Skip the can of cream of mushroom soup. This slow cooker creamed chicken starts with browned chicken breasts and a quick sauce made with sliced white button mushrooms, cream cheese, Worcestershire, and Italian dressing mix, then cooks on low until the chicken is tender. Serve it over rice or pasta, and it’s easy to make ahead.

A bowl of creamy mushroom chicken served over white rice with a fork in the foreground. — Tender chicken breasts in a creamy mushroom sauce, slow cooked and ready to spoon over rice or pasta.

Tender Chicken in a Creamy Sauce That Isn’t Heavy

Creamed chicken in the slow cooker has been around a long time, and most versions start with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Those work, but the sauce doesn’t have nearly as much flavor as one you make yourself. Here, the sauce comes together in the same skillet you browned the chicken in, so the browned bits and the mushrooms go right into it, and it turns out creamy without feeling heavy.

The chicken breasts cook in that sauce the whole time, which is what keeps them tender instead of dry, and dry is what most people worry about with chicken breasts and a long cook time. It takes a few extra minutes at the stove, and the flavor is worth it. This is the recipe I pull out when I want something delicious that I can make ahead.

Every Church Dinner Has a Version of This

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Creamed chicken is a church dinner dish, and everyone has their own version of it. Every one I’ve come across starts with a can of cream of mushroom soup. I’m not sure where I first had it, which says something about how common it is. I knew I could make it better by building the sauce from scratch, and the extra flavor shows up in every bite. For a bigger crowd, my slow cooker bourbon pulled chicken with bone-in thighs serves 12.

The Sauce Is What Makes It Stand Out

The chicken turns out tender, which is what you’d expect from cooking it slowly, but the sauce is what sets this apart. It starts with white button mushrooms cooked until they release their juices and brown a little, then butter and flour are whisked into the same skillet. Chicken broth and whole milk go in gradually along with the Worcestershire, and there’s no heavy cream anywhere. The cream cheese melts in next, and the dry Italian dressing mix finishes it.

A Few Things That Keep the Chicken Tender

Cook it on low only. When I tried high, the chicken breasts came out dry.
If your chicken breasts are very thick, soak them in buttermilk for at least 30 minutes or overnight to improve the tenderness. Rinse the buttermilk off and pat the chicken dry before you season and brown it.
Chicken tenders are thinner than chicken breasts, so they need less time in the slow cooker. Check them at 2 hours. If you’d rather cook chicken thighs on the stove, try my creamy chicken thighs and mushrooms with white wine, which comes together in one skillet in about 30 minutes.
Check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. Chicken is safe at 165°F, and mine can read higher than that and still stay tender because it cooks in the sauce.
Let the white button mushrooms release their juices and brown before you add the flour. Then add the broth and milk a little at a time, whisking as you go, so the sauce thickens smooth.

Simple Ingredients, No Canned Soup

Ingredients for a recipe arranged on a counter: raw chicken breasts, milk, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, butter, cream cheese, garlic powder, flour, Italian dressing mix, and sliced mushrooms.

The exact amounts are in the recipe card below.

Use the dry Italian dressing mix packet (.7 oz), not bottled Italian dressing. It goes into the sauce at the end as seasoning.

How to Make Slow Cooker Creamed Chicken

Step 1: Brown the Chicken

Four chicken breasts cooking in a skillet. — Brown the seasoned chicken breasts in butter, then move them to the slow cooker.

Step 2: Sauté the Mushrooms

Sliced mushrooms sautéing in a dark metal skillet, being turned with metal tongs. — Cook the white button mushrooms in the same skillet until they release their juices and start to brown.

Step 3: Whisk the Sauce

Four cubes of cream cheese melting into a creamy mushroom sauce in a skillet with a whisk. — Whisk in the butter and flour, then add the chicken broth, milk, and Worcestershire until the sauce thickens. Then add cream cheese.

Step 4: Melt in the Cream Cheese

A wire whisk resting in a skillet filled with a creamy, seasoned mushroom sauce. — Stir in the cream cheese until smooth, then add the dry Italian dressing mix.

Step 5: Slow Cook

Chicken breasts cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce inside a slow cooker. — Pour the sauce over the chicken, cover, and let the slow cooker do the work.

Spoon the creamed chicken over rice or pasta.

Chicken breast topped with creamy mushroom sauce and herbs, served over white rice in a shallow bowl.

If you’ve only ever made creamed chicken with a can of soup, this is the version worth switching to, and it’s one you can rely on, just like the other slow cooker recipes on the site.

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Tender Chicken in a Creamy Sauce That Isn’t Heavy

Every Church Dinner Has a Version of This

The Sauce Is What Makes It Stand Out

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Simple Ingredients, No Canned Soup