In a nutshell: The frozen chicken crockpot recipes include various options such as shredded chicken, chicken wings, soups, and pasta dishes. The provided recipes offer a range of flavors and ingredients, making them suitable for different tastes and occasions.
Juggling more than one thing, and a hundred things if you’re a parent of a house full of kids, is tough enough, but adding to that the pressure of preparing a meal each night can be a demand that is at times overwhelming for even the best of us.
Can I put frozen chicken in the crockpot, you might ask? The simple answer is yes.
You need a good repertoire of frozen chicken crock pot recipes for tasty meals when time is of the essence, this way you can have dinner on the table by the time everyone gets home, and you still have a moment to hang out the laundry for sports practices on the weekend.
Phew, life is busy, but the slow cooker has saved many a forgotten supper, so be ready to enjoy and prepare quick and delicious meals.
#1. Cook Frozen Chicken Breasts in a Crock-Pot
Too often when we cook chicken breasts the traditional way of searing in a pan or the oven can lose all its flavor and more importantly moisture, leaving you with a stiff, dry, and usually inedible piece of white meat that cannot be saved by any amount of gravy.
If you forgot to take the breasts out of the freezer to thaw overnight and just remembered you are working later than usual so won’t have the time to cook when you get home from work, then pop the frozen meat into the crockpot with the spices and flavoring you initially went for, works just as well.
Add a cup of water to the bottom of the cooker with the ingredients and set it on low to simmer throughout the day. When you come home you have succulent, tender, and pretty much-steamed chicken which makes these frozen chicken crock pot recipes a dream come true.
No stressing about trying to cook a meal at lightning speed, and we all know that turns out as a disaster on more occasions than we would like to admit.
In just a few steps, enough that you can count them on your hand, you can have yourself a whole batch of ready-to-eat breast meat without needing to supervise the dish in fear of burning so many portions.
Simply pop all the chicken into the cooker and cover with water, then your choice of stock (I like to use a combination of both chicken and vegetable broth granules) sprinkled over the top and seasoning and the rest takes care of itself.
Leave to cook for several hours and that’s all there is to it.
You can opt to halve the yield and freeze it down for a later date, and shred the rest for great sandwich fillers, toss it with a salad and some colorful mixed peppers for a great summer starter to enjoy out on the deck, or roll with homemade coleslaw in wraps for a quick grab-and-go snack as you rush the kids out the door to football practice.
If only all frozen chicken crock pot recipes were this easy we may have started ordering frozen portions in bulk a long time ago.
#3. Frozen, boneless, and skinless chicken in the Crock-Pot
This recipe is easy and humble in its simplicity, and when the meat is layered with seasonings and generous slices of butter you just can’t go wrong.
The butter has a velvety, rich texture to it and is effortless in adding flavor to the finished meal.
Using slow cooker frozen chicken recipes doesn’t mean the food needs to be bland, on the contrary, you have the option to add a hefty amount of spices and seasonings and as the meat thaws and cooks simultaneously those spices and herbs absorb into the meat, penetrating the flesh with an intense flavor.
I like to make this method in bulk, and without the skin makes it that much easier because I don’t have to peel soft, squishy skin out of the mix at the end.
The liquid I thicken when I’ve drained the chicken pieces and then I divide it between the bags of chicken portions to marinade the meat for later or in the freezer if I have too many that week. This way the meat is never short of flavor through all the cooking, preparing, and eating stages.
This is one of those crock pot frozen chicken recipes that has endless options in terms of flavor. You can choose to add the desired taste at the beginning of the slow cooking process, or once the meat has cooked fully you can pour in the sauce of choice and stir through leaving it to sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.
There is minimal effort to make this recipe a success and most probably why I have trusted my slow cooker with so many variations of easy frozen chicken meals in the crockpot, and what is even better, is my husband can now make a meal or two during the week when I am running late at the office.
Popping the slow-cooker on in the afternoon (bless my hubby, this is usually done in a rush with me shouting orders over the phone of what to put in and where to get the ingredients in the kitchen), and then set to medium for a ready dinner when I bundle through the door arms filled with a briefcase and piles of paperwork.
At least I know the family has a nutritious meal to eat that evening and that is the main objective.
Isn’t the word fiesta so friendly sounding, it makes you want to try the meal even without knowing what it entails and to be honest, that’s why I made it. Thankfully, it turned out brilliantly and the taste was unbeatable. I would never have thought to try frozen chicken slow cooker recipes simply because of the word frozen, but I was proven wrong.
This recipe is packed with great protein sources (any beans will do if you don’t necessarily have kidney beans, I use what I have in the pantry first before heading to the shops which I try not to do if I don’t have to), corn and tomato for great pops of color, and the richness of a generous block of creamed cheese.
I did use bleu-cheese-infused cream cheese but it was not my favorite, the hubby loved it though so it was still considered a win.
Try this filling dish for the family this week with some rice and you have a great tasting meal that is essentially a one-pot sensation.
If you are like me then having ready meals in the freezer is a must if I want to make it through what I know will be a hectic week at the building site, and these ready frozen meals come in handy more than I would like to admit they do.
Crock pot frozen chicken recipes don’t necessarily have to be made from only the meat being frozen, if everything has been chilled just empty the contents of the bag into the crockpot and leave it on low to thaw during the day.
By the time you come home, the ingredients will all have heated to temperature.
I like to quickly add a generous serving of grated cheese to the slow cooker while I set the table and when I call the kids to come downstairs and wash their hands the cheese has melted and smothered the entire dish.
The best part of the meal is seeing the kids’ eyes wide and excited as the stringy cheese hangs from the serving spoon to their plate. No one is the wiser and you would never know this meal was frozen only a few hours ago. It just goes to show that quality ingredients can go a long way in making a meal.
This is a slow cooker frozen chicken recipes option that ticks so many boxes it would be a crime not to try it or even share a portion or two with friends and family.
I like to have everything ready to go in prepared bags in the freezer (minus the noodles) and after I’ve put the frozen chicken and veggie ingredients in the slow cooker for several hours till hot, I quickly whip up a batch of flat noodles or whichever is available in the pantry at the last minute and add to the chicken mix.
A humble dish that packs a punch. You can add dried chili flakes (like my husband seems to do with every dish he eats lately) or when I give a big bowl to the kids I simply sprinkle some chopped lemon coriander on top for color and a touch of freshness.
Serve with chunky homemade bread and you’ll have clean bowls for the dishwasher that evening.
If you want to try something different for supper then these frozen chicken crock pot recipes that call for tortilla chips as a garnish are a must. The kids love crushing the chips over their steaming soup and adding a generous dollop of thick sour cream to it too.
I like to add a touch of garlic oil and chopped chives to the sour cream before adding the serving bowl to the table but this is optional and my preference (and mostly only when I have 5 minutes to spare- not often), but both versions taste fantastic.
The crunchy tips also add a great texture element to the mix so you aren’t eating everything soft.
A great meal for those chilly winter nights when you want comfort food, a good movie, and to sit on the sofa under the blanket in front of the fire (and with a glass of wine too I’m thinking). A winning meal all around.
My son loves chicken thighs any which way, but I can’t always remember to take them out of the freezer at night for the next evening between trying to get dinner ready, make school lunch boxes and a snack box for the hubby, and so this dish came about by accident but thankfully, turned out great.
I woke up with a fright of a chicken thigh tapping its foot in the freezer wondering if it was coming out anytime soon, so I rushed downstairs, grabbed the frozen meat out of the freezer drawer, and chucked it into the crockpot with any ingredients I could find before the family woke up and came downstairs. The last thing they need to witness first thing in the morning is my chicken dinner chaos prep.
Turning the slow cooker to low and letting it work its slow cooking magic (and with a big prayer to match) I went about my day. Thankfully, and I do believe my prayer played a big role in the success of this meal, I turned out tasty, and delicious and no one knew the difference.
All I did was give the thighs a quick broil for a couple of minutes before serving, the golden and somewhat charred color made it look like every other meal we had ever had. Win-win.
There are a handful of pantry basic ingredients that make up this dish but in general, most tinned foods will work like the tomato and green beans you have had on the shelf for months now with no idea what to do with them.
Well, now you do.
The weekend has started with a bang, the oven has packed up (of course, because that’s what we all need at the start of a Saturday morning) and your son reminds you he has a friend coming over to play for the afternoon. Eek. This means you need to have at least a cooked meal as the jam and peanut butter sandwiches won’t cut it for friends even if they do tie over the little ones till dinner is ready.
So, these frozen chicken crock pot recipes are a must-have in your recipe collection and will save you many a mad moment in the future.
Pop everything in the cooker for a one-pot sensation that will be ready by the time football training is done and the match has been attended.
Serve the meat (with some optional veggies you know the kids will eat and which have been chopped into the mix) with tacos shells or wraps and a big bowl of grated cheese (everything for kids tastes better with cheese).
Let them build their meals and you can sit back and relax with a much-need and well-deserved break for coming to the rescue with a quick dish that needs no supervision, win-win.
#11. Crock-Pot Freezer Meal Recipe Italian Chicken
Making a meal for the freezer to use at a later date or taking a meal that has been frozen for a few weeks out for dinner that evening, either way, the slow cooker is your savior and companion.
This version of the frozen chicken slow cooker recipes that we know and love has an added Italian twist to elevate the meal to another level, by using only 2 ingredients. Amazing.
And when using the Italian dressing as stated I was pleasantly surprised when at the shops looking for it that there are a lot of flavors of Italian dressings, from garlic and chive to chili and lemon, so I grabbed a few to keep my options open.
Dump the frozen chicken into the crockpot with the full bottle of dressing, extra seasoning of salt and pepper, and some garlic and onion powder (I love when a dish is packed with flavor) and I left it to simmer gently from the early morning.
When I checked back in on it in the afternoon, and only because I was hit with a smell filled with goodness, it was ready to go. I served it with fluffy white rice, a sprinkle of chopped flat-leaf parsley and it looked like a dish you would eat at a restaurant.
You can also pour the juice of the chicken over the meal on the plate and enjoy the rice that has now soaked up that full flavor profile bringing the meal to completion. Heaven on a plate.
When you have children in the house and a husband who are all mad about sports then you can be sure that you need frozen chicken crock pot recipes ready to go when time is ticking along and kickoff seemingly any minute.
And making these wings in the slow-cooker proved surprisingly quick and easy and just what I needed to keep the boys and their hunger groans at bay.
I used half of the sauce to coat the bottom of the cooker (the rest I used at the end to give them one more glaze before popping in the serving dish) and lined it with the wings, this time they were frozen but fresh works just as well.
We then had a generous serving of melted butter to brush on top of them with garlic and onion powder (feel free to use both or either powder at your discretion) and left them to cook for several hours.
Once cooked, I added the remaining sauce to give a fresh and intense taste to the buffalo sauce and put them in the bowl to give to the hubby to take downstairs (and a handful of napkins with an extra bowl for the bones).
Making shredded chicken in the crockpot to use immediately or to freeze down is an effortless task that takes no time at all, and tastes like you have spent hours in the kitchen over a hot stove or keeping a hawk’s eye on the oven.
What I love about this slow cooking method is that you have the option to fill the cooker to the top with the frozen chicken portions, and you don’t need to add anything else because the heat and steam are locked in when you close the lid and set to low it releases the juices slowly and evenly for thoroughly cooked meat.
Once cooked, drain the chicken but leave the liquid in the crockpot, shred the meat and remove the bones, then add the chicken back into the liquid to absorb the flavor and juice as it cools down.
Use it in salads, and wraps, or pop it in a freezer bag for next week’s dinner meal.
This dish is delicious from start to finish, from fresh to frozen and back again, and is gluten-free which makes it great for those of us on a specific eating plan and who want to keep the carb count down.
Tuscany is a beautiful place with even more beautiful traditional dishes and this one comes as close to the original as my skill will allow, but if the family is happy and have clean plates at the end of dinner I am all for it.
You can mix the ingredients for the sauce and place it in the cooker with the frozen chicken for everything to simmer together, or once the chicken is thawed and cooked add at the end of the cooking time.
The first step is preferable as the flavors intensify as it thickens and cooks as well as absorb into the meat for a full flavor profile of the meat.
When time is limited this is an easy go-to dish that can be served with creamy mash, a side salad, and a generous chunk of soft brioche for the perfect meal combination.
Chicken and pasta are a great combination but add to that a rich creaminess and I am in heaven.
And the best part about these frozen chicken meals in the crockpot is just that, they’re frozen, so you need to wait to get the dinner meal sorted in the morning and you have one less thing to concern yourself about throughout the day.
Simply mix all the sauce ingredients and smother (love the word smother because then I know that no bit of meat will be left behind) the frozen chicken and leave it to soak into the meat.
At the end of half an hour of cooking, make a family portion of your favorite pasta noodles or spirals and add into the dish to be coated too.
Serve with a sprinkle of fresh herbs.
My husband does like to add a squeeze of lime to it, I was skeptical but it brings a lightness and zest to the meal which makes it that much tastier.
Yes, you can cook frozen chicken in a crockpot, but it’s recommended to thaw the chicken first for more even cooking and to ensure food safety.
Do I need to defrost chicken before slow cooker?
It’s advisable to defrost chicken before using it in a slow cooker to ensure even cooking and to minimize food safety risks.
There never seems to be enough time in the day to do all the things we have on the to-do list, but using our culinary collection of tried, and successfully tested, frozen chicken crock pot recipes for tasty meals when time is of the essence is a must-have.
We always need a helping hand when the daily schedule seems busier than ever, and there are more options on our blog for you to look through so be sure to check them out.
Dinner meals will be one less thing to worry about this week.
Born and raised in South Africa and being immersed in the rich culture, Candace soon found a passion for all things food related. Exploring and experiencing new flavors and taste profiles she pursued her career as a qualified chef in silver service specialized in fine dining.
