20 of the Best Slow Cooker Meal Prep Chicken Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you make meal prep chicken taste better? ›

Toss the vegetables and chicken in olive oil, then generously season them with salt and pepper. Slice a lemon in half and squeeze it over the chicken – the acid adds some great flavor and helps to tenderize the meat.

Is it better to cook chicken slowly? Chicken is a very versatile and lean meat with little fat or sinew, so it doesn't need long cooking for it to become tender. Both quick high heat methods such as frying, and low, slow cooking are suitable.

When cooking meat or poultry, the water or liquid level should cover the ingredients to ensure effective heat transfer throughout the crock. Some manufacturers of slow cookers recommend adding liquid to fill the stoneware 1/2 to 3/4 full. Follow the manufacturer's recipes and directions for best results.

Aside from accidentally overcooking the meals, the most common reason we see for tough, rubbery, or overdone chicken is customers using a Crockpot that is far too big.

Rubbery chicken is usually an indicator of overcooked chicken. The longer the chicken cooks, the more moisture it loses, and without moisture, the protein fibers become elastic, AKA rubbery.

Overcooking might play a role in your chicken's tire-like texture. Leaving chicken in a pan, oven, or grill for just a little too long can suck the moisture right out and leave you with a dry, rubbery bird. Without moisture, the protein fibers in the chicken become elastic.

Using a nice, long, low-and-slow cook time helps chicken breasts retain plenty of moisture - but you can certainly opt to add a splash of water or chicken stock to the crockpot if you like!

Yes, you can put raw chicken in a slow cooker! Slow cookers and Crock-Pots are designed to cook raw meats. The direct heat from the pot, lengthy cooking time and steam created from the tightly covered container destroys bacteria, making slow cooking safe. You can put frozen chicken in a slow cooker, too!

How long to leave chicken in crockpot on low? ›

Cover your crock pot and cook chicken breasts on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Chicken is done when the internal temp reaches 165 degrees F. Use chicken in your favorite recipes. Perfect for shredding!

Tender vegetables

Vegetables such as peas, asparagus and peppers can become a flavorless, mushy mess in a slow cooker.

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker, and sprinkle with seasonings (and liquid, if using). Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the chicken shreds easily with a fork. (*If making a smaller batch, keep an eye on your slow cooker as the chicken will likely need less cooking time.)

Insufficient Liquid: If there wasn't enough liquid in the crockpot, it could have caused uneven cooking. Potatoes need to be fully submerged in liquid to cook evenly. Old Potatoes: Very old or stored potatoes can become starchy and may not soften as well during cooking. It's best to use fresh, firm potatoes.

Place the chicken and stock, broth, or water in a 4-quart or larger slow cooker. Cook the chicken. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender and registers an internal temperature of 165°F, 4 to 5 hours on the LOW setting, or 2 to 3 hours on the HIGH setting.

If I'm going to do chicken for meal prep, I cook it in the crockpot, but I also use boneless skinless breasts and then completely cover them in broth after adding whatever spices I want to add. Then I shred it afterwards and use it throughout the week.

"The principal source of off-flavors is unsaturated fatty acids, which are damaged by oxygen and iron from myoglobin. --- Meats with a greater proportion of unsaturated fat in their fat tissue — poultry (!!) and pork — are more susceptible to warmed-over flavor than beef and lamb."

For those who are too lazy to read my whole bla bla bla, the answer is simple: FREEZE the cooked meals. Keep in the fridge meals for only 1-2 days and freeze the rest. How did it it hit me?

Fresh lemon or lime juice is a great way to jazz up meal-prepped food and make it taste fresh again. Use them to make a big batch of fresh vinaigrette at the start of the week (but don't dress your salads in advance, because they'll wilt), or just pack a wedge with your lunch each day.