Crack Chicken {Stove, IP, or Slow Cooker!}
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Crack chicken is super easy to make. Do it on the stove top, or in the instant pot, or even in a slow cooker, but just do it! This is one our whole family LOVES!
Our crack chicken recipe is so easy to make and is the perfect quick dinner that no one will fight about. Serve it in a bowl or on a bun alongside some easy sauteed vegetables, red roasted potatoes or shaved brussel sprout salad!
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Crack Chicken
Crack Chicken {Stove, IP, or Slow Cooker!}
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Crack chicken ingredients
- Chicken breasts – The recipe as written calls for raw chicken, but you could totally use canned chicken or pre-cooked chicken to make things faster.
- Chicken broth – See how to make your own chicken broth.
- Cream cheese – Cubed.
- Dry ranch seasoning – You can typically find this in the salad dressing aisle.
- Bacon – Cooked crispy and crumbled.
- Cheddar cheese – Shredded.
- Green onion – Chopped.
How do you make crack chicken? (Step-by-step)
⭐ First, add chicken broth, chicken breasts, cream cheese and ranch seasoning to cooking vessel.
⭐ Next, cover and cook until chicken shreds easily. Remove chicken and shred.
⭐ Then, whisk the liquid in the bottom of the cooking vessel, then return shredded chicken to sauce.
⭐ Finally stir in bacon, cheese, and green onions.
Preparation
Can it be made on the stove top?
Crack chicken can be made on the stove top. You’ll want to boil the chicken first (or use pre-cooked chicken), then add the the remaining ingredients to your pot on the stove to finish. Full directions for making it on the stove are included in the recipe card below.
Can it be made in the instant pot?
You can definitely make this in the instant pot! The chicken takes about 15 minutes to cook on manual (high pressure), followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release. Full directions for making instant pot crack chicken are included in the recipe card below.
Can it be made in the slow cooker?
Slow cooker crack chicken is also easy to make! It takes about 4 – 5 hours on high, or 6 – 8 hours on low to make this in a crock pot. Full slow cooker directions are included in the recipe card below.
Can you make crack chicken with canned chicken?
Absolutely. You’ll want to use about 36 – 48 ounces of drained canned chicken in place of the chicken breasts for this substitution.
Can you make crack chicken ahead of time?
Yes, you can prepare it 2 – 3 days in advance and store in the refrigerator, or several months in advance if stored in the freezer. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top.
Storage and Leftovers
How long does crack chicken last?
The leftovers, when properly stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, will last 3 – 4 days. If the chicken was left out at room temperature in excess of 2 hours, it should be discarded.
Can you freeze the leftovers?
You can freeze crack chicken. Allow the chicken to cool (you don’t want to lower the temperature of your freezer by adding hot chicken to it!), then store in a sealed freezer safe container. It will last in the refrigerator for several months.
How do you reheat crack chicken?
Leftovers can be easily reheated in the microwave on high for 2 – 3 minutes, or simmered on the stove top until warmed through. If the chicken has thicken too much, whisk in some milk or water until you reach your desired consistency.
Nutrition
Is crack chicken keto?
Yes, it would qualify as keto-friendly. The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet and this recipe satisfies those parameters.
Is it gluten free?
Make sure to check all your individual ingredients just to be perfectly safe, but this can absolutely be made as a gluten free crack chicken recipe!
Variations
🟢 Try making it with pulled pork. I would use a loin to mimic the texture of chicken breast most closely.
🟢 Add a splash of red hot sauce or sriracha for a kick!
🟢 Stir in a pound of cooked noodles for some crack chicken pasta.
🟢 Whisk in a cup of sour cream and serve it with chips and homemade crackers as a dip!
Complete this meal with our recipe suggestions
We know exactly what to serve with crack chicken! Try it alongside a pan of crispy roasted cauliflower, oven baked fries, or an easy baked sweet potato. Finish the meal off with a quick peach dump cobbler, strawberry poke cake, or a batch of s’mores fudge. Yum!
Amazing instant pot recipes to try next
- Instant pot Italian sausage soup
- Instant pot bbq ribs
- Instant pot Mississippi pot roast
- Instant pot broccoli cheese soup
- Instant pot loaded potato soup
- See all our instant pot recipe ideas!
More awesome slow cooker recipes
- Slow cooker Italian beef
- Slow cooker honey garlic chicken
- Slow cooker bbq chicken recipe
- Slow cooker spiral ham
- Marry Me Chicken Slow Cooker
- Slow cooker corned beef
- See all our easy slow cooker recipes!
Tools we love
- Instant Pot electric pressure cooker – This electric pressure cooker, and my gas grill are the saving graces in our home. A delicious roast with carrots and potatoes in 45 minutes? Yes, please! You’re seriously going to love this one!
- Classic Kitchenaid stand mixer – My favorite things to make in ours are ginger cookies, no churn ice cream, and shredded chicken. Yup, seriously. The Kitchenaid shreds chicken like no ones business!
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How to Make Crack Chicken
Crack Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 - 3 pounds chicken breasts 3 - 4 breasts
- ½ cup chicken broth (not needed for stove top method)
- 16 ounces cream cheese cubed
- 2 packets dry ranch seasoning
- 8 ounces bacon cooked crispy and crumbled
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup chopped green onions
Instructions
INSTANT POT DIRECTIONS
- Add chicken broth, chicken breasts, cream cheese and ranch seasoning to your instant pot.
- Close instant pot and set to manual (high pressure) for 15 minutes. Allow natural pressure release for 10 minutes. (If you frequently get the burn notice on your instant pot, you can add up to a full cup of water).
- Remove chicken and shred.
- Whisk together the liquid in the bottom of the instant pot until the cream cheese is fully incorporated. (If you added a full cup of water at the beginning, turn your pot to 'saute' function and allow some of the liquid to simmer off).
- Return shredded chicken to pot. Add bacon, cheese, and green onions. Stir until combined. The sauce will thicken as it stands.
SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS
- Add chicken broth, chicken breasts, cream cheese and ranch seasoning to your slow cooker.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours or high for 4 - 5 hours.
- Remove chicken and shred.
- Whisk together the liquid in the bottom of the slow cooker until the cream cheese is fully incorporated.
- Return shredded chicken to slow cooker. Add bacon, cheese, and green onions. Stir until combined. The sauce will thicken as it stands.
STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS
- Bring a pot filled with water to a boil. Add chicken and simmer about 15 minutes, until chicken shreds easily. Reserve 1/2 cup of boiling liquid and drain remaining.
- Shred chicken and set aside.
- Add 1/2 cup of reserved liquid, cream cheese, and ranch seasoning to pot. Bring to a low simmer and whisk until everything is incorporated. (You can use a an electric mixer or immersion blender to speed this up.)
- Return shredded chicken to pot. Add bacon, cheese, and green onions. Stir until combined. The sauce will thicken as it stands.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Love chicken? Try this smoked chicken legs recipe!
Crack Chicken {Stove, IP, or Slow Cooker!}
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I loved it! Everyone at my house liked it too! Really delicious and easy to make!
Yummy! This crack chicken recipe looks incredible! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Such an incredible dish! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I want to make enough crack chicken for 10-12 people in my 8 qt IP. Can I simply double the entire list of ingredients or would you recommend making it in batches?
doubling should work fine 🙂
Made this tonight for dinner and everyone loved it. It will be on my favorite list from now on.
What would be a good side
Hi Michelle – we suggest several sides in the post, but if you were interested in others, maybe some baked potatoes? https://www.mamalovesfood.com/how-to-make-baked-potato/ or egg noodles? https://www.mamalovesfood.com/egg-noodles/ 🙂
Does the bacon have to be cooked prior to putting in the Instant Pot?
yes, the bacon needs to be cooked.
Best chicken crack recipe yet!!!!
If I’m making as a dip, at what point would I whisk in the sour cream?
At the end when you’re adding the bacon and shredded cheese 🙂
I made this and was very tasty and loved it. But my only problem was my chicken came out sorry if chewy and though. Any suggestions for less chewy chicken?
I’m not sure what you mean by chewy? Sorry!
I am about to make cracked chicken again. The first time I made cracked chicken there was no broth used in the recipie so finding this recipe makes me a bit hopeful. The first time I made cracked chicken it was not only burned, but it was incredible salty. There was no way to save what I could because of these to factors. How do I make this 😋 cracked chicken without so much salt, how is the salt amount in this recipe? I live in Europe and ranch is hard almost difficult to find so I usually make my own. Found ranch dressing recipie on Pinterest. Any suggestions. Would love ❤️ to make this recipie. These type of recipes are great in nutrition and even better when it comes to the budget as it can be eaten with different sides giving the feeling of a different 🥘 when rotating. Thanks for helping and suggestions
The salt typically comes from the ranch seasoning, so if you’re making your own ranch seasoning it should be pretty easy to reduce your salt. As for the burn, without being in your kitchen and watching what happened I can’t really say what happened. Make sure if you’re using the instant pot that you add some water (noted in the recipe). If your pot is finicky and gives a frequent burn notice, you may want to add a little extra water. Hope that helps!
mac& cheese.
I made this Crack Chicken for my daughter and I have to wonder if there was a typo on the amount of cream cheese in the recipe. Using two 8 oz pkgs of cubed cream cheese left us with pretty much a cream cheese sandwich.
This is definitely a very cheesy dish, as you can see from the pictures! It’s not a typo, but if you prefer a less creamy result then you can halve the cream cheese next time 🙂
Fabulous recipe! Definitely going on the “make often” list! We ate it straight up this time. Next time we’re going to use for sandwiches! ( A salad was perfect as a side, for those wondering!)
Sounds wonderful! I would love to make it in my slow cooker using canned chicken. How much canned chicken should I use and do I need to change the cook time since I’m not using whole chicken breasts? Thanks!
I would say a 10 ounce can, drained is roughly the equivalent of a chicken breast. Since everything is cooked, you’ll only need as long as it takes everything to heat up and melt. Probably 1 – 2 hours (this will depend on your cooker, some get to a higher temp faster). Enjoy!
I am making this in a crock pot..my chicken is already cooked.do I still use the same amount of liquid.
This is really a very cheesy dish .
I really like the way you ahve to exlpain the recipe .
Thank you so much for this .
Made this tonight while staying in a motel. So easy on stove top. Served it open faces of with sourdough bread from a local bakery. Delicious
This looks delicious. I’m thinking of making it for our next family reunion. Is it possible to make this in an electric roaster? If so, how many servings would fit in an 18-qt roaster? How many servings if I decide to make it a pasta dish? Thank you
I intend to try this as looks great, but I think I would like it a little less cheesy so will try it with 8 oz. creme cheese and in the end add 8 oz. sour cream or to taste.. Will play with it to get the consistency I want. The true test will be I share outcome.