Make a delicious Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers meal with this easy, flavorful recipe. Tender chicken, crisp peppers, and a creamy finishing touch—perfect for a quick weeknight dinner
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with my slow cooker. The concept is genius—just toss everything in, walk away, and come back to a hot meal. But let's be honest, so many slow cooker recipes leave me with bland, watery, and mushy food. Ugh! It's so disappointing, especially when you’re hoping for something flavorful. After a few tries, though, I finally cracked the code and discovered how to make this dish flavorful, tender, and with just the right amount of texture. Now, I’m excited to share it with you, because this Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers recipe is simple and delicious.
This meal comes together without any pre-cooking, and the flavor profile reminds me of a cross between Chicken Burrito Bowls and Stuffed Peppers—two of my favorite things. The best part? It's quick, easy, and the slow cooker does most of the work for you. All you need are a few basic ingredients and a little patience.
The trick to getting this dish just right is cooking it in stages. I start by adding only part of the bell peppers in the beginning, so the tomato sauce and chicken can absorb the flavor of the peppers. Then, during the second part of the cooking process, I add the remaining peppers, which helps them stay crisp and tender instead of turning to mush. I’ve tried adding all the peppers at once, and let me tell you, they turn into a soggy mess. If you’re into a more tomato-pepper sauce vibe, go ahead and toss them in earlier, but I prefer to keep the peppers fresh and with a little bite.
The secret to making this dish taste fresh and not “crock-potty” is the finishing touches. A dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of cheese, and a handful of fresh herbs elevate the entire dish. It takes just a few minutes to throw them in at the end, but it makes all the difference, turning this meal into something you’ll want to make again and again.
Ingredients:
1 - 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken, either chicken breast or thighs
2 bell peppers, (red, yellow or orange), cut into thick julienne slices
1 green bell peppers, cut into thick julienne slices
1-2 onions, sliced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, with the juice
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ Tablespoon dry herbs (such as thyme, oregano, etc.)
salt, ground black pepper, to taste
To serve:
sour cream
grated cheese
fresh chopped parsley, cilantro or green onions
How To Make Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and ground black pepper and place it on the bottom of the slow cooker.
Layer the onions on top of the chicken.
Place only ¼ of the bell peppers on top of the onions, setting the remaining bell peppers aside until later.
Finish with the diced tomatoes (with the juice) and garlic on top. If you want this dish to be saucier, use one more can of diced tomatoes, but drain the second can first.
Season with salt, ground black pepper and dry herbs. 
Mix the tomatoes, garlic, dry herbs, salt and ground black pepper together.
Cook on high for 1 ½ hours. 
Add the remaining bell peppers (season them with salt first).
Continue cooking on high for another hour, or until the chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit if you're using chicken breast, and 175 degrees Fahrenheit if you're using thighs.
Take out the chicken, shred it with a fork, or cut it up with a knife and set aside, covered.
Continue cooking on high for another 30 minutes, without the cover.
If you want to cook this on low, it will take 4-6 hours. I would recommend using chicken thighs if you aren't around to check the temperature and take it out as soon as it's ready, because chicken breast dries out very quickly, while chicken thighs will stay juicy.
Return the chicken to the slow cooker, mix to combine.
Serve with cilantro, sour cream, grated cheese. Rice or couscous are great with this meal.
Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave, or, my favorite method - in a skillet.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 - 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken either chicken breast or thighs
- 2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange), cut into thick julienne slices
- 1 green bell peppers cut into thick julienne slices
- 1-2 onions sliced
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, with the juice
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ½ Tablespoon dry herbs such as thyme, oregano, etc.
- salt ground black pepper, to taste
- To serve:
- sour cream
- grated cheese
- fresh chopped parsley cilantro or green onions
Instructions
- Season the chicken on both sides with salt and ground black pepper and place it on the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Layer the onions on top of the chicken.
- Place only ¼ of the bell peppers on top of the onions, setting the remaining bell peppers aside until later.
- Finish with the diced tomatoes (with the juice) and garlic on top. If you want this dish to be saucier, use one more can of diced tomatoes, but drain the second can first.
- Season with salt, ground black pepper and dry herbs. Mix the tomatoes, garlic, dry herbs, salt and ground black pepper together.
- Cook on high for 1 ½ hours. Add the remaining bell peppers (season them with salt first).
- Continue cooking on high for another hour, or until the chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit if you're using chicken breast, and 175 degrees Fahrenheit if you're using thighs.
- Take out the chicken, shred it with a fork, or cut it up with a knife and set aside, covered.
- Continue cooking on high for another 30 minutes, without the cover.
- If you want to cook this on low, it will take 4-6 hours. I would recommend using chicken thighs if you aren't around to check the temperature and take it out as soon as it's ready, because chicken breast dries out very quickly, while chicken thighs will stay juicy.
- Return the chicken to the slow cooker, mix to combine.
- Serve with cilantro, sour cream, grated cheese. Rice or couscous are great with this meal.
Haha I agree about slow cookers! My mom got me a rice cooker/steamer/slow cooker before I got married, and I usually just use it for rice. The first slow cooker recipe I made turned out horrible, some Asian drum sticks. Next I made pot roast from Natasha's kitchen, which didn't disappoint. I'll try this soon! I feel like I can trust "Russian" websites to not have weird stuff like that first thing I made lol
And as a side note, the picture in your post gave me an idea to sew my own place mats someday! So I can choose from a lot of fabrics. Haha and I'm glad I scrolled through all the comments, I'll also try making the tortilla soup one of your readers wrote about.
Wow, you're really crafty, Nelya. Good for you.
That tortilla soup does sound good, doesn't it?
OH YEAH. Crafty is an understatement. Lol especially with having a kid of my own, and my friends having kids. My husband's so amazing, even though I usually find good deals I must've spent hundreds of dollars on all my crafts! And I'm lucky enough to be able to be a stay at home mom. Thank God for that! Ooh by the way, today I made this broccoli cheddar soup in the slow cooker and it turned out good. (Two lbs of cheese!!) http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2013/10/crockpot-broccoli-cheddar-soup.html
I turned it on and went to hang out with some friends. It was ready not long after I came home 🙂
I'll have to try Natasha's recipe too. I agree that Russian bloggers have great recipes. I guess we have similar taste buds:).
This looks delicious! I have a pack of chicken legs in the fridge. Do you think I could use that?
You probably can, Karen. I've never done it myself, but I think it should work.
This looks so juicy and perfect for dinner, I work full time everyday and this would be so helpful going home on those lazy nights and enjoying a ready-made dinner!
Working full time and cooking for your family is a juggling act for sure. I hope you enjoy this meal, Katy.
This recipe is yummy and easy to make. Love the texture of the veggies. Thanks!
Thank you, Tanya. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
I really love my slow cooker! Being a full-time working mom of a big family, it saves me almost every night! I usually try not to cook full meals in it though -- those are a bit more risky and may turn out like canned mush. I do cook roasts and meat side dishes in it a lot. Also soups. Our family fave is lasagna soup! Turns out so well.
Tanya, can you please share your recipe for lasagna soup? thanks
That's awesome, Tanya. It's great that you're getting so much use out of your slow cooker. I would love to try your recipe for lasagna soup:).
I completely agree with you on the flavorless mush that is crockpot cooking. This is my recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup. It all goes in at once and is always good. It also freezes well for another day. It is a cold weather staple here.
1 lb frozen chicken breasts, 1 qt chicken broth, 1 can black beans, 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, 2 c frozen corn, 1 T minced garlic, 1 lg chopped onion, 1 c salsa, 4 oz can green chilis, 1 1/2 t cumin, 1 t salt. Cook on low for 8 hours, shred chicken and stir back in. Serve with crushed tortilla chips.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, Lana. It sounds delicious.
Kind of an update but last night we put this soup over a bowl of rice for the first time and it was so good and a completely different meal than just eating it as soup.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Lana. This isn't really soup though. I suggested eating it served over rice or couscous.
I made this and it is soupy how can I thicken it up?
You can use some cornstarch to thicken it, if you'd like, Elizabeth. Make a slurry by dissolving 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch in a Tablespoons of cold water and then add it to the slow cooker during the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.
In my experience, most slow cooker recipes are usually more watery than if you cook it on the stovetop because it's cooked on low heat and none of the liquid gets a chance to reduce. Plus, in this recipe, all the vegetables exude more liquid as they cook.
What I usually do with this particular meal is to use a slotted spoon to serve the meal over rice and then add just as much of the thin broth as I want over top.