I love using the crockpot to make dinner for those busy nights all families have pretty often. The reason why the night is busy doesn’t matter, just the convenience of starting dinner during a quiet part of the day. One of our favorite meals for the crockpot is Italian Chicken and Potatoes. We usually add carrots too, but they’re optional.

When my kids were still on baby food, this was one of my favorites to make and grind up in my food mill. I kept it super mild, of course, but chicken that has cooked in a crockpot is very easy to grind up. It made a much better tasting baby food than that jarred stuff. I wasn’t ambitious enough to make a lot of baby food, but I did some.

This is a delightfully lazy meal to make. Cutting up the potatoes is the only part that takes some work.

The carrots are optional. These days my kids don’t like cooked carrots, but I do. I didn’t add them this time, but most times I do.

Otherwise, you just have to put in the chicken, throw on some spices, Italian dressing, and Parmesan cheese, then add the carrots and potatoes, and adding more spices, Italian dressing, and Parmesan cheese.

I honestly don’t measure things very often for this one. This is crockpot cooking, not baking. So long as you don’t overdo the spices or something, it should be fine.

One of the things I loved most about making this recipe with small children underfoot was how flexible the start time was. If I didn’t think to start it early enough in the day, it could be cooked in the crockpot on high rather than low, and still be ready for dinner.

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Crockpot Italian Chicken and Potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup Italian salad dressing
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 4 potatoes; peeled cut into wedges
• 1 lb baby carrots optional

Instructions

• Place chicken in bottom of crockpot.
• Sprinkle with half Italian dressing, spices, and the grated cheese.
• Put potatoes and carrots (optional) over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining ingredients.
• Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Place potatoes in a large pot of boiling water over high heat; cook until tender when pierced with a fork – about 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, remove potatoes from water and set aside but maintain waters boil.

Meanwhile, coat broiler rack with cooking spray; preheat broiler. Broil chicken five inches from heat, turning occasionally, until cooked through – about 10 minutes; set aside

Add green beans to boiling water and blanch until tenderly crisp – about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes; using a colander drain over sink.

Slice cooled chicken into bite-size chunks and place in a large serving bowl. Slice potatoes into 1-inch chunks and cut green beans into 1-inch pieces; gently toss with chicken. Add celery and grapes.

To prepare the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, broth and mustard; whisk in tarragon, salt and pepper. Drizzle in oil in a slow stream, whisking all the while, until dressing turns creamy, about 1 minute. Toss salad with dressing, taking care not to break up potatoes. If desired, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Bake the pie crust for 10 mins in a 425-degree oven

Mix the potatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 1 1/2 cup of cheese
together until well mixed. Fold in the broccoli put in the pie crust and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 mins at 350 until the cheese is melted and golden brown.