I feel like crockpot meals are more of a winter thing, since they tend to be heartier meals.  But crockpots are actually great during the summer if you are busy having fun outside and want to come inside to a prepared meal, or if you don’t want to heat up the house.

I have a Ninja crockpot.  It’s actually the 3 in 1 Cooking System (fancy, right?).  I like it because it has a “stovetop” setting, which means you don’t have to brown items separately on the stove, then add them to the crockpot because you can brown them right there!  For this Chicken Marsala recipe, I cooked the shallots and mushrooms in olive oil on the stovetop setting first, the added the marsala cooking wine and let it cook down a little bit before adding the rest of the ingredients.  You don’t have to do this; you can just throw it all in there at once and set it to cook.

If I was making this recipe on the stovetop, I would pound my chicken breasts flat and dredge this in flour before browning them and giving them a nice crispy golden brown coating before making the sauce.  Since this was going in the crockpot, there was no need for that.  The boneless skinless chicken breasts I had were HUGE so I cut them into thirds and seasoned them, then placed them on top of the mushrooms and shallots before adding the chicken broth.

Right before serving, I switched from slow cooker mode to stove top mode, and allowed the sauce to come to a low boil before whisking in the thickening.  I used gluten free flour and chicken broth for this.  You can serve it with pasta or garlic mashed potatoes (we went for the mashed potatoes).

Hope you enjoy!

Crockpot Chicken Marsala

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in halves or thirds
1 teaspoon minced garlic
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 shallot, thinly sliced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 cup marsala cooking wine
1 cup + 1/2 cup of chicken stock, divided
1 tablespoon gluten-free flour
Parsley

Season the chicken with garlic, salt, and pepper and set aside.  In a pan on your cooktop (or using the stovetop setting on your crockpot if it is available), cook the shallots and mushrooms in olive oil over medium high heat until the shallots soften.  Pour in the marsala and let it cook down for 3-4 minutes.  If you are using your stove, remove the mushroom mixture from the heat and pour into your crockpot.  Place the seasoned chicken on top of the mushroom mixture, then pour 1 cup of chicken broth over the chicken.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.  Move the chicken pieces to the side, and increase the heat to allow the sauce to come to a low boil.  Make the thickening for the sauce by whisking (or shaking) the flour with 1/2 cup of chicken broth, then whisk it into the sauce until smooth.  Gently spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve.