry powder. Wonderful flavors!
Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it Vivian! It’s a favorite recipe in our family!
I am doing this method in a cast iron pot via Braising. I hope it works out. Looks great!
I hope you enjoy it! And would love to hear if it turns out that way – let us know!
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Excited to make this, thanks for posting! 🙂
It reminds me of pasta puttanesca, but with chicken. I am going to take it for lunch and stuff it into pita pockets.
Thanks Hannah! And I love the idea of stuffing this in pita pockets! That’s totally what I’m going to do with the leftovers I have tucked in the freezer right now 😊
Hello Kathryn, this dish looks wonderful
Was wondering if I made a serving for 4
Not 6 if I use the same amount of ingredients
Or maybe less chicken broth?
Hi Erin! You can do the full recipe and just save any leftovers (it freezes great!) or you can reduce the ingredients a bit and just use 1 cup of chicken broth. Hope that helps!