Creamy Lemon Chicken in the Slow Cooker

While grocery shopping I bought a package of chicken thighs because I knew I would be able to make them into something, but I didn't have anything in mind.  I did a little research and bought a lemon so I could make this recipe.  I love dinner made in the slow cooker!

Inspiration

Crystal and Company Crockpot Lemon Chicken

I only had 1 pound of chicken but the original recipe used twice as much, so I halved most of the ingredients except the lemon juice and heavy cream.  Well, actually I replaced the heavy cream with evaporated milk to lighten it up.  I added some cornstarch to thicken the sauce since I wanted it to cling to the pasta.

I always think lemon dishes aren't lemony enough, so I zested my lemon into the slow cooker with my rasp before juicing it to get the maximum lemon flavor in this dish.

I added a bay leaf since some similar recipes included one and I've got quite a few.
 

Ingredients

I had 5 chicken thighs in my package so I'm counting this as 5 servings but it was definitely more than that since the thighs were so big.

• 1 onion, cut into wedges and separated
• 1.5 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 2Tb Dijon mustard
• Zest from one lemon
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (I used juice from 1 lemon, maybe closer to 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup chicken stock (I used 1/4 tsp paste with 1/4 cup water)
• 1 lb chicken (I used boneless, skinless thighs)
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 bay leaf

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• 1/3 cup evaporated milk 
• 1 Tb cornstarch

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• 7 oz pasta (I only made 5 ounces for our family, 2 ounces for each adult and 1 oz for the Sonny D toddler belly, and it wasn't enough for all the leftovers).

Directions

onions and garlic.

Put the onions and garlic in the slow cooker, lay the chicken on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the Dijon mustard on top of the chicken breasts.  Add in the chicken broth, lemon juice, tarragon and bay leaf.

Beautiful green tarragon.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Cooked chicken.

Mix the evaporated milk and cornstarch in a small cup or bowl.  Remove chicken and bay leaf from slow cooker (I pushed the mustard and spices off into the liquid) and discard the bay leaf. Add the cornstarch slurry and mix well.  Turn up heat on slow cooker to activate the thickening properties in the cornstarch.

Make the pasta as indicated. When the pasta is done, hopefully your sauce will have thickened.  My slow cooker is small and the heat comes from the bottom rather than the sides like the big ones, so it is perfect for smaller meals like this. 

Finished chicken with pasta. 

Verdict

Super-tender chicken and interesting, creamy-tangy sauce.  

I liked the flavor a lot.  It tasted sophisticated, I guess that's the flavor of the tarragon.  I didn't even know I owned tarragon, but there it was in the pantry.  That plus the mustard and the lemon made a great complex-tasting sauce.   

We all enjoyed eating this and had leftovers for several days. 

It was a little tedious to put the mustard and spices on the chicken and I don't think that did anything, so next time I would stir it all together.

This would make a perfect freezer-to-slow cooker recipe.  That's where you put all of the ingredients into a zipper bag and freeze it until you're ready to make it.  Then take it out the day before and let it thaw in the refrigerator and in the morning throw it in the slow cooker before you leave for work.  I haven't made any freezer-to-slow cooker recipes yet, but it seems like an excellent idea. 

Next time I wouldn't mind adding artichoke hearts, carrots, and peas so there are some veggies in this meal, but it was easy enough to make separate vegetables on the side.