Slow Cooker Italian Pulled Chicken Sandwiches are an easy, filling, & flavorful dinner option — and the chicken itself is both gluten free & low carb, so easily adaptable to different diets if you serve on a low carb wrap or gluten free bread.
So I was thinking this week: You know how it’s super easy to make either salsa pulled chicken for tacos or BBQ pulled chicken for sandwiches in the Crock-Pot? And you know how it’s also super easy to make Italian beef sandwiches in the Crock-Pot? Well, why not take inspiration from all of the above and make up a batch of Slow Cooker Italian Pulled Chicken Sandwiches instead… just to mix things up a little!
And how happily things did mix up in today’s Sunday Scratchups, your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales and affordable ingredients. Chicken prices have been on a downswing lately, so watch for sales at your own local store — then just add a few simple pantry ingredients and a pack of rolls or bread of choice in order to create pulled Italian chicken sandwiches for all.
Slow Cooker Italian Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients
2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
6-10 whole garlic cloves (depending on size — mine were huge, so I used six)
8 oz can tomato sauce
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 jar whole pepperoncini, including 1/2 of the liquid from the jar
1 Tbsp butter
Directions
Trim chicken and arrange it in the bottom of your slow cooker, then season with Italian seasoning, sea salt, and pepper. Add garlic cloves, then pour the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes over the chicken. Add the pepperoncini along with their liquid, then cut butter into several smaller pieces and scatter across the top.
Cover and cook on low for five hours. Remove and discard peppers, then shred the chicken.
Serving suggestion: Serve pulled Italian chicken on deli or French rolls and top with some of the “juice” from the pot, along with sliced mozzarella or provolone cheese.
Note: I used Havarti on ours, because we were out of mozzarella. 😉 Your own favorite kind of cheese would do!
Easy Crock-Pot Italian Chicken makes great sandwiches!
I think that the kids’ reaction to these was something along the lines of: “GOOD!” — granted, though, their words were slightly garbled due to their mouths being crammed full of pulled chicken sandwich. That in and of itself is a compliment, right? 😉 Just that little bit of butter helps balance out the tangy tomatoes and peppers, while the pepperoncini and Italian seasoning add depth to the tomatoes and make this the perfect sandwich fare.
Slow cooker Italian pulled chicken makes a great summer meal idea; you can avoid heating up your kitchen with the oven, but still end up with a filling dinner that’s easily balanced out with some seasonal fruit on the side. Plus, you should end up with some nice leftovers for lunch the next day!
Slow Cooker Italian Pulled Chicken Sandwiches, printable recipe
Slow Cooker Italian Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast trimmed
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 6-10 whole garlic cloves depending on size -- mine were huge, so I used six
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 jar whole pepperoncini including 1/2 of the liquid from the jar
- 1 Tbsp butter
Instructions
- Trim chicken and arrange it in the bottom of your slow cooker, then season with Italian seasoning, sea salt, and pepper.
- Add garlic cloves, then pour the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes over the chicken.
- Add the pepperoncini along with their liquid, then cut butter into several smaller pieces and scatter across the top.
- Cover and cook on low for five hours. Remove and discard peppers, then shred the chicken.
- Serving suggestion: Serve pulled Italian chicken on deli or French rolls and top with some of the "juice" from the pot, along with sliced mozzarella or provolone cheese.
Notes
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Courtney says
Have you ever made this in the instant pot? I’m trying it right now since I didn’t start dinner early enough ?
rachel says
I have not — it’s just something I threw together — but I’d think it should convert very well.
Courtney Kennedy says
It ended up coming out great. My chicken was frozen when I started, and it came out just fine.
rachel says
Awesome! I figured it probably would — the pulled chicken recipes tend to convert very well from slow cooker to Instant Pot. 🙂
Anne says
Great dinner! Made it in the pressure cooker, quick and delicious.
Sara D says
This is fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!
Ariel V. says
For everyone who made it in the Instant Pot, what was our time conversions?! I’m just starting to drift from IP only recipes and give some Slow Cooker recipes a go in the IP! I was thinking 15 mins on manual setting for this…what did everyone else do?
laura says
How spicy was this? It sounds amazing, I just want to make sure it’s kiddo friendly, too!
rachel says
It’s really not very spicy. Pepperoncini are mild, and you’re using it across a good amount of chicken + the tomatoes, so it’s more tangy than spicy.
Marissa Frey says
Did anyone make this without the pepperoncini? Forgot to get it during my last shopping trip!
Cassie says
I’m wondering the same thing! Did you make it without them? How was it?
Melanie says
These are great! I made them for a potluck and I’m back to get the recipe to take to a friend for a post-baby meal
Meagan says
The rolls are missing from the ingredient list! I forgot them🤦🏼♀️
Susan says
Do you have any idea what to do with the chicken leftovers? We are all out of bread but would love to finish up the pulled chicken with some kind of non-sandwich option.
rachel says
I’ve made this specifically with the Italian chicken: https://www.mashupmom.com/italian-chicken-veggie-and-pasta-skillet/
Also, you could use it for things like quesadillas, naan pizza, and more. 🙂
YK says
What size crock pot did you use for the 2-2.5 lb boneless/skinless chicken? I’m trying to adjust for the amount of chicken I have.
rachel says
I have a big 7 quart crock, but that much chicken nowhere near filled it.
Keriann says
What size jar of pepperchini did you use?
rachel says
The regular 16 oz jar.