This Crockpot Ranch Chicken is a perfect quick weeknight or summer meal! This slow cooker meal is a family favorite and oh so easy!
This Crockpot Ranch Chicken is the perfect recipe to serve on a busy day that your entire household will gobble up. It is SO creamy, quick and easy. A regular at our house for sure.
This chicken and potato recipe has a TON of vegetables that your kids will want to eat. And is all covered in a yummy creamy sauce that you’ll want to lick off the plate.
Ok, maybe it’s just my kids that do that but seriously, when they are literally licking the plates I know I’ve won.
A ranch chicken recipe that you can toss in your crockpot and walk away from? Yes please. Oh wait… it’s not just the chicken either! It’s an entire meal! In one pot. And we all know less dishes means a big win for us.
And how much effort? 10 minutes. Ten measly little minutes. Bam. I mean really. That right there is THE reason to cook this Crock Pot Ranch Chicken in the crockpot tonight!
Ingredients in Crockpot Ranch Chicken
- Potatoes: I prefer medium russet potatoes of either the red or white variety. You’ll want to quarter them.
- Carrots: While you can use regular carrots and chop them down to size, why go through all the effort? You can instead just toss the baby carrots straight in as in. No prep.
- Chicken: Don’t use leftover chicken or it’ll turn dry and be way overcooked. Use fresh or thawed frozen chicken.
- Cream of Chicken soup: You could also substitute this for cream of mushroom if you need to but I prefer the flavor of cream of chicken.
- Cream Cheese: I love how versatile cream cheese is. Seriously, use it in a savory dish like this one or in Cream Cheese Frosting. This is definitely a pantry item for me. Who knows when I might need to use it.
- Ranch Seasoning Mix: You can often buy ranch seasoning mixes in bulk from Costco or Sam’s Club for much less than buying the individual packs somewhere else. I definitely recommend doing that since once you try this recipe you’re going to want to add it to your regular rotation.
- Milk: Whole milk is obviously going to give you a creamier texture than skim milk but in this sort of chicken recipe it won’t really matter so feel free to use whatever kind of milk you have.
How to Make Crockpot Ranch Chicken
- Prep: Get your potatoes and carrots and mix your cream of chicken soup, cream cheese, ranch seasoning, and milk together. Sometimes (When I’m really feeling adventurous) I plan the entire week in advance.
- Layer: Potatoes, carrots, chicken, creamy mixture. Bam.
- Cook: Typically you’ll be cooking 6-7 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. You’ll know it’s done when the chicken is cooked to 165*F (use a digital thermometer) and your veggies are soft to your liking.
- Eat: Seriously that’s it. We’ve got protein, starch, veggie, all in one easy dish.
Can You Put Frozen Chicken in the Slow Cooker?
Here’s the thing, frozen chicken is going to cook the exact same as thawed chicken with one major difference: it’s going to take longer. For the prep it saves, I’ll be honest, I do it all the time. But with this recipe, I recommend NOT doing it.
Your chicken is cooking at the same time as your carrots and potatoes. And they will all be done around the same time. If your chicken takes much longer to cook, then your carrots and potatoes might turn mushy by the time your chicken is done.
If you want to cook chicken in the crock pot by itself, then no big deal. But if you are cooking chicken with veggies, I always recommend thawing first.
Can I Make Crockpot Ranch Chicken Dairy Free?
This recipe is pretty heavily reliant on dairy so I recommend not trying to swap ingredients. If you are looking for a dairy free crockpot chicken meal check out this Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken. It’s delicious.
Ways to Serve Crockpot Ranch Chicken
This is a stand alone meal. I mean really, we’ve got protein, starches, and veggies, all in one glorious little pot. But when company is coming or you’ve got starving kids with seemingly hollow stomachs, I totally get trying to stretch your meal a little farther. So here are my go to sides:
- Bread: I love having bread to dip in my sauces. A few of my favorites are Potato Rolls, or my very favorite Homemade Crescent Rolls.
- Rice: There is a reason a sushi restaurant makes you eat all the rice with an all-you-can-eat meal. It’s SO filling. This Buttered Rice makes the side seem super fancy while being oh so easy too.
- Salad: Sometimes a store bought pre packaged salad saves my sanity. But if you’re feeling ambitious after saving all that time making the main dish, try a Strawberry Pecan Salad or Winter Fruit Salad. They are both very good.
- Dessert: No meal is complete without a dessert! Rather than listing them all out here (there are too many to just choose one!) click this dessert link to see all your options. Bars, cookies, brownies, fruit desserts, honestly they would probably all work with this meal.
How to Store Leftover Crockpot Ranch Chicken
Put leftovers in an airtight container and:
- Refrigerate: The leftovers can be stored for about 3-4 days in your fridge.
- Freeze: Can freeze for up to a month. I wouldn’t go longer than that as you are likely to encounter some pretty intense separation of the milk and cream cheese. To thaw simply place in your fridge overnight and it should be ready to be reheated in your microwave the next day.
More Crock Pot Recipes You’ll Love…
- Slow Cooker Steak Tips
- Crockpot Spiral Ham
- Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff
- Cranberry Beef Roast
- Polynesian Beef
- Crockpot Sweet and Sour Meatballs
You are going to absolutely love this crockpot ranch chicken and I can’t wait for you to add it to your regular rotation. Enjoy!
Crockpot Ranch Chicken
This Crockpot Ranch Chicken is a perfect quick weeknight or summer meal! This slow cooker meal is a family favorite and oh so easy!
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes (russet, red or white)
- 2 1/2 cups baby carrots
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 (10.75 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
- 1 package dry ranch seasoning mix
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Quarter potatoes and place in the bottom of the crock pot.
- Top with carrots
- Place chicken breasts on top of carrots
- In a bowl, mix cream cheese and ranch seasoning.
- Slowly add milk as you mix to create a creamy sauce.
- Add cream of chicken soup and mix well.
- Pour cream mixture over chicken.
- Cook on low for 6 - 7 hours (depending on crock pot) or high for 4 - 5 hours - until chicken's internal temperature is 165*F
- Once cooked, cut chicken into chunks, and serve immediately.
Photos & Text Updated: March 23, 2021
Charlene payne
Thursday 6th of October 2022
This was good. My whole family loved it. My older daughter is lactose intolerant so I replaced cream cheese with melting type of tofu and worked well
Christine
Wednesday 2nd of March 2022
This was very good and easy! I’d definitely do it again. Thanks!
Janelle
Wednesday 2nd of March 2022
Thank you so much Christine! So glad you liked it as much as we do!
Melissa
Saturday 23rd of February 2019
Usually when I use a crockpot, I don't add the potatoes until the last hour and a half because otherwise they tend to be too overdone. Does this never happen over 6 hrs in your recipe? I also usually find that more than 4 hours usually overlooks chicken.
Janelle
Tuesday 5th of March 2019
Melissa, I've not had any issues with my potatoes adding them in the beginning of this recipe! They come out perfect. Hope you like it!