Tender and flavorful slow cooker mediterranean chicken with olives, onions, and roasted red peppers makes a hearty and tasty meal all made in one dish.
The slow cooker is constant around our house! If you’re loving yours too, try Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff Soup, Best Easy Slow Cooker Ribs, and Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb Chicken & Orzo.
I love slow cooker meals so much, I sometimes wonder if I should be a spokesperson for some massive slow cooker producer. I mean seriously, do you know how much I use this kitchen appliance?? Let’s just say it’s a lot. A LOT. It’s not just that it’s so convenient to toss everything in a pot, cover, and come back a few hours later to a whole meal ready to go. It’s also that I love the way slow cooking meals can bring out more flavor in the dish. Like in this mediterranean chicken dish. All those flavors melding together for a while in the slow cooker makes them ten times better.
But let’s talk about a couple of ingredients here. First of all the olives. I’ll preface this by saying that I rarely use regular black olives in my cooking because I just don’t care for them. But kalamata olives? Those are my jam. I adore the briny, salty taste of kalamata olives. If you haven’t tried them, this is your chance to fall in love with these little black beauties.
The other ingredient you might not have a pre-existing relationship with is capers. They too are briny and salty and I can’t get enough of them, particularly in this dish. They’re those little green pea-looking things you see throughout this dish ^^^. They aren’t expensive and they add a lot to this chicken dish. Together with those kalamata olives, onions, and roasted red peppers… there’s some serious flavor happening here. Not to mention aromas. Your home will smell like a little slice of Southern Europe when you make this dish and that is a very very good thing.
What people are saying about this Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken
“This is delicious! I made this today with bone-in chicken thighs. The chicken was falling off the bone, juicy and tender. I sauteed the onions and garlic before putting in the crockpot. Will make this again!” – Jennifer
“I made this tonight and it was so AWESOME! My guests said it was like a gourmet meal in a restaurant! Served it with garlic Parmesan potatoes and nothing was left!!! Not even a caper!!!” – Jerry
“I made it today and it was so delicious!! It is super easy to make. I didn’t have a lot of time so I opted to do the two hours on high but used thighs instead of breast, they were very moist.” – Gabrielle
“I tried this for my family of four tonight and it was DELICIOUS!!! Even the 3 yr. old & 5 yr. old enjoyed it! I served it over orzo pasta and topped with fresh thyme. Also used red/purple onion instead of yellow. YUM…definitely a ‘keeper’!” – Jill
Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 medium-large boneless skinless chicken breasts - OR 4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- juice of 1 medium lemon - (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 medium onion - chopped
- 1 cup kalamata olives
- 1 cup roughly chopped roasted red peppers
- 2 tablespoons capers
- fresh thyme, oregano, or basil for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Cook in a large skillet over medium-high heat 1-2 minutes on each side til browned. Transfer to greased slow cooker.
- Add onions, olives, red peppers, and capers to slow cooker (tuck them around the sides so they aren’t covering up the chicken). Whisk together italian seasoning, lemon juice, and garlic and pour over chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours. Garnish with fresh thyme, oregano, or basil and serve.
Not sure where the bad reviews come from because this was absolutely stunning, guess some people need more experience in the kitchen but we all have to start somewhere, might make this again tomorrow because it was so nice, only served it with garlic bread, thank you so much for sharing.
I absolutely love, love this dish!! I use breasts and add marinated artichoke hearts to it! I usually serve it with couscous! My guests always love it.
I was wondering if I make double the recipe, would I just double everything or are there some exceptions? Thank you
When doubling a slow cooker recipe, it’s different than other recipes. Of course, you double the main ingredients so in this case, the chicken. For the liquid you would do 1 1/2 of what the recipe calls for. For example, instead of one lemon you would use one and a half or about 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. The same method for the liquids applies to the seasoning and herbs. As for cook time, you only want to add a little bit more time, you don’t want to double it. Just keep an eye on it as each recipe varies on time.
Delicious and pretty too! Used boneless skinless thighs.
Any suggestions on substitutes for the olives and capers..not a fan of either.
Capers are actually a good substitute haha but since you mentioned not liking those either you can try mushrooms to replace the meatiness of the olives with a dash or a teaspoon of vinegar to replace the acidity. You can also try artichoke hearts or anchovies.