I’d never cooked much before finishing college and getting married. I got a Crock-Pot as a wedding gift and was told that slow cookers were the easiest (and mostly foolproof) way to make a great meal, so I started experimenting. I joke that this was one of my real food recipes before I went real food.
I tried many great recipes that I found on blogs, but this one I invented when trying to use up ingredients that I had on hand.
Bacon Apple Chicken
Fresh apples and smokey bacon intensify the flavors of barbecue sauce and provide a subtle sweetness to this slow cooker chicken recipe. It is such a simple recipe and it always gets rave reviews.
I often put this recipe in the slow cooker in the morning on busy days so dinner is ready to eat when we get home at night. If you have a slow cooker, I’d highly recommend this recipe. It is excellent cold or reheated, so I’ll often make a double batch to have for another meal. I’ve even shredded the chicken after cooling and used it in sandwiches or on salads the next day.
Bacon Apple Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 8 slices bacon
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 apples (peeled, cored, and grated)
- 1 cup homemade barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Wrap each piece of chicken in 2 pieces of bacon and place in the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Sprinkle with garlic powder.
- Mix the grated apple and barbecue sauce and pour over the chicken.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until completely cooked. Can also cook on high for 2-3 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
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How do you cook chicken in the Crock-Pot? Share below!
Katie This was amazing.. One of the few recipes I followed nearly properly. I did use legs and breasts, as I’d cut up a whole chicken. This was quick, easy and super tasty, thanks and thanks..
I wonder if there would be another way to make this without the bbq sauce. I’m not having sugar anymore due to a bit of a sugar addiction but I loved this so much when I first made it. Any tips?
You could do more apples for natural sweetness and make your own savory barbecue sauce with just tomato sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, worcestershire sauce, and a little bit of natural liquid smoke. It wouldn’t be quite as sweet but still good…
I’ll be making this for the second week in a row today! It turned out great the first time and I experimented with my own homemade BBQ/ketchup sauce. My 2.5 yr old scarfed it down and immediately wanted it more. It paired great with the sweet potatoes! Thanks for sharing such an amazingly easy recipe.
Is it ok to put the chicken breasts in frozen?
This has been my families FAVORITE dinner since going grain-free! I used pork chops instead of chicken and left the skin on the apples and just cut them into small cubes. It was SO delicious, thank you for this recipe! My family requested I make it for our “Crockpot Christmas” dinner for my 23-member family, do you think cutting the pork and bacon up into cubes and cooking it all that way would work out well?
It should. I’ve cooked it that way with chicken, so cubed pork should work too..
Could you use turkey bacon as a substitute?
You could, it is just tough to find one that isn’t packed with nitrates, sugar and MSG. It would work in the recipe though!
Organic prairie turkey bacon is good! No MSG or nitrates, and the only sugar used is honey.
I cooked a whole chicken yesterday. Sprinkle inside and outside of chicken with onion granules, garlic, turmeric, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and thyme. (I have chopped an onion and sliced about 4 – 5 garlic instead of the granules.) Add about 1/2 cup water and bake on high for 3 1/2 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours. If you have leftover chicken, make a soup with it.
Yesterday I put some chicken thighs (boneless, skinless) in the crock pot with salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder, some sundried tomatoes and the olive oil they were packed in. Cooked on high for 2 hours – delicious! Going to try your recipe soon!
I made the chicken, spinach, artichoke chicken on Sunday as well and it was a BIG HIT! Thanks so much for the idea. My teenage daughter has now declared that she doesn’t like steak. I don’t like fish so I never fix that and I don’t know a lot of different chicken recipes that are both good, healthy and easy (and not dry!) So this is definitely a keeper! Thanks Katie.
I love how easy your recipes are. I made the chicken, spinach, artichoke dip the other day – yum! And everyone ate it, including my pickiest eater, my husband.