Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers
When your mom-life is insane, nothing is easier than putting a bag full of food in your slow cooker and walking away. When you get home hours later, dinner will be ready to serve! Our freezer meal version of slow cooker chicken and peppers takes all the prep-work out of your busy evening and makes dinner a breeze.
The thing that makes freezer meal cooking work is exactly that. You move the hardest part of cooking home-cooked meals to the days when you have the least to do. You meal prep. And then on the busy days when you haven’t had time to breathe, you can get food on the table incredibly fast. This recipe is just one great example from the Slow Cooker Freezer Meal Plan. Another great option to try out the method is Freezer to Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers Recipe
- 8-10 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- 1 1/2 red peppers, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper
How to Make Your Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers
Assembly Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag.
- Squish the bag to combine the ingredients.
- Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.
Cooking Instructions
- Thaw the freezer meal bag overnight in the refrigerator.
- Slow cooker on low for 4-6 hours or until chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Alternatively, use the Instant Pot and cook for 8 minutes on high pressure and a 5-minute natural release.
What if I thaw my bag but forget to put it in the slow cooker?
No problem! When you realize your mistake, just heat up a skillet with some olive oil or avocado oil and sauté the chicken and onions in the pan or if you happen to have a flat top like a Blackstone, you can cook the chicken on that. Another option is to spread the chicken out on a sheet pan, and bake it at 400ºF for about twenty minutes. In any case, just make sure the chicken is 165ºF before you pull it off the heat.
I don’t have garlic cloves. What should I do?
While freshly minced garlic cloves do make a difference in the flavor of this dish, you can use jarred minced garlic instead. The jar will tell you how much is equivalent to a clove. Dried minced garlic will also work as a last resort.
What should I do if I don’t like chicken thighs?
Chicken thighs help keep this recipe from drying out. Boneless skinless breasts or chicken tenderloins could also work but will be less moist.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers Recipe Ideas
Use a variety of bell peppers — red, orange, green, or yellow — for beautiful color. While the flavor of each pepper does very slightly, it will not change the end result for this dish.
If you love playing with flavors, you could try a variety of different spice combinations in the dish to keep things different each time you make it. I like to buy enough ingredients when I shop to make two bags of each recipe, and in this case you could put a different set of spices in each bag.
Try a combination of garlic cloves, cinnamon, oregano, and a bit of sugar in one bag — a Mexican variation on the classic. In the other bag you could use garlic cloves, cumin, coriander, and turmeric. The resulting flavors in this bag would be fantastic served over rice with pita, tatziki, and hummus.
Bump up the heat by adding one or two diced hot peppers such as poblanos, habaneros, or jalapenos. Make sure to remove the seeds and handle the peppers carefully both during the assembly process and during the cooking process.
Additional vegetables, zucchini or summer squash cut into long quarters, would be a nice touch. Cut the zucchini or squash in half lengthwise, and then cut the half into four long quarters.
How do I Store Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers
Leftover cooked chicken should be placed in an airtight container and can be refrigerated for up to four days according to FoodSafety.gov. It can also be frozen in the same type of container for a few months.
Cold chicken should be reheated until it reaches 165ºF. This recipe for chicken and peppers is easy to reheat in a skillet. Frozen leftovers can be reheated in the microwave or skillet.
What to Serve with Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers
The beauty of this recipe is that you can serve it so many ways! We show it served over rice, but you could also serve it over cooked quinoa or lentils, or a combination of two of these grains. You could also serve the chicken atop salad or a plate of fettucini and alfredo.
For fun, you could make the chicken into quick and easy quesadillas. Just put a tortilla in your hot buttered skillet, add hot chicken and peppers from the slow cooker and some cheese to half, fold over the tortilla, and flip once to toast the other side. Serve with salsa, sour cream, or avocado crema for dipping. It also makes a great protein for street tacos, enchiladas, or chicken burritos. Chop up your leftovers to use on salad or in casserole dishes.
- 8-10 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- 1 1/2 red peppers, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper
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Place all ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag.
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Squish the bag to combine the ingredients.
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Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.
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Thaw the freezer meal bag overnight in the refrigerator.
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Slow cooker on low for 4-6 hours or until chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°.
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To cook in your instant pot, pressure cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
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Let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes, then quickly release any remaining pressure.
