Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal
This Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal is a flavorful French dish made with chicken, garlic, buttery olives, and briny capers that braise in a decadent sauce that’s lemony, garlicky, and plain addicting! It’s the perfect way to elevate chicken whether it’s for entertaining company or a cozy weeknight dinner. Fabulous over a side of rice that will absorb every bit of the luscious sauce!
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Welcome to Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal, my favorite chicken recipe on the blog!
As you’ve seen with a lot of my recipes, I’m a sucker for bright, briny foods like pickles, olives, and capers.
Add lemon, garlic, herbs, and butter to the mix, and you’ll see why this Chicken Provencal recipe is my favorite! Now who’s bringing the baguette?
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Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Bone-in chicken thighs
- Chicken broth
- Onion
- Garlic
- Castelvetrano olives
- Capers
- Lemon
- Butter
- Bay leaves
- Spices/herbs (dried thyme, dried oregano, fresh parsley, salt, pepper)
Why Castelvetrano olives?
Castelvetrano olives are more mild-flavored and less salty than other types of olives, so they’re not going to overpower everything in this dish.
They have a rich, slightly buttery flavor that is amazing all by itself, but when combined with the rest of the ingredients, creates a sublime medley of flavors.
I like to use olives that still have the pits in them; they have a more firm texture than pitted olives, which can get mushy.
How to make Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal:
- Sear the chicken thighs in a hot pan. This does three things: one, it gives the chicken some color, which makes it look more appetizing, and two, it sears in the juices, and three, it will provide some fond (delicious brown bits on the pan) so when we deglaze the pan and pour that goodness into the slow cooker, we’re giving it extra flavor!
- Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the parsley garnish. Let it cook low and slow.
- Serve the delicious chicken over your favorite starchy side to absorb all the juices from the slow cooker, and garnish with some fresh parsley. (complete instructions on recipe card below)
📍The full recipe with exact ingredient amounts and instructions is on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
What to serve with Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal?
The lemony, garlicky juices that the chicken braises in are absolute liquid gold.
I personally like to serve this over a nice starch that will absorb the heavenly sauce!
Farro, cauliflower rice, Savory Chicken Rice, white or brown rice, mashed potatoes, and orzo are all wonderful options to serve with this lemony chicken.
Of course, a French baguette that mops up all that fabulous sauce is great no matter which side you serve with this.
What kind of chicken is best for Chicken Provencal?
Bone-in thighs are my favorite for this recipe. They are full of flavor and go well with the rustic dish.
You can use boneless thighs, but the chicken won’t need to cook as long.
How to store cooked chicken?
The cooked chicken can be kept in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and used within 3-4 days.
Looking for more slow cooker chicken recipes? Here are some favorites:
- Slow Cooker Jalapeno Popper Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo
- Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken & Broccoli
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita Tacos (shown below)
- Slow Cooker Nando’s Peri-Peri Chicken Pasta
Flavorful Eats is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal
Equipment
- 5 quart slow cooker or larger
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs skin optional (approximately 4 lbs) see "notes" in post.
- Olive oil
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 small yellow onion diced or thinly sliced
- 3-4 garlic cloves minced
- 17-20 Castelvetrano olives approximately 3/4 cup
- 2 1/2 tbsp. capers
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 lemons (the juice of)
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) cut into pieces
- salt & pepper to taste
- chopped fresh parsley optional garnish
Instructions
- Sear the chicken thighs in a hot skillet with olive oil. We're not cooking them all the way through, we just want a little bit of color on the chicken, as it is more aesthetically pleasing. Plus, we'll get great flavor when we deglaze the hot pan and scrape the bits and pieces into the slow cooker.
- After you have seared all the chicken thighs, place them in the slow cooker. Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan while it's still hot and scrape up the bits and pieces on the bottom of the pan, then pour everything over the chicken in the slow cooker.
- Add the onion, garlic, olives, capers, bay leaves, and lemon juice to the slow cooker. Sprinkle the dried oregano, dried thyme, and salt & pepper over everything, then add the pieces of butter on top.
- Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or until the chicken is fully cooked and has reached 165°. Sprinkle some chopped parsley over everything as a garnish and serve over your favorite starch. Make sure you spoon the wonderful juices from the slow cooker over the plated chicken! Enjoy!
Notes
- If you can't find Castelvetrano olives in the grocery store, you can get them HERE from Amazon.
- I prefer to use unpitted olives as their texture is more firm than olives that have been pitted. Just make sure to let your guests know there are pits in the olives.
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
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Flavorful Eats is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
I made this the other day! So delicious!!
Made it. Delicious!
I have a small cafe and made this for my lunch special. Everyone wants to know when I will make it again! Even my 86 year old customer was delighted, and she can be a little bit picky!
I love that! So glad it was a hit! Thank you for rating the recipe :)
In an 8 qt. Can I add 10 chickens with the recipe?
Hi haven’t tried that many as my slow cooker isn’t that big, but as log as the slow cooker isn’t filled past 3/4 full, you should be good!
This is excellent!
I made it last week and it’s delicious.
It’s falling off the bone tender and yummy. Delicious!
I’ve made this twice. Did not disappoint!
I make this recipe once a week. My entire family loves it, even the tweens, which is rare. I love how quick and easy it is to pull together. Occasionally, if I am pressed for time, I skip the searing step and just put the raw chicken in the slow cooker. It loses a little something but not much and my family doesn’t notice. I thought they might be getting bored and made something else one week and they whined and asked why I couldn’t just make the olive chicken! Thanks so much for a flavorful & easy crowd pleaser!
Lori, you just made my day! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback! I love that you make it once a week and your family enjoys it too!
I’ve made this…DELISH!!!
Live this over white rice or mashed potatoes! Delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe! Thank you for the wonderful review :)
this is going to be my third time making it. i don’t change a thing which is unusual for me. it’s absolutely DEVINE!! I’M HOOKED.
You just made my day, Carol! Thank you the awesome review! I’m so glad you love it as much as I do :)
Delicious! My kids even liked it!
I made it – it’s DELISH!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!
This was AMAZING!!!
I just made this yesterday and it is delicious!
Great recipe! just made it last week.
Love this recipe the olives made a nice tang. My kids loved it too!
So glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback!
Awesome recipe! Absolutely delicious and we would highly recommend.
Thank you so much, Nancy!!
Silly question (new to cooking). When searing the chicken in the pan, do I add oil? If so, what kind?
Sorry, yes. I should have added that to the recipe!
We had a jar of Castelvetrano Olives in the house, so this recipe caught my eye. I have cooked with Olives before, but not these. The chicken was perfect and so flavorful! My husband also enjoyed it. I’ll bet the leftovers will be just as tasty.
I’m so glad you had the opportunity to use these olives, they’re so unique – mild and buttery! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a rating!
Delicious and so easy! I used half the amount of butter since that’s all i had but it still came out great.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! You’re the first person to rate the recipe, thank you!