Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
Slow Cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken
Pesto ranch chicken has a soft, herby sauce that makes each piece especially inviting. The ranch seasoning adds a familiar savory edge to the basil. Keep the breasts whole or pull them into shreds, and enjoy the chicken with some sauce in every bite.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Total
- 315 min
- Original yield
- Serves 6
- Ingredients
- 4 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Dinner · Main course
- Primary protein
- Chicken
- Cuisine
- American
- Cooking method
- Slow cooker
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: over 60 minutes
A few quick notes
1. Spray the cooker first
Coat the slow cooker with cooking spray before placing the chicken breasts across the bottom.
2. Keep the topping order
Sprinkle ranch seasoning first, pour pesto over it and add chicken broth last before cooking.
3. Choose whole or shredded chicken
Once cooked, the breasts can be served intact or shredded, as the final direction allows.
Get to know the ingredients
Boneless skinless breasts
Use the specified boneless skinless chicken breasts for the bottom layer before the seasonings and liquids are added.
Basil pesto
Pour basil pesto over the ranch-seasoned chicken, keeping it beneath the final chicken broth addition.
Ranch seasoning packet
Sprinkle the dry ranch dressing seasoning mix directly over chicken before adding pesto and broth.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 6. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 3 steps completeMake room for Slow Cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
Serve the chicken your way
Finish the covered cooker stage, then serve the chicken whole or shred it for a softer mixture with the sauce.
A little more help as you go
Broth goes on last
The chicken broth is poured over the pesto-coated breasts as the last addition before the cooker stage.
Two settings are given
The directions offer low and high cooking ranges for the same chicken, pesto, ranch and broth combination.
A few questions you might have
Is prepared ranch dressing used?
Use the ranch dressing seasoning mix listed, sprinkled over the chicken before the pesto is poured on.
Do I brown the chicken in a skillet first?
The directions place breasts straight into the sprayed slow cooker, without a separate browning stage.
Must I shred the chicken?
No, the final direction explicitly allows serving the cooked breasts whole as well as shredded.
Is water the cooking liquid here?
The liquid listed and poured over the pesto is chicken broth, added after the dry ranch seasoning and pesto.
Does the pesto go underneath the chicken?
Place the chicken on the cooker bottom first, season it and then pour pesto over the top.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: therecipecritic.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.