Crockpot Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

The chicken in this recipe never touches the sauce while it cooks. It goes into the slow cooker with butter, garlic and broth, comes out three to four hours later, and the sauce is built afterwards in the liquid it leaves behind.

That order is what makes the sauce possible. Cream and Parmesan sitting in a covered cooker for four hours would separate; whisked into hot cooking juices for the last twenty to thirty minutes with cornstarch to hold them, they do not.

The broccoli goes in with the sauce rather than with the chicken, and cooks in the same window. So does the pasta, in a separate pot. Three things finish at once, which is the only part of this recipe that needs watching.

Why This Recipe Works

• Taking the chicken out before the dairy goes in means the sauce is made in concentrated cooking juices rather than diluted by raw meat. It also means the breast stops cooking at the point it is done.
• Cornstarch is whisked into the cold cream mixture rather than added to the pot, so it dissolves completely before it ever meets heat and cannot form lumps in the sauce.
• The broccoli cooks on HIGH for twenty to thirty minutes with the sauce, not for four hours with the chicken. That is the difference between florets and mush.
• Cooking the pasta to al dente leaves it somewhere to go. It finishes in the sauce, which is why the timing of step 8 is tied to the timing of step 6.

How to Make It

1. Season the chicken

   Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning, over the breasts. This is the only seasoning the meat gets directly.

2. Start the cooker

   Butter, minced garlic and the chicken broth into the slow cooker, then nestle the chicken into them.

3. Cook it low

   Covered, on LOW for three to four hours or HIGH for two to three, until the chicken reaches 165°F and is tender.

4. Take the chicken out

   Onto a plate, shredded or sliced - the source gives both - and kept warm. The pot keeps the juices.

5. Whisk the sauce

   Heavy cream, cream cheese, Parmesan and cornstarch, whisked together until smooth, then poured into the cooker and whisked into the cooking juices.

6. Add the broccoli and turn it up

   Broccoli florets in, lid on, cooker on HIGH for twenty to thirty minutes, until the broccoli is tender and the sauce has thickened.

7. Bring the chicken back

   Return it to the pot, stir in the lemon juice if you are using it, and adjust the salt and pepper.

8. Cook the pasta alongside

   Meanwhile - and this is the source's own word - cook the fettuccine or penne to al dente and drain it well.

9. Bring them together

   Either toss the pasta through the sauce and chicken, or serve the chicken and broccoli Alfredo over the pasta. Garnish with parsley and extra Parmesan and serve warm.

How the Sauce Thickens

Four things are whisked together cold before any of them go near the cooker: heavy cream, cubed cream cheese, grated Parmesan and two tablespoons of cornstarch. The order matters less than the temperature - the cornstarch has to be fully dispersed while the mixture is still cold, because it cannot be whisked smooth once it hits hot liquid.

That mixture goes into the cooking juices the chicken left behind, and is whisked in rather than stirred. Then the cooker goes to HIGH. The heat is the point: cornstarch needs to reach temperature to thicken at all, and a cooker on Low will hold a sauce warm without ever setting it.

Twenty to thirty minutes covers both jobs - the sauce thickening and the broccoli becoming tender. The source ties them together in one step for that reason.

The cream cheese is specified softened and cubed. Cold blocks take longer to melt than the sauce takes to thicken, and what is left is small pale lumps in a finished sauce.

Ingredient Notes

Chicken breasts

Boneless and skinless, cooked whole and then either shredded or sliced. The source gives 165°F as the doneness point.

Cream cheese

Softened and cubed before it goes into the whisked mixture. Four ounces, which is half a standard block.

Cornstarch

Two tablespoons, whisked into the cold cream mixture rather than added to the pot. It is the only thickener in the recipe.

Broccoli florets

Four cups, added at the sauce stage rather than at the start, and cooked on HIGH for twenty to thirty minutes.

Fettuccine or penne

Ten ounces, cooked separately and drained well. The source names gluten-free pasta as an option on the same line.

Lemon juice

One tablespoon, marked optional, stirred in at the end with the chicken rather than cooked in the sauce.

Success Tips

• Whisk the cornstarch into the cold cream mixture until you cannot see it. That is the only chance it gets to dissolve smoothly.
• Cube the cream cheese and let it soften first. It has twenty to thirty minutes to melt and cold blocks will not make it.
• Put the pasta water on when the broccoli goes in, not before. Al dente pasta sitting in a colander for half an hour is the one way to get this wrong.
• Drain the pasta well. Water carried into a cornstarch-thickened sauce thins it back out.

Serving Ideas

The source offers two finishes and does not prefer either: toss the pasta through the sauce and chicken, or keep them separate and serve the chicken and broccoli over the pasta. Parsley and extra Parmesan go on at the table. If you want a chicken dinner built on a cream that thickens a completely different way - blended nuts rather than starch - see Slow Cooker Chicken Korma.

Storage and Reheating