Katie
Sometimes, the slow cooker leaves you with tender, moist meat…
And, sometimes, it does not…
The majority of the time, I end up with delicious, falling-apart meat.
This recipe (ignore the picture – it’s not from the same recipe) unfortunately started out as the latter. I have to admit, I was unsure about it going in. But the comments seemed to be mostly positive, so I decided to give it a try.
The chicken turned out to be very dry though. As in, I almost choked several times when trying to swallow it dry.
The flavor, however, was good. The spice rub along with the balsamic vinegar added hints of garlic, onion, and tartness. I wanted to try to salvage the meal.
So, I resorted to what I do with a lot of slow cooker meals: shredding the meat. Using two forks, I shredded the chicken breasts and mixed them in the cooking liquid. The chicken absorbed almost all of the liquid instantaneously.
I knew I had to (hopefully) work some magic. I got out a pan, some butter, a little flour, and chicken broth. I melted the butter, added the chicken, sprinkled in a little flour, poured in the broth, and whisked away. And Voilà! I had a richer and more substantial sauce to rescue my dry chicken. In fact, the end product was juicy enough to eat on a bun, with nothing more than a little fresh parsley sprinkled on top.
You can really see the difference in the before and after:
If you do decide to give this recipe a try, I recommend reducing the cooking time to no more than 6 hours and maybe using chicken thighs instead of breasts. You also just may want to incorporate the spice rub and balsamic vinegar into a non-slow cooker chicken dish of your own, because it was delicious.
If you feel like being adventurous though, start with the spices…
- Place 1 teaspoon garlic powder in a small bowl.
- Add 1 teaspoon of dried basil.
- Pour in ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt.
- Add ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Finish with 2 teaspoons minced onion.
- Stir to distribute all ingredients evenly.
- Mince up some garlic.
- Pour 1 tablespoon EVOO into the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Distribute the garlic on the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Trim 2 pounds of chicken breasts.
- Rub half of the spice mixture onto one side of the chicken breasts.
- Place the chicken, seasoned side down, in your slow cooker.
- Rub the remainder of the spice rub on the other side.
- Flip the chicken breasts.
- Pour a little balsamic vinegar on top of the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for no more than 6 hours.
When your chicken is done, follow these steps to turn it into saucy deliciousness…
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred using 2 forks.
- Pour all of the cooking liquid from the slow cooker on to the chicken.
- Stir to combine.
- Heat a pan over medium-high heat.
- Add a tablespoon of butter.
- Let the butter melt completely.
- Add the chicken and liquid.
- Stir and cook for a minute or two.
- Push the chicken to one side of the pan, leaving most of the liquid on the other side.
- Sprinkle a little flour onto the liquid.
- Whisk to combine.
- Cook for a minute, then pour in a little chicken broth.
- Whisk until the sauce is smooth.
- Stir the chicken back into the sauce.
- Cook for another minute.
Eat as is, over rice, or in a bun.
Garnish with a little parsley.
Enjoy!
*If you like this recipe, you may also want to try Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken and Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken Sliders.
One Year Ago: Mexican Cauliflower “Couscous”
Two Years Ago: Greek Quinoa Salad
Three Years Ago: Tomato Couscous Salad and Roasted Pepper & Mozzarella Omelet
Slow Cooker Shredded Balsamic Chicken (serves 6-8)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons minced onion
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
DIRECTIONS:
- Pour the olive oil into the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Add the garlic.
- Combine the garlic powder, basil, salt, pepper, and minced onion in a small bowl.
- Rub the spice mixture over both sides of the chicken.
- Place the chicken in your slow cooker.
- Pour the balsamic vinegar on top.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
- Shred the chicken with two forks.
- Pour the cooking liquid from the slow cooker onto the chicken.
- Stir to combine.
- Heat a pan over medium-high heat.
- Melt the butter.
- Add the chicken and all of the liquid.
- Cook for a couple of minutes.
- Push the chicken to one side of the pan, leaving as much as the liquid on the other side as possible.
- Sprinkle the flour onto the liquid.
- Whisk to combine and cook for a minute.
- Pour in the chicken broth, while whisking.
- Cook for a minute, then stir the chicken into the sauce.
- Let cook for another minute.
- Garnish with the parsley when serving.
