One Pot Meal #19: Lazy Chicken and Penne

Happy Monday!

Today’s meal is for the days where you are too busy to do any cooking (or just want a night off to relax). Everything just gets dumped in the crockpot, even the uncooked noodles, and it all cooks in there with almost no work. But in the end, you have a tasty and filling home cooked meal your family will love.

Now, I was weary of putting uncooked noodles in the crockpot – for fear they would get mushy – and I am sure some of you may have the same fear. But trust me, if you put them in right at the end and don’t over cook, they come out just like my other one pot meal noodles, I promise! Give it a try and you won’t regret it, mostly because you barely did any work to get your dinner on the table.

My favorite tip of all – use a crockpot liner and have basically no clean up afterwards as well once you throw all the plates and forks in the dishwasher 🙂

Lazy Crockpot Chicken and Penne

What you need

About 1-1 1/2 pounds of chicken
One jar of marinara sauce
One can of tomato soup
One package of fresh spinach
About one cup of chicken broth
Seasonings: Minced Onion, Minced Garlic, Italian Seasonings, Black Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper
One box of penne pasta (I used whole wheat)
One cup of mozzarella

What to Do

Layer first ingredients in slow cooker (everything but pasta and cheese) and cook on high.
My crockpot usually cooks chicken in about 2 hours but this will depend on crockpot.
Shred chicken when done.
Then add pasta and cook for another 30 minutes or so. It is a good idea to stir once half way through to distribute noodles.
Add cheese and serve immediately.

This recipe makes four generous servings. I’m sure it could be adapted for an instant pot as well!

Thanks for catching up!

For all of my one pot meals click here.

To read why I love one pot meals click here.

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