Slow-Cooker Lemon-Pepper Chicken with Green Olives and Potatoes
Updated Dec 19, 2019
Buttery olives, rich chicken, creamy potatoes in a luscious sauce brightened up with lemon and fresh herbs—this isn’t just a tasty dinner, this recipe is also a lesson in great slow cooking. We say this because it uses several techniques to maximize flavor, while still delivering on the hands-off convenience that slow cookers promise. Here’s what we mean: This recipe starts with browning the chicken on the stove—we know, we know, this doesn’t seem very convenient, but bear with us—browning is a chemical reaction that creates flavor, and it can’t happen inside a slow cooker, which cooks at too low a temperature for this process to occur. So yes, you have to wash a skillet, but it will pay off in terms of flavor—and the washing is actually made easy because of the deglazing step. But before we get to that, there are the onions. As long as the skillet is dirty, it makes sense to sauté the onions as well. Onions that go into the slow cooker raw can end up undercooked and acrid-tasting, so browning the onions in the chicken fat left behind in your skillet is setting you up for success. Adding some broth, after you’ve cooked and removed the onions, will allow you to scrape up the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet—and those little bits are cooking gold. Adding the deglazing liquid to the slow cooker means all the complex flavor you’ve developed through the simple act of browning will infuse the finished dish. And like we said, washing your skillet is a breeze after deglazing because you’ve already gotten rid of the sticky bits without any scrubbing. With such a flavorful start, your dish only needs low heat and time to cook up into something truly excellent and absolutely impressive.
Slow-Cooker Lemon-Pepper Chicken with Green Olives and Potatoes
- Prep Time 35 min
- Total 5 hr 35 min
- Servings 6
- Ingredients 14
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb baby Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
- 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lb)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Progresso™ chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- 3/4 cup Castelvetrano green olives, unpitted
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
- Lemon wedges
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Make With
Progresso Broth
Instructions
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Step1Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add potatoes, 1 teaspoon of the lemon pepper seasoning, 1 teaspoon of the thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Toss to coat.
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Step2Season chicken with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Arrange chicken thighs, skin-side down, in skillet; cook, turning once, 6 to 7 minutes or until browned.
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Step3Transfer chicken to slow cooker.
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Step4Drain all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add onion; cook and stir 4 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until onions are lightly brown. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker.
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Step5Add broth and lemon peel to skillet; heat to boiling over medium heat, scraping up brown bits on bottom of skillet. Transfer to slow cooker.
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Step6Add green olives to slow cooker. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 5 to 6 hours or until chicken is cooked through (at least 165°F) and potatoes are tender.
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Step7Garnish with remaining 1 teaspoon thyme and the parsley. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.
Nutrition
410
Calories
20g
Total Fat
34g
Protein
24g
Total Carbohydrate
2g
Sugars
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Thigh and 3/4 Cup Vegetables
- Calories
- 410
- Calories from Fat
- 180
- Total Fat
- 20g
- 31%
- Saturated Fat
- 4 1/2g
- 24%
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 100mg
- 33%
- Sodium
- 970mg
- 40%
- Potassium
- 960mg
- 27%
- Total Carbohydrate
- 24g
- 8%
- Dietary Fiber
- 4g
- 15%
- Sugars
- 2g
- Protein
- 34g
% Daily Value*:
- Vitamin A
- 4%
- 4%
- Vitamin C
- 15%
- 15%
- Calcium
- 8%
- 8%
- Iron
- 20%
- 20%
Exchanges:
1 1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 4 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 3 1/2 Fat;Carbohydrate Choice
1 1/2Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens
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