The Tuscan Chicken Bandwagon

If you follow any food blogs or just like gorgeous food photos on Instagram, you hay have noticed Creamy Tuscan Chicken swept through the universe a while back. I was intrigued, but honestly not enough to try it. For one thing, it really isn’t very pretty.

Well, here we are with Summer Swim in full swing for our youngest daughter, meaning we are at the pool 4 days a week from 4:30-5:30, which is prime dinner-making time. So I hit the Internet to look for healthy meals that can be prepped ahead, like casseroles or slow cooker meals. A slow cooker version of Tuscan Chicken popped up, so I decided to give it a chance, even though it is not very photogenic.

There appear to be many variations of Tuscan Chicken, but they contain the same basic elements of chicken, a creamy Parmesan garlic sauce, spinach, and sun dried tomatoes. Conveniently, I had all of these things on hand. I chose to use the recipe from www.wholesomeyum.com.

The recipe is simple enough to pop in the slow cooker. The most labor intensive part is making the creamy Parmesan sauce. Now this particular recipe calls for a lot of garlic; 6 cloves to be exact. While I was mincing said garlic, my family was convinced I was trying to kill them. But you start the sauce by sautéing the garlic in a little olive oil which tempers the vampire-repelling quality. Add some chicken broth and some heavy cream to the garlic and simmer for a bit. Then you slowly whisk in fresh grated Parmesan cheese until the sauce is nice and smooth.

While the sauce is doing its thing, you line the bottom of your slow cooker with the chicken. It is supposed to be full chicken breasts, but I had tenderloins on hand, so that’s what I used. Sprinkle some salt, pepper and Italian seasoning over the chicken. Top with chopped sun dried tomatoes.

Once the sauce is done, pour it on top of the chicken. Set the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. I opted for high for 3 hours. Once the time is up, take the chicken out of the slow cooker for a bit and stir in the chopped fresh spinach and cook a bit longer to allow the spinach to wilt. Then add the chicken back to the slow cooker and spoon the sauce on top of the chicken.

Serve immediately with some nice crusty bread and a salad or fresh veggies. It is a delicious low-carb, high protein meal. I will admit that a part of me wanted to have some angel hair pasta to go along with the chicken, but I resisted. Feel free to add pasta or potatoes on the side, by all means.

The recipe was a hit with the whole family, especially the swimmer who had 4 tenderloins very rapidly. I know we will be making it again, but next time I will use full chicken breasts. My tenderloins were just fine, but I think whole breasts allow for more saucy sauce, and likely moister chicken.

We will put this recipe in the “ugly but delicious” category. I am a little sorry I took so long to get on the Tuscan Chicken bandwagon, but I am happy to be on board now.

Find the full recipe here:

https://www.wholesomeyum.com/crock-pot-creamy-tuscan-garlic-chicken-recipe/