I love the way the house smells when I have Rosemary Chicken with Butternut Squash in the crockpot. I think it’s the rosemary in particular that really gets me, because it has a certain savory smell with a hint of gourmet sophistication. There’s enough vegetables in there for this to be a one pot meal, but Caesar Salad with Pine Nuts makes a great companion. If you’re having company, add Chocolate Fudge Skillet Cake and you’ve got a simple, crowd-pleasing menu. It’s fancy enough to be a company kind of dish, but easy enough to make for a weeknight.
I’m trying to develop most of my crockpot recipes for an 8 hour cooking time, so that dinner is ready when you get home from work. That being said,there are a number of tricks to cooking chicken for 8 hours without it becoming stringy.
1. Use the biggest chicken thighs you can find (about 5-6 chicken thighs in 1 1/2 pounds).
2. You can also use a bone-in chicken thighs if yours are on the smaller side.
I like to cut the squash into fairly big cubes around 1 1/2 inches. With the 8 hour cooking cooking time, I don’t want the squash to get mushy right away.
Cut both the ends off the onion, peel it, and cut it in half. Make cuts across the onion halves not quite cutting through the end.
Cut across the strips you made to make a medium dice.
Remove the rosemary leaves from the wooden stems.
Coarsely chop the rosemary.
Place the onions and butternut squash in first, then layer the chicken thighs over the top. Pour the Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup over the top and sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt. Place the lid on the slow cooker and turn it to low for 8 hours.
This has been a smash hit in our house and we’ve been loving this taste of fall!
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Crockpot Rosemary Chicken with Butternut Squash
- Total Time: 8 hours 15 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 3 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, browned (opt step), see notes
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil, for browning
- 1 medium onion, small dice
- 1 cup Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 Tablespoon rosemary, minced
- 1 Tablespoon coarse Celtic sea salt, or to taste – the amount of salt will vary depending on your ingredients and type of sea salt used
- Grated Parmesan for serving if desired
Instructions
- Cube the squash into 1 1/2 inch cubes and place a 4-qt crockpot. Cut the onion into small dice and place it in with the squash.
- If you’re browning the chicken, place a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and the chicken thighs. Brown for just a minute on each side. Transfer the chicken to the crockpot.
- Pour the Homemade Cream of Chicken soup over the top and sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary.
- Place the lid on the crockpot and turn to low for 8 hours.
- The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the chicken thighs and your individual crockpot. I like to try a new crockpot recipe on the weekend when I’m home to see how it works for me the first time!
Notes
To make this completely dairy free, be sure to use a non-dairy Cream of Chicken Soup.
Browning the chicken adds extra flavor, but it’s not necessary if time is short. I’ve made it both ways and they were both really good.
I’ve used both boneless skinless chicken thighs and bone + skin on as well. If you use bone in and skin on, pan sear them skin side down first to create a browned skin. If you use boneless skinless, try and go for the biggest ones available, or just shorten the cooking time.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 8 hours
This recipe was very bland. Not a good combination. Look at another recipe.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it. This recipe depends entirely on the quality of ingredients used, so that could have been the problem – it’s also really important to use fresh rosemary because that’s where most of the flavor comes from.
This came out great! Even my picky kids loved it! I found it be a very versatile recipe! But even from the things I changed, I know as is, it would be great! I used 1 lb butternut squash and 1 medium yellow squash. I also added Kale at then end for added nutrition! And I used only 1 tsp salt as opposed to 1 TBSP. It was perfect for us. I used 2 frozen chicken breasts.
Adding kale is such a great idea, I’m going to try that out next time, and I’m so glad your kids loved it! 🙂
Don’t have time to make homemade cream of chicken.. Was wondering if I could use just a can of cream of chicken soup ?
I think so, but you might have to add a bit of water if it seems to dry to you during the cooking time. You can also use chicken stock and thicken it at the end with cornstarch or tapioca starch. Hope you enjoy it, and let me know if you have anymore questions!
This looks great! I want to make it tongiht because I’ve got all ingredients except only 1.5 lb of butternut squash… but I’ve got a huge case of maitake mushrooms. Do you think I could substitute 1.5 lbs of mushroom for the missing butternut squash? Of course, it will add a bit of a different flavor to the recipe… but think it might be good!
I think mushrooms would be a great flavor addition, but I’m a little iffy on weather or not to put them in the crockpot because they can get a slimy texture sometimes. I would make the recipe as is with the amount of butternut you have (the cooking time will probably be shorter). Then at the end of the cooking time, I would sauté the mushrooms on the stove top and stir them into the finished crockpot dish. Let me know how it goes and if you have anymore questions! 🙂
hi!
Have you ever used frozen chicken with this recipe?
I haven’t tried it with frozen chicken, but from a food safety point it might not be the best idea. A lot of recipes say it’s ok, but to be on the safe side it’s usually not a good idea to have meat at a relatively low temperature (from frozen to thawed could be hours in a crockpot on low) for a long period of time.
This recipe smells and tastes yummy! We really enjoyed it.
I’m so glad you liked it, I really enjoy the way the it smells while cooking too!
Yum! The aroma in the house when we got home was amazing! Haven’t eaten it yet, just opened the pot and stirred it a bit – licked the spoon and can tell I am going to be a happy camper tonite! Super easy! I didn’t use cream of chicken soup, rather just used chicken stock. Cant wait to dig in!
The temperatures are just starting to cool down here, and I can’t wait to make this again! I love how the house smells when I have this in the slow cooker too, and I often take the short cut and just use chicken stock as well when I’m pressed for time. 🙂
Any easier substitutions for the homemade cream of chicken soup?
You should be able to substitute 1 cup of chicken broth mixed together with 1 Tablespoon of arrowroot/tapioca/cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream (this is optional) for the homemade cream of chicken soup. The mixture will thicken during the cooking time and I’m pretty sure the results will be the same. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions! 🙂
I really want to try this recipe, but I just don’t have time to make homemade cream of chicken soup. Do you think a store bought from a can would work, or do you have any other recommendations?
You could mix together 1 cup of chicken stock with 1 Tablespoon of arrowroot/tapioca/cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream (optional). Pour the mixture over the chicken and squash before turning on the slow cooker, the mixture should thicken over the course the the cooking time. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and let me know if you have anymore questions!
Could coconut milk be substituted for the cream soup? I’m eager to try this but am not a fan of non-dairy cream soups. Thank you!
You should be able to substitute coconut milk for the homemade cream of chicken soup, I would use coconut milk from the can though because the boxed kind is rather tasteless. The other thing that comes to mind is coconut milk is a heavy flavor, so you might find that you want to add a bit more rosemary towards the end of the cooking time. And finally, if you want the sauce to be thick like a gravy of sorts, I would try mixing together a little cornstarch or tapioca starch together with water before mixing it into the liquid at the end of the cooking time. You can also drain the liquid off and thicken it on the stove like you would for gravy. Let me know if you have anymore questions, I’d be glad to try and help!